We live southeast of Phoenix, AZ and presently have no paved driveway. Our winter temperatures are mild and we get very little percipitation, however our summer temperatures can easily reach 110-115° F.
Would an asphalt driveway be a very poor choice in this climate? Frankly, we can't afford a concrete driveway, as the size we need would run over $10K.
Currently the surface is compacted decomposed granite.
TIA
It may be a problem:
On Tue 30 Jun 2009 06:31:03p, Frank told us...
Thanks, that's the sort of information I was looking for. There is a lot of asphalt paving in our area (not necessarily driveways), so now I'm wondering if there may be something special they do the the material in our area to make it more durable. I think a few calls to local pavers are in order.
I'd go with a concrete pad up near the house and carport/garage, and maybe some concrete out at the road if ruts are a problem there. Asphalt will be killer hot in summer where you are. For the part of the driveway that you never stop/start on, is the crushed granite giving you problems? A concrete entry and a concrete parking pad up at the house, with gravel in between, is pretty common on rural lots around here where the house is not up by the road.
-- aem sends...
Very poor choice in nearly all climates actually. Save up for the concrete, anything else is throwing money away. Asphalt will get far too hot in your climate, deteriorates quickly, requires annual maintenance and has a significantly shorter life span than concrete even with annual maintenance.
On Tue 30 Jun 2009 07:10:18p, Pete C. told us...
Thanks for your comments, Pete. We have too many other financial priorities to ever accumulate 10K in the foreseeable future. Maybe we'll just stick with our compacted granite, or think about laying down pavers. At least the latter would not have to be completed all at once.
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