Asphalt Driveway Paving in Dallas, TX
New asphalt driveways, private lanes and long acreage drives. Six inches of compacted base, two to three inches of hot mix, finished in a day on most properties.
What goes into an asphalt driveway
An asphalt driveway is two layers. The bottom is crushed stone flex base, compacted until a loaded truck doesn't leave a track in it. The top is hot mix asphalt, delivered at about 300 degrees and rolled before it cools below 175. The base carries the weight. The asphalt keeps water out of the base.
You need a new one when the surface has alligator cracking, which looks like a dried mud flat. That pattern means the base has failed, and no patch or sealcoat will hold over it. Ruts where the tires run and water standing a day after rain are the other two signs.
Asphalt suits long runs best. A 300 foot lane to a house on an acre costs about half as much in asphalt as in concrete. Short city driveways are a closer call, and we go through that in our guide to asphalt vs concrete driveways in Texas.
One thing to check first. In Dallas and most of its suburbs, the approach has to be concrete. That's the strip between the street and your property line, and it needs a city permit. Some HOAs set rules for the rest of the driveway too. We look up the rules for your address before we quote, so you don't pay for work the city makes you tear out.
How we pave a driveway
- Measure and mark. We measure the driveway, check the slope with a level, and call 811 to have buried lines marked. You get a written quote with square footage, base depth and asphalt thickness.
- Dig out and build the base. We remove the old surface and dig to firm ground, usually 8 to 9 inches down. Six inches of flex base goes in as two layers, each compacted with a vibratory roller.
- