There are many options for driveway materials, but when it comes to long lasting surfaces, the two main competitors are asphalt vs. concrete. The two materials actually have many similarities, but there are a few distinguishing details that set them apart from one another.
Read on to compare and contrast asphalt vs. concrete driveways.
Installation
Asphalt and concrete driveways are both difficult to install. Even if you are an experienced home DIYer, leave this to the professionals.
For both asphalt and concrete, the project starts with leveling the ground the forms the base of the driveway and compacting and evening the soil. After leveling, installers construct the sub-grade. The sub-grade is made of crushed rock that form a layer between the level base and the material on top.
This is where the processes for asphalt and concrete diverge.
The process for asphalt is fairly simple. It is laid over the sub-grade and given time to cool. If the homeowner wants a design stamped in the asphalt, that happens while the material is still warm.
Before your contractor pours the concrete, make sure they know where the joints will be. Joints are simply grooves sawed into the concrete to allow it space to expand and contract without cracking. If your driveway crosses over sidewalk or other pavement, you’ll need isolation joints. The other type of joint is a control joint. Control joints give your driveway room to shift without cracking.
Concrete typically has reinforcement installed before its poured. The reinforcement takes shape in a steel rebar grid across the entire area that the driveway is planned for. This reinforcement helps the homeowner avoid damaging the concrete via heavy traffic.
Homeowners need to design well before the installation is they want the concrete stamped. The material has to be at a certain point of plasticity to hold the design of the stamp, but not sink under the weight of it. This means that contractors need to stamp the concrete about halfway through the setting process.
After Installation
Asphalt and concrete both require a caring process after installation is complete.
Concrete and asphalt must be cured after they are installed. Curing is simply maintaining an adequate level of moisture in the mixture so it can achieve its full strength. For most standard concrete and asphalt mixtures, curing takes 28 to 31 days.
After the curing, the surfaces must be sealed. Sealing protects the concrete and asphalt from vehicular traffic and environmental damage. For asphalt the sealant lasts from one to three years, depending on the severity of weather and use. For concrete, the sealant lasts from one to ten years, and it depends more about the type of sealants used.
Cost
On average, concrete installation costs double the price of asphalt. However, both concrete and asphalt incur additional costs.
Concrete incurs repair cost, because it tends to crack or buckle. The cracking and buckling is not necessarily a safety hazard, but it can cause the driveway to deteriorate quicker. The quicker the driveway falls apart, the sooner it has to be re-installed.
Asphalt does not crack and buckle like concrete does, but it does have to be sealed more regularly. The big cost with sealant is actually labor costs, because it takes quite a few hours to do properly.