real estate resale value?

larry merlau

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Delton, Michigan
ok on a drive way that is now crushed stone that gets picked up with the snow blade, lawn mower and the weeds like to grow right threw it.. so here is the next course, asphalt or concrete and then will that pay for self in resale or is it just a extra that doesnt pay back except for the personal convenience ?
 
I can't answer your question Larry, but know about the stone driveways.... about half of mine is now at the bottom of the hill and partially in the roadway because UPS and FEDEX and Postpersons all seem to want to back up the driveway and it's difficult to back up a 15 or 20% grade in gravel.... they continually dig holes in my DW and/or throw the rocks down the hill.

I actually planned to asphault my driveway when we first bought the place... I contact 3 different companies to come out and give us a quote.. even stopped at the office of one and made an appointment... NEVER got a single company to offer a quote or to come out... in those days I had the money to have it done... now on SS, won't ever happen.... I just keep shoveling it back up the hill and spray for the weeds.

JOKE: Best way in Tennessee to grow a lawn, pour gravel and call it a driveway.
 
Depends on the climate. The winter weather in your and my neck of the woods will ruin a concrete driveway. Best to go asphalt. A finished driveway will add to the resale value but is pretty expensive. It cost me $3500 about 12 years ago to have mine done. 250 feet long 9 feet wide plus 2 parking areas.
 
I'm sure it will add to your resale value considerably. Contact your friendly local realtor for their opinion based on selling experiences.
I have gravel and fight the weed problem. I spray twice each summer with Round Up.
 
Chuck, You and I are in the same boat pretty much. My driveway is fairly long and steep, and the delivery trucks really take a toll on it. Now that we finally got some moisture, I'll get on my little garden tractor with a box scraper on the back and do some maintenance. I typically try and drag as much of the gravel back up as I can. Can't do it when it's dry, because of the dust and the fact that then it's about as hard as concrete and it does no good.

The big issue is that all of the gravel has pretty much worked it's way into the ground...

We buy roundup by the big ole jug at Costco and I have a 15 gallon sprayer I put on the back of the garden tractor. First couple of sprays in the spring I'll go through 3 or 4 tank fulls spraying all of the gravel areas around the house...
 
well bob,, i was leaning that way it looks good when yu give it a new seal job and the concrete once it get cracked always looks less appealing..and to replace the crushed rock again as it keeps getting moved or packed down in the dirt is costly too..then add on the fact that i am not a bank,, where does the cost match the benefits and who for?
 
I've never had a home appraisal that even mentioned the driveway. I'm sure it does add some value if the whole thing is easier to maintain, but some may see that as a maintenance factor after it gets to be older. I guess you could look at it as a pool. Some see it as an asset, others will see it as a expense. :dunno:
 
I'm not a expert, but Roundup is not what I use. You can spray with Roundup and can plant in the same place in a week. I use a soil sterlizer that I spray on once a year. It works great. Keep in mind that I live in a arid area so not quite as much growing going on. But I don't think Roundup is the correct application.
 
Don't know if it will raise the value but it sure could be the difference between a sale or no sale, great selling point:thumb: Never have regretted asphalting my drive and it sure cuts down dirt in the garage and house:thumb: Besides gravel can have the tendency to be thrown from mowers thru door windows:rolleyes: and they aren't cheep to fix either:)
 
I'm not a expert, but Roundup is not what I use. You can spray with Roundup and can plant in the same place in a week. I use a soil sterlizer that I spray on once a year. It works great. Keep in mind that I live in a arid area so not quite as much growing going on. But I don't think Roundup is the correct application.

What do you use Paul? I'd be very interested. The roundup does require repeat applications. This year looks like its' going to be very 'weedy'...
 
It's not going to add a ton to resale. But it will and a ton to keeping the dust and dirt out of your house.:thumb: Plus it melts the snow off faster than a dirt drive. So the real pay back is the convenience for you now. Not so much what it will bring down the road.
If I was flipping a house the last thing I would put money into is paving the drive.:thumb:
 
my :twocents: aren't about resale...

From what I've heard, there's vast differences between asphalt installers/quality. Make sure you do your homework. Make sure they do a good job on preparing the roadbed under it.
 
Don't know if it will raise the value but it sure could be the difference between a sale or no sale, great selling point:thumb: Never have regretted asphalting my drive and it sure cuts down dirt in the garage and house:thumb: Besides gravel can have the tendency to be thrown from mowers thru door windows:rolleyes: and they aren't cheep to fix either:)

dont find the right emotion con for you tom but be sure to throw out some scratch feed you gonna need it:):rofl::rofl:
 
Okay, as Larry has seen, I have a 150 foot gravel driveway, with a 25 X 75 foot parking pad at the end of it. It's gravel - a mix of 'pea' stone and 1/2~3/4 crushed. Right now, it needs 'topped up' with about five yards of fresh pea stone.

My real problem, though is frost heave. With last week's thaw, I have about a 4" high heave, and it's so soft that the cars sink in about 4" just driving over it. Heck, I sink in almost to my shoe tops in places.

It froze again over night, and hasn't thawed enough today to be able to work with it. I had planned on using the lawn tractor and roller to press it back down (I do this three or four times every Spring.), but will have to wait until the next thaw cycle for that.

My main problem here is that the underlying soil is nasty yellow clay that holds the water and make a sticky, glue-like mess under the gravel, and that's what is causing the heave.

I think the only way I'd be able to successfully pave mine (asphalt, BTW) would be to excavate about 1½~2 feet and backfill with decreasingly sized stone - like 2~4" goonies, then 1~2 crush, then 3/4" crush - before topping it with several inches of asphalt. All that seems very labor intensive, and also very expensive.

So, any advice or suggestions?
 
Can't comment on resale aspects, but I'm a bit anal about driveway maintenance. We rebuilt ours with a mix of 3/4" crushed rock and fine crusher dust , about 9-10" deep a few years ago after a big renovation job basically destroyed the old one. The fine material locks it together well. We drag it in the spring when it's still soft and it levels out well.
We ruled out asphalt because of the heavy loads we bring in, farm and construction machinery, trailerloads of firewood, cement trucks etc. The thin coat of asphalt you get in residential applications wouldn't stand up to that and once cracked and rutted, is basically unrepairable.
I would like to eventually have some hard-surfaced work areas though, but they'll be re-inforced concrete.
I find one application of Round-Up in late spring is adequate.
Keeping the rocks off the lawns during snow removal is important, especially that first snow of the year when the ground is invariably still un-frozen. A light touch on the loader control and skid shoes on the blower help a lot.
Peter:wave:
 
I have (I guess had) an asphalt driveway and don't care much for it. To keep it looking nice it needs to be re-coated basically every year, but I'm a psycho... I don't like not being able to park a trailer or motorcycle on it with out having something under the tounge or kickstand in the summer to prevent it from sinking in. Keeping a nice crisp line from the driveway and the lawn is really difficult as well.

On the plus side asphalt warms up, and melts off snow a hair faster than concrete.

Given the choice I'd do concrete. You can stamp it, color it, form it up to put pavers in as a border, etc.
 
Okay, as Larry has seen, I have a 150 foot gravel driveway, with a 25 X 75 foot parking pad at the end of it. It's gravel - a mix of 'pea' stone and 1/2~3/4 crushed. Right now, it needs 'topped up' with about five yards of fresh pea stone.

My real problem, though is frost heave. With last week's thaw, I have about a 4" high heave, and it's so soft that the cars sink in about 4" just driving over it. Heck, I sink in almost to my shoe tops in places.

It froze again over night, and hasn't thawed enough today to be able to work with it. I had planned on using the lawn tractor and roller to press it back down (I do this three or four times every Spring.), but will have to wait until the next thaw cycle for that.

My main problem here is that the underlying soil is nasty yellow clay that holds the water and make a sticky, glue-like mess under the gravel, and that's what is causing the heave.

I think the only way I'd be able to successfully pave mine (asphalt, BTW) would be to excavate about 1½~2 feet and backfill with decreasingly sized stone - like 2~4" goonies, then 1~2 crush, then 3/4" crush - before topping it with several inches of asphalt. All that seems very labor intensive, and also very expensive.

So, any advice or suggestions?

Your headed in the right direction Jim. You may have to go deeper than you are thinking to get rid of that mussy stuff as long as it is under there you will have that problem.
 
Your headed in the right direction Jim. You may have to go deeper than you are thinking to get rid of that mussy stuff as long as it is under there you will have that problem.

Yeah, that's what I'm afraid of. Costs of all that labor, haulaway, and fill/tamp/fill/tamp/fill/tamp... will be outta sight - and that's not even thinking about the cost of the asphalt & finishing.

I just came in from spending an hour on the tractor, smoothing it with the blade and rolling to compact it again. Hopefully, we won't get another deep freeze again this year...
 
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