7 Tips to Estimate the Right Cost of an Asphalt Driveway

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A good driveway can upgrade the value of your house and also provide a safe and secure place to park your vehicle.

Several different materials can be used to build a driveway, so you are going to need to be able to determine which is best for your needs. One of the factors that you will have to consider is cost.

Therefore you are going to want to know how to estimate the cost of an asphalt driveway.

Consider size of your driveway

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The first thing that you are going to have to do to estimate the cost of an asphalt driveway is to determine just how big your driveway is going to be.

This is fairly easy to do in most cases since they are usually fairly rectangular. Even if your driveway does have a bit of an odd shape, you should not find it to be too difficult to determine the square footage for your driveway.

If you have the idea of square footage, then you need to divide that number by nine so that you can determine the square yardage.

Consider driveway thickness

The next thing that you are going to have to do is to determine how thick your driveway will need to be. The standard for an Asphalt driveway paving Sydney is three inches. This normally comprised of two inches of base pavement along with a top wearing layer of one inch.

If you are replacing an existing driveway, you can probably just replace the wearing layer so you would base your estimates on a one-inch thickness. For new construction, you will need three inches.

Consider right formula

Asphalt is sold by the ton, and there is a formula for determining how many tons you will need for your driveway. The formula is the square yardage times the constant 0.057 multiplied by the depth of pavement in inches.

Therefore if you had a driveway that was 300 square yards and three inches thick, you would come up with a requirement for 51 tons of asphalt. The price of asphalt will vary depending on several factors, particularly the price of oil, so you will want to check the current price.

If we assume it goes for $150 a ton, which is about average, the cost of paving your asphalt driveway would come to $7500.

Cost for preparation work

You should also consider prep work done beforehand. Mostly, you will need to excavate eight to twenty-four inches based on the climate in your area. If you are residing in the cooler region, then you have to go deep.

You will then need to fill that excavation with gravel and have it compacted, and this is necessary to ensure proper drainage. The cost of all of the prep work will run you at least another two to three thousand dollars, even more, if gas or plumbing lines have to be moved.

When you look at the cost of a concrete driveway, you will find that asphalt does have a lower price. That being said, you should not base the decision on the best type of driveway solely on cost; other factors have to be considered.

Home location also matters

Well, it depends on your home location. The amount of money that is spent on paving driveways varies due to numerous factors. If you have a house that is located in the countryside or maybe in an isolated place, then it needs more work than having a driveway in a house located in the town premises.

Therefore, the cost of paving your driveway is dependent on your location. Aside from the location, other factors that need considering include the compliance laws in your community, the storage area that is available for all necessary materials, the soil condition, and the drainage issues at your place.

Take help of contractor

You can ask a contractor to give you an accurate estimate, though you can make the calculations yourself about certain aspects.

The most important thing that you need to know is the exact measurement of your driveway’s complete square footage.

Ideally, the standard practice is that the quotes are priced for each square foot. This will be your baseline in determining the possible cost for your driveway paving job.

Consider potholes and cracks

Also, you should check and note if there are things that must be fixed, such as potholes or large cracks.

If you find some, there will be extra charges in fixing those ruptures, considering that it may require additional materials to get them fixed, as well as it may need a different method of job operation.

If your driveway has more cracks and potholes, the cost estimate of the driveway paving will rise.