On Jul 9, 5:55?pm, "Robert11" wrote:
Hello:

What's a good rule of thumb for the thickness of Asphalt that one should
request from a paving contractor for a "typical" home driveway ?

How about for the gravel bed underneath the Asphalt ?

BTW: is it considered good practice to (always) remove the old gravel, or
can new Asphalt be simply laid on top of the existing gravel once the old
Asphalt is removed ?

(is it even possible to remove the old Asphalt without taking all of the
gravel bed with it ?)

Thanks,
B.

ideally dig down and remove old asphalt and old gravel bed, normally
dig down about a foot.

then rough gravel, choke gravel, rolled repeatedly, 2 inches of rough
asphalt that supplies the strength which is the rocks in the asphalt
then about a inch of topcoat.

around here people try just laying some ashalt over the old stuff.
whatever bad areas, cracks, heaves etc will just reappear.fast.

another scam is laying 3 inches of base and a inch of smooth directly
on dirt.

some neighbors did that it was low cost they are trimming the trees
and bushes coming up in the middle of their driveways.and if it
freezes instant cracks.

the gravel base is for drainage under the asphalt, without that
drainage driveways just dont last.

if you have a old driveway thats looking bad they can selectively
patch the bad areas then spray asphalt over the entire area and cover
with chips.

tar and chips can help improve the appearance and stabilize a failing
surface.........

if you do it right and seal regurally a asphalt driveway will last a
lifetime.

one by the house where i grew up is over 50 years old and looked good
till recently, the owner is elderly and unable to maintain it
properly.

my driveway was put in about 1985 and needs coated this year but has
held up well.