Asphalt vs Concrete Driveway by General Contractor

Are you moving into a new built house and is having doubts on whether you are going to use asphalt or concrete on your new driveway or do you just want to change your driveway to a newer one? The material will be using to our driveway is also an important aspect since we will be using it and drives our car back and forth in our driveway for so many years to come.

Asphalt vs Concrete Driveway General Contractor

So what are the difference between an asphalt and concrete driveway? These two types of driveway may have a lot of similarities but they can also have many differences which would typically show us which one is perfect for our new driveway.

Installation of asphalt by general contractor

When having a driveway installation, it is a must that we hire professionals to do the job for us since installations of driveway needs certain skills and equipments. The whole process of installing an asphalt driveway isn’t that easy which starts from the application of the asphalt to the rolling and compressing of it.

Concrete driveway is easier to install and if we wanted to put some design and style to it, the color of the concrete would make it easier for us to put it. Yet, it is more time consuming compared to the asphalt especially when it comes to its curing time that could lasts for 7days or more which would be the downside of the concrete driveway.

Costs to install driveway by general contractor

The costs for these two types of driveway do actually has a big difference where we can save around 45% of the total cost of the installation if we are able to choose the asphalt driveway. If we would base the cost for the average pricing of asphalt driveway in Los Angeles, it usually costs from $2 to $6 per square foot.

Installing a concrete driveway though would costs us more where it costs $4 to $10 per square foot but this price is somehow totally worth it because the concrete driveway has a longer lifespan compared to the asphalt driveway which is perfect if we wanted to prevent repairs after a couple of years. If we would like add a stain or color to our driveway, we can also ask the contractor to do it, which they usually charges for $5 per square foot.

Composition and Appearance by general contractor

Both of these types of driveway materials are made of stone and sand for their composition but what differentiate the two is the adhesive element that was used to bind its ingredients together. For the asphalt, the adhesive that was used is a tar which is a byproduct of kerosene, gasoline and diesel production while the adhesive that was used for the concrete is cement.

When it comes to the appearance of the two, the asphalt is the dark one hence it is also called as the blacktop but if we wanted to put a color to our asphalt driveway, we can also put stains and specialized finishes to the driveway although colors that are available for this only limited.

However, the concrete has the lighter color compared to asphalt and if we wanted to place some design and style to our driveway, it would be much easier if we will use the concrete and for the specialized finishes and stain colors, we will have more options with the concrete.

Curing driveway by general contractor

The curing time of the newly made driveway is also a very important thing that we should know and both the asphalt and the concrete have different curing time. If we are using asphalt, it will only cure for a few days thus we can already use our driveway in three to five days while if we will use the concrete, it tends to cure longer and it would take seven days or more for us to drive our car on top of it.

• Climate

The fast-changing climates do also have its different effect on both types of driveway and if we are in an area that is prone to a hot weather then we shouldn’t choose asphalt for this type of material softens easily with the hot weather hence we can find formation of cracks and crumbling on our driveway’s edges during those hotter days.

On the other hand, the concrete is the exact opposite since the weakness of the concrete is the cold weather. We won’t have any problem with our concrete driveway if we are experiencing hot weather but if it is a cold weather, concrete tends to frost heave which results to the cracking of the driveway.

• Durability

When talking about the durability of the driveway, the concrete has more lifespan where with or without proper maintenance, the driveway can still last for 50 years while when we will have asphalt driveway, it would only last for 30 years and even 5 years if isn’t maintained properly.

The durability of these materials are actually very important if we wanted to save money in the future for don’t want to have our driveway changed from time to time just because it can tear and get damaged easily.

Maintenance

For their maintenance, both of them have their ups and downs. So for the asphalt, its downs is that it is prone to repairs since it easily gets brittle and if we wanted to prevent any brittleness in our asphalt driveway then we have to schedule a resealing every three to five years.

However, if we have a concrete driveway, it doesn’t easily get brittle but the only problem with this one is that when there are any cracks due to the cold weather, it is very hard to hide the repairs compared to the asphalt that isn’t very noticeable if being covered properly.

Now that you already know the difference between the asphalt and concrete driveway, have you already made up your mind with which of the two will you choose for your new driveway? If that’s the case, call us now because we are the Fidelity Builders and Design, Inc and we have professional contractors that will help you make your dream driveway. Call us now at 1-877-737-5554.