Faced with rising prices on just about everything any more, we often face a need to cut back costs on some of the items, that we once had bigger plans for. Things such as patios or the more exotic stuff like elaborate entryways, walkways and sidewalks bear on this, but driveways are the most cumbersome of all, in this case, owing strictly to the area involved. When we face a situation like this, a level head and some creative trimming can arrive at a place that we can still work with. Knowing the costs of any project prior to its installation is the key here. Extrapolating from a known figure allows us to come to some conclusions. I will now list 2 options:
Gravel and Base Material
Gravel does not have to look bad, nor does it need to be gravel, as such. The fact is the same base material we work with providing the sub grade for all paving projects can be utilized quite efficiently as a driveway surface. The virtues of base material are a few fold:
1: It compacts extremely durably and can be re compacted and reshaped at any point. Car tires do not really impact it as much as one would think, as long as a sufficient depth and compaction is reached. It is, after all, the structure upon which we base every single other covering.
2. It is in place when we want to upgrade. The next phase will be adding an overlay of cement or asphalt to an already-groomed, compacted area. The labor saving will be substantial in spades.
3. It is not unattractive. Well-compacted base material is the same material taken almost always from rock native to the area. It is almost always produced locally. Graded correctly, this material can allow water to run off appropriately and wash up revealing some fairly effective rustic color. In terms of "finishing elements", it is also possible that another layer of different, more picturesque gravel could be added for color and general appearance.
The downside, of course, is in the fact that it is granular, therefore erosive. The granular nature will mean some rocks pop up out of the surface of a strictly 'base' driveway and, of course, this tends to increase and not decrease. So there is the maintenance aspect to consider. Attention paid to this will not be onerous at all, however, and takes a small amount of time to rectify and re compact.
Asphalt
Asphalt is the least expensive of all the different surfaces offered applied above the base itself. It has all the benefits and detriments of monolithic surfaces, in that it is intact and total as a surface. It is one color and consistent in that. It can be applied in shapes without form material, leaving curved edges, indentations at a designer's whim, and without the forming and handwork of cement.
Asphalt's only real disadvantages are that is has a definite life span and that it is monolithic, a problem when dealing with heaving and contracting sub soils in severe cold. Blazing heat can also act to loosen the integrity until it flakes, chips or loses durability in general as well.
There are protecting sealers, such as Slurry Seal that can be applied over the top and which can act to extend the life of an asphalt driveway, but these are required pretty much every year in more severe climates.
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