Asphalt Driveway Paving in Grand Rapids, MI

Asphalt driveway paving starts below the surface. A new driveway is a layer of native soil, a compacted gravel base, and a few inches of hot-mix asphalt on top. In Grand Rapids, where the ground freezes and thaws through most of the winter, the gravel and the drainage do more to decide how long a driveway lasts than anything you can see. When an old driveway has alligator cracks, a sunken strip by the garage or edges breaking into the lawn, the base and water are almost always the cause.

When a driveway is past saving

• Cracks that join into a web or alligator pattern across large areas
• Potholes that come back the season after they are patched
• Low spots where water or ice sits after every thaw
• Edges crumbling where the plow or snowblower hits them
• So many patches that little of the original asphalt is left

HomeGuide's repair guide points to replacement when cracking covers most of the surface, potholes keep returning, the driveway is 20 to 30 years old or drainage problems never go away. A driveway with a few isolated cracks is usually a sealing and patching job instead.

How we build it

The old surface comes out and gets hauled away. We look at what is underneath, dig out soft or wet subgrade, and replace it with compacted crushed stone. The gravel base is then graded so water runs off the driveway toward the lawn or street rather than toward the garage or the house, and compacted in lifts. Cost guides describe a typical residential build as 6 to 8 inches of compacted gravel under 2 to 3 inches of compacted asphalt; driveways that carry pickups with trailers, RVs or delivery trucks get more of each. Your quote states both numbers.

Joints that matter

The two places driveways fail first are the joints. At the garage, the asphalt has to taper down to meet the slab without leaving a lip that the snowblower catches. At the street, many Grand Rapids homes have a concrete approach in the public right-of-way. Repairing or replacing that approach needs a city Sidewalk/Drive Approach Permit pulled by a holder of the city's Sidewalk Builder's License, so if your project reaches the approach, we explain how that part is handled and permitted before it goes on the schedule. If the approach is staying, we tie the new asphalt into it cleanly.

Timing

New driveways go in from late spring to early fall. Grand Rapids' average last frost is around May 1 and the first fall frost around October 11, and hot mix needs warm ground to compact properly. Most driveway jobs take a day or two once the base is ready, depending on size and how much digging the subgrade needs.

Living with new asphalt

Fresh asphalt stays soft through its first summer. Keep cars off it for a few days, avoid turning the wheel while parked, move where you park now and then, and put a board under motorcycle stands and trailer jacks. HomeGuide recommends waiting 3 to 6 months before sealing a new driveway so it can cure; after that, sealing every few years and filling cracks each fall protect it through the winters.