technical Qs about gravel driveway construction?

[patandchickens]

We've neglected our barn driveway to the point where it has sort of ceased to exist and thus are going to have to do the more expensive approach of basically having a new one built. There *was* a perfectly good, foot-deep-roadbase-foundation driveway there before but it has sort of disappeared into mud and grass.

I have only found two outfits to get quotes from (I'm only getting quotes for the first half of the driveway plus a culvert for the ditch, as we simply can't afford to do the whole hting this year):

"A" is a very large paving co in the region, will cut the topsoil back 12" and refill with a foot of gravel and roll down well. $3000 for the first half of the driveway, plus $1000 or so for installing culvert in the ditch.

"B" is local, has been in business for at least five years but changes phone numbers frequently, we found them through a flyer they had in the local newspaper ad inserts. Will "remove the turf" and put in "5-6 inches" of crushed recycled asphalt. Suggests staying off driveway with heavy vehicles during wet spring season but says should be fine for large tractors, gravel trucks, etc the rest of the year. $1600 for the first half of the driveway, plus $500 for installing secondhand culvert in the ditch.

Not sure we even CAN afford "A", tho I am sure they'd do a good job. "B" is doable, and slight half-assed-ness may be ok for us, but I would want to convince myself the job specs are adequate.

I think my question is, do y'all know anything about the adviseability of using crushed recycled asphalt instead of gravel; and do y'all have a sense of whether 5-6" would be adequate.

We use this driveway very very rarely, it is basically just so we can get hay to the barn once a year; but we DO need it for that.

Any input appreciated, esp. from those who have experience constructing gravel drives or having had them constructed.

Thanks,

Pat

 

[k0xxx]

I don't have a technical answer and can only relate what we did.

When we bought our home, it had a dirt driveway. We had a fellow with a dozer cut it down about 12 inches. Then we had about 6 inches of large gravel (actually small rocks up to about golf ball size) spread. We topped it off with 6 inches of small gravel.

We sometimes get potholes starting to form in wet weather. When that happens, we just grade it with a tractor and a blade. It's been 10 years now, and seems to be holding up with only minor maintenance.

 

[SKR8PN]

Pat.....I would go out with a small shovel and dig down in that old driveway and see what you find. That old base is still there and probably isn't down as far as you think it is. If there hasn't been a lot of heavy equipment traffic on that drive, then the base can't be that far down. If you kill off the grass and then add a 5 -6 inch layer of that crushed asphalt, I'd be willing to bet you would be good to go for a long time to come.


I "rebuilt the drive out in front of the house here, after it had been unused for 40 years. I killed the grass and started adding limestone to it and using it. I added a little more to it every other year(two more times) and now it is as solid as the rest of the drive.

 

[miss_thenorth]

We started from scratch building a laneway from our driveway to our barn. We did it ourselves with the skidsteer. When I say we, I mean my dear hubby. Hedug down approx 12 inches then laid railroad rock, which is large golf ball to baseball sized rock. Then he tamped it down with a bo-mag. We are still waiting for our top layer, which will be a nice driveway gravel.

On a side note, our drainage problem seriously improved with the installation of the big RR rock. (He did go deeper by the barn--about 2')

On another side note, skidsteers can be rented, just make sure you have a toothed blade to remove sod. Bo-mags can also be rented. (although we borrowed from a friend) And if I remember correctly, you have gravel companies near you--they deliver. Skidsteers are fun to drive.

I also agree, that the old driveway is down there somewhere.

My bil used crushed asphalt in his workshop as a floor. It compacts down to be like asphalt, but it does rut from vehicles driving or resting on it. I would be more inclined to use the RR rock. Maybe you could see if company B would use that instead?

 

[deb4o]

my DH works for a concrete and asphalt company, and we used recycled asphalt or what we call farmers rock on our road and driveway it is great stuff. I would put down some larger rock or shale rock first as it will help with drainage. 1000. to install a colvert is unbelievable.It can be done much cheaper by you and its not that hard.We have done them by hand. I wouldn't use company B, they sound a little flaky.

 

[FarmerChick]

You only use this driveway about 1 - 2 times per year?

Your road base is there still....just sunk a tad and grass etc has grown over it. I would kill all the grass on the lane first. Then drive on it.
You might not need to do anything but keep that grass and weeds off of it best you can.

We have dump trucks and backhoes and all that mess so we do culvert work ourselves and maintain our own gravel roads etc.

I just don't know what cost etc would be reasonable.

