Ohioguy wrote:
We moved into our refurbished (FHA rehab loan) 1979 home back in
March. I had been planning on just applying a couple of those
"squeegee" sealcoats onto the old asphalt drive, but the huge and very
heavy dumpster that they had resting there during the rehab process
caused a bit of damage on the way out.

I tried patching one of the holes with pothole filler, with mixed
results. (looks ok, but we were tracking in black crap on our shoes for
weeks)

I really just wanted to call a local blacktop place and have them take
care of it for about $500. (it is a roughly 180 square foot area - not
too big) It would have been taken care of quickly. Guess what? Not an
option. The city where we've moved has issued an order where homeowners
have 2 options:

1) put in concrete that meets a long list of requirements (cost: about $3k)

or
2) homeowner must do the repair 100% on their own.


The latter would allow me to do less expensive options, however,
nothing is going to look like new. There are pitted areas that need
filled in, since this is at least 20 years old, and has been let go.
I've cleaned all the dirt and debris out, and killed any plants with
herbicide. I am rather miffed that I can't just have somebody come in
and repair it.

What I'm considering now is called "whitetopping" - basically covering
the pitted blacktop up with a fiber reinforced concrete layer, about 2"
thick. I've seen the 40# quickrete bags specifically for this selling
for about $10 each locally. It would probably cost about $220 total,
and I'm guessing that it would need a lot less maintenance than an
asphalt surface. Plus, my wife and I don't really care for a dark
black - we are used to the grey of limestone out in a driveway. The
dark black is just too hot for barefooting in the summer.

I was wondering - anyone out there have experience with whitetopping?
I'm wondering how well it holds up.

Thanks!

The CITY, not an HOA, issued that order? The restriction isn't called
out on the deed for the property? I'd be inclined to spend the 3k on a
lawyer, just on principle. What possible legitimate public interest is
served by the city banning professionally installed asphalt drives? Are
all the streets concrete around there? I do not think it would survive a
properly-done challenge. Sounds like somebody on city council has a
brother-in-law that owns a concrete company.

But having ranted that- I'd be highly dubious of a 2-inch layer of
glorified sakcrete over an asphalt substrate holding up very well. In
concrete, substrate is everything. Asphalt and concrete expand and
contract at different rates with temp swings, and asphalt drives flex
with ground moisture and frost conditions. Not to mention, concrete
wants to be one continuous pour, unless you are going to put in LOTS of
expansion joints. That thin overlay concept my work for a spalled front
sidewalk or back patio, but cars are HEAVY.

--
aem sends...