Asphalt Driveway Cost – How To Estimate Before You Call A Contractor

Update: This article was written in 2009. The outlook for asphalt prices in 2012 is still not very good. As of June 2012, asphalt prices are still near the highs from 2010. Its very hard to predict what will happen to prices in 2013 but its likely prices will be very volatile and higher than the prices shown in this article.

First let me point out that this article is only a guide so that you can get a feel for what a new driveway may cost. Please remember that local markets will fluctuate quite a bit based on demand and current asphalt prices and any heavy haul services required. Also, these prices assume no base prep work which can add quite a bit of money to the job.

Recently we had the wearing surface of our driveway installed. Before paving the wearing course I did some quick estimates of the asphalt driveway cost. When we built our home three years ago I only had the first 2-inches of base asphalt pavement installed. I opted to wait before I installed the wearing surface (top 1-inch) to save money and also let the sub-base and base settle over several winters.

Now that weve been through several winters I decided it was time to finally install the wearing surface before the pavement was damaged by water and settlement. So I thought it might be fun to show you how to calculate how many tons of asphalt pavement you need to help understand what an asphalt driveway cost. Alternatively you can use a driveway cost calculator.

Asphalt driveways are typically priced by the ton. Currently in this part of New England asphalt driveway costs about $120 to $150 per ton installed with little to no base prep. In order to estimate the cost of a driveway resurfacing or a complete new driveway you need to understand how to calculate the total tons. We use the following equation:

Tons Of Asphalt Pavement = Square Yards Of Pavement * 0.057 * Depth Of Pavement In Inches

So my example is as follows: 1 Inch thick wearing surface with 3,423 square feet of pavement. To get square yards I needed to take 3,423 sq. ft. of pavement divided by 9 sq. ft. per sq. yard = 380 sq. yards. Therefore my tons of asphalt = 380 sq. yds * o.057 * 1 inch = 22 tons of asphalt pavement. If you assume an average cost of $140 per ton then the driveway costs $3,080.

If youre building a new driveway then you need to base it on a depth of 3-inches. Most asphalt driveways have 2 inches of base pavement followed by 1 inch of wearing pavement. Obviously the asphalt driveway cost will depend on exactly how thick your new driveway is.

The example above is one way to estimate the job cost. Another gut check for me is to look at the cost of the asphalt plus the crew/equipment cost. Right now (July 2012) just asphalt alone is at $75/ton. So 22 tons at $75/ton = $1,650. A driveway that size will take about 4 hours, lets say a half day (you can usually do either 1 or 2 driveways in a day so just figure out if youre a really large one or an average size. Crew costs plus equipment is around $400/hr for 4 hours = $1,600. Materials plus labor therefore is around $3,250. So my point is these are tools for getting you in the ballpark.i.e. this is a $3K +/- job and not a $10K job.

The asphalt surface is only one factor in having a strong driveway. Be sure your new driveway has an adequate driveway sub-base with proper drainage.

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Asphalt Driveway Cost - How To Estimate Before You Call A Contractor