If it is firm, then I would only add a small layer of gravel on top again.

Do you want a better driveway if you only use it 2 times per year? Is that money worth spending there for you?

Crushed asphalt wouldn't be good for me here in NC only because of our heat. I think that crushed asphalt would melt up soft. I don't think that would be good for a driveway here. Asphalt is a softer substance than rock.

Is this crushed asphalt WAY cheaper than gravel?

Take that $2K and take a wonderful vacation instead...LOL-LOL---if a driveway is used so little, that is tons of money to be spending in that area. I would try to reclaim what I had first before doing anything.

Interesting to see what you find out on all this.

 

[patandchickens]

Your road base is there still....just sunk a tad and grass etc has grown over it. I would kill all the grass on the lane first. Then drive on it.

That's what we've done the past few years, until the farrier's truck got so stuck it had to be towed and the hay guy's tractor made 18" ruts. Our wake-up call

Take that $2K and take a wonderful vacation instead...LOL-LOL---if a driveway is used so little, that is tons of money to be spending in that area.

I know it is kind of ridiculous, it's just that we can't get hay for the winter without a functional driveway. (Well, I have considered the possibility of buying small squares rather than 700lb large squares, putting them in a U-Haul, and then wheelbarrowing 300 small square bales the several hundred feet to the barn... but a) this is too big a job to really do with 2 small kids underfoot all day and needing watching, and b) it would not help at *all* if we need the farrier to be able to drive up to the barn to put shoes on a horse, or the vet to drive up there to do xrays)

It's not even a matter of discretionary spending of $2k... this is coming out of vacation time DH is cashing in, we really do not *have* the money to gracefully spend at *all*, although we can make it work. Sigh.

Thanks very much everyone for all your input. This thread, plus google, have convinced me that "B" is probably an ok way to go, given that we are on a very tight budget (we can always add more gravel on top of it next year if it seems insufficiently firm)...

...BUT as it happens, ahem, actually the driveway is no longer my problem anymore :/. My husband has always refused to involve himself in any of the day-to-day or maintenance or planning or repair-arranging tasks of the household (he takes out the trash and mows the lawn; anything else, including noticing things going wrong and getting them fixed, is supposed to be entirely The Stay At Home Wife's responsibiity, with him getting veto power). He not-infrequently pulls this stunt where I am left entirely on my own devices to figure out and research and decide and arrange things, he won't even tell me what he thinks or wants, and then at slightly later than the last minute he comes waltzing in with some totally random never-before-hinted-at objection. Not accompanied by any *solution* to his trivial problem mind you, just "no, we can't do it that way."

So last night he did that yet again, and it was just the very last straw in this regard. I informed him that if he didn't like what I came up with then fine, he could darn well do it HIMSELF, t was now HIS problem and that he probably does not want to find out what would happen if the hay guy's tractor cannot drive up a rebuilt barn driveway 4 weeks from now.

So now I am in for probably a few weeks or months of silence and juvenile sarcasm and insults and passive-aggressive cr*p, but, <shrug>.

I know certain of you are sitting there thinking "what a worthless schmuck, you can't even manage to merit a husband's cooperation and worse yet you're complaining about it in public; too bad you and your marriage are not perfect like me and mine." Cuz I've been told essentially that before, here. Well, phooey on anyone thinking that. Doubtless a more saintly person would either not be in this situation or would be able to somehow magically transform it. However, I am doing the best I can under the limitations of being me, and occasionally need to vent. So sue me.


Pat, who would like to sell this expletive-deleted property (much as I love some aspects of it) and move somewhere else (probably horseless, alas) that I could more easily manage myself with two kids around, but DH refuses. Grrrr.

 

[miss_thenorth]

Can I at least give you a virtual hug?

Vent away. We ALL have our days.

 

[FarmerChick]

HA HA HA
your hubby ain't a schmuck---he is like alot of hubbys.

Tony love the farm work, loves to camp, loves to do EVERTHING except house maintenance...or any type of maintenance. I have to browbeat him to trim the darn goat hooves and worm....drives me insane but it works for us...like it works for you!



OH SO THE driveway is sinking....OK then yoiu need to handle that obviously....you can not get by without doing something......sorry the vacation is lost---stinks---you got to fix the driveway,.

I would take the least cheap option. You will get years out of that option anyway....since it is used little I wouldn't worry about building a Fort Knox road at all.


Hey you vented about your hubby---heck we all do that one!
I don't think there is a "lawsuit" in there for me with a high dollar compensation, so I won't sue you..HA HA