How to repair street end of driveway that has loose asphalt?

Question

The blacktop at the street end of my driveway is cracking after only 3 years (see photo below). (I think the repaving was poorly done.) The rest of the driveway has no cracks but is not perfectly flat. I have filled in some of the cracks with a sealer that is applied by melting with a blowtorch, but some of the blacktop edge is already loose, not attached to anything.

I am thinking of trying to cut off the last 6 inches of the blacktop and replacing it with cobblestone? Or with something else? But I do not know much about asphalt.

Would such a repair work? Would it save the rest of the driveway or just create more problems? Is making the repair as simple as cutting a straight line with a circular saw and putting in the cobblestone? Or do I need to protect the cut edge from the weather?

I live in New York State where there are many days above and below freezing.

Thanks.

Answer 1

Asphalt is only as good as the base it's laid on.

The fact that you appear to have vegetation growing out of the cracks implies that the base may be a bit iffy right there.

There's no particular benefit to ripping up 6 feet of driveway and changing to cobblestone if you have a few inches deteriorating - since your picture only shows a small area, and the usual pattern is cracking near the edges, I'm guessing a much smaller area is actually cracked.

Changing to cobblestone does not magically solve anything - cobblestone is also only as good as its base, and is normally a lot more expensive, and it's hard to clear snow from effectively, which is needful in New York State. They can be very slippery and are inherently uneven.

An effective fix in any case will be to remove the damaged area, fix the base so it's solid, and then put (whatever) on top. Whatever could be new asphalt, concrete, or cobblestone. A solid base is excavating down below any traces of topsoil and filling with compacted "road base" - crushed stone including the fine dust, ideally, but that varies somewhat with locale and what's available. Compaction is important. When the base moves, the surface cracks.

One more possible factor is that the asphalt at the edge needs to be laid in "full thickness" - if the base is not cut down at the point where it butts into the road/street surface and you have a thin or tapered layer at the edge, failure is assured.

Answer 2

All pavement has edges, and you can't really protect them other than preventing standing water and significant ice buildup in the gaps.

In your case I'd do one of two things...

• Make parallel cuts across the driveway and remove a strip of asphalt around the damage. Fill it with cold-pack or hot mix if you can source it cheaply. Seal the entire driveway during your next favorable weather opportunity.

• Do as you suggested and fit pavers into such a channel. You'll want to acquire the pavers, lay them out, trace them and cut to fit. Use good substrate, well compacted, and leave the pavers about 1/4" proud of the asphalt surface to allow for settling. I'd still seal the rest of your asphalt eventually.

Note that the torch-melt stuff isn't all it's cracked up to be. (See what I did there?) It's not something that the layperson can do well since it takes a lot of heat to melt it and keep it melted as it flows into a crack. I just use the jugs of pourable sealant, letting them dry and filling again where shrinkage is severe. I skim the pour with a trowel to flatten it well, so there aren't raised trails all over. Then go over the whole thing with a high-quality coating.

Answer 3

I recommend getting a few quotes from some paving companies. They will know how to best make the repair. However, keep reading.

I live in Upstate NY.

It sounds like you've never done asphalt but if you're interested then you'll need the following supplies:

• 7" Circular saw with at least 10 amps of power (make sure it's corded, batteries will die too quickly). If you have a wet circular saw then that's even better since it will eliminate dust.
• Segmented diamond blade for dry cutting
• Aquaphalt 6.0
• Flat shovel
• Metal rake
• Tamper
• Wheelbarrow
• Water (a hose or a 5-gallon bucket will do)

Now make a cut in your driveway parallel to the crack staying at least 2 inches away from the crack. Make sure you're cutting a solid base and not in the middle of another weak spot. The asphalt should only be 1-2 inches deep but it's okay to set the saw to maximum cutting depth since it's just gravel below the asphalt.

Use the square shovel to remove some asphalt up to the road edge; put in wheelbarrow for later disposal. If the road edge is perfectly vertical then remove the rest of the cut asphalt. If the road has a lip that goes under your driveway then you should request permission from the town to make a cut on your driveway to remove the road lip so that the new asphalt has a vertical surface to adhere to. If you cannot acquire this permission then that's okay because Aquaphalt has great performance even at shallow depths. Why a flat vertical edge is desirable.

Install the Aquaphalt. Do not, I repeat, DO NOT use the fifteen dollar bags of garbage asphalt that is sold at most retailers; seek out the Aquaphalt. You can seal after 24 hours.