need to remove old asphalt AND lay patio. Double question here.

[artmaker]

Hello, first time here.

OK, I have an old horrible asphalt driveway. A very small, say 8x10 foot section next to my garage would make a wonderful patio. This asphalt is really old. Cracked, weeds growing through. Warped, looks like it's heaved a few times over the years. I would like to remove it. Now bits of it come up on their own so I thought I could go at it with a sledge hammer and break it up. Well NOT! Hammer just bounces off. I found another thread here suggesting I'd have to rent some kind of saw? Or hire a pro? Really??? WEEDS can lift this, why can't I????

Part two, laying a patio. First idea was to pour cement. On a very small scale like this I have done it before under our washer/dryer. Mixed quick create in a wheel barrow. I could do the same here. Would I really need to remove the asphalt if I go this route? A patio about 3-4 inches higher than it is now would be ok. (Not ideal.)

I'd really like to just buy pre made stones at Lowes but that means getting this asphalt out of there.

Any suggestions? I'd be willing to send someone a picture if you can offer help.

[PipeDown]

Use a flat blade shovel or a wrecking bar to get under the asphalt and lift it up. It is too soft to pound on as you already know. Pound the wrecking bar diagonally under the pavement then put a rock to act as a fulcrum under the bar then pry out a chunk. Once you get going, you may be able to lift it out by hand by the sounds of the condition.

If you are lucky, the soil underneath already has some base material. If not, you should dig down a few more inches and put some base rock in then compact. Next put a few inches of sand and lay pavers. If you want concrete (say to set flagstone in) you can skip the sand. If you want pavers, skip the concrete.

2" sand is enough, how much base material depends on how stable you want it to be vs. how stable the ground already is. 3"-5" is usually enough.

You may be able to put sand and pavers on top of the asphalt but it will increase the height and may still heave and move in the future.

BTW, Cement is a component of concrete in addition to sand and gravel. Confusing cement and concrete usually results in flames in this NG.

[artmaker]

OH thank you for this. Actually my 13 year old son made a good dent. (Just give a big kid a large hammer and see what can happen!)

He got half of this out already but I'll try the prying technique. (Right now he's got this pulverized into rubble.)

I may hire a pro for the cement. Just to get it done right the first time. (My attempts usually involve at least one oops and a redo!)