# Asphalt driveway built Sept '18 - Already showing tire depressions/indentations



## jmon (Nov 5, 2012)

I agree, not enough rocks were used. 

When you go with the cheaper guys they tend to use less (cheap out) stones then agreed upon. Should be at least 6-8 inches of stones put down as this is where the strength of the asphalt really lies. Asphalt on its own has no strength as evident in the sagging. So it can very easily be moved by frost or cars parking on it if not enough stones were used.

You can try parking the car in different spots, However, the same thing will eventually happen. As your asphalt doesn't have enough strength.

Your only recourse is trying to work something out with them. If no luck, go to bbb file a complaint against them. Sometimes they are more helpful when they see their name on the complaint not resolve list. BBB just basically shams the party into resolving the complaint by posting the contractor name on their website.

BBB can only file complaints they can not help you get compensation or force contractor to redo driveway. For that you would have to spend the bucks and retain a regular lawyer. 

I hope you can work something out with them and they will redo it correctly the next time. Just my thoughts and opinions. I've been there to. Good luck to hkfreak.


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## Bud9051 (Nov 11, 2015)

Unfortunately the problem may be deeper than the gravel you/he installed. On one project the entire area had to be compacted and tested and certified by an engineering firm. Not that your driveway needed all of that, but in my case i had to remove 3 feet of soil deemed not suitable for compaction. That was a lot of gravel and compacting every 6" as filled. The results were great, but the message was, those results start from down under.

I'm not sure the contractor is responsible for the engineering step to test the soil. Typically they just do as you described and hope that is good.

Bud


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## stick\shift (Mar 23, 2015)

Anecdotal evidence but I had an asphalt driveway put in on a new house in 2001 and there were no tire marks on it when I sold the place in 2009.


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## Bondo (Dec 8, 2007)

> (long strips of 10 feet long where an SUV is parked a lot in the same exact spot day after day overnight).


Ayuh,..... So don't park in the exact same spot every day, day in, 'n day out,.....

Move left/ right by a foot, or fore/ aft by a few feet,.....


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## stadry (Jun 20, 2009)

*you'll spread the static load by parking in a diff spot ea day so don't be surprised if the depressions spread,,, anything stresses pvmnt more when parked (static loads) vs rolling (dynamic loads)*


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## Bud9051 (Nov 11, 2015)

I hate to suggest this, but you could upgrade the parking area to a concrete pad. In addition to handling the load the concrete is less vulnerable to and oil or gas that may leak.

Bud


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## huesmann (Aug 18, 2011)

If your subgrade is crap, it doesn't matter how much stone and asphalt you lay down until you get into the "feet" range.


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## Canarywood1 (May 5, 2012)

And the same thing applies for concrete.


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## huesmann (Aug 18, 2011)

Yes and no. It depends on the concrete thickness and reinforcement and the heterogeneity of the subgrade. If thin and none and low, then sure, you could get a depression (via cracking).


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## Canarywood1 (May 5, 2012)

If the subgrade or subbase is inadequate ,you will have failure of the concrete.


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## Bondo (Dec 8, 2007)

huesmann said:


> Yes and no. It depends on the concrete thickness and reinforcement and the heterogeneity of the subgrade. If thin and none and low, then sure, you could get a depression (via cracking).





Canarywood1 said:


> If the subgrade or subbase is inadequate ,you will have failure of the concrete.


Ayuh,..... I'm with Canarywood,......

Unless yer talkin' a _Bridge Deck_ typa driveway,...... :wink2:


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## huesmann (Aug 18, 2011)

Yes, but the failure would not necessarily be a depression. It could be a crack the entire way across the section.


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## stadry (Jun 20, 2009)

*man, woody, it was hot in the villages ! i don't think if june's the month to test/visit *


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## Canarywood1 (May 5, 2012)

Yeah, looks like you picked the wrong year to test, this year has REALLY been a hot one, in the 90's every day for the last few weeks.


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## Jondavis1987 (Jun 10, 2019)

I work in quality control for road construction.

Asphalt needs to be about 3 inches thick for a drive way. The rock to produce a more coarse rock isn’t any more expensive than a finer asphalt unless it is just straight sand. If it is then your driveway would look just like oil and nothing else basically.


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## Jondavis1987 (Jun 10, 2019)

As far as the dirt work, what area do you live in? If you did a shovel into the ground is it primarily clay? Is there a lot of rock? Or is it more sand? When you say they built it from the ground up did you see them add a chemical to the dirt and mix it back up


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## Jondavis1987 (Jun 10, 2019)

And unlike the other people here, my primary guess would be they didn’t roll it enough.

Asphalt needs to be compacted properly from a roller to a certain amount. If it doesn’t get compacted enough then when weight is applied it will cause rutting.

If asphalt is over compacted then it will crack out.

Asphalt needs some give so when weight is applied it can sort of bow a little bit and disperse the weight. Too much give and it never comes back.


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## Jondavis1987 (Jun 10, 2019)

If it is just that section of asphalt you can have somebody saw cut the area, lay new asphalt in and compact it


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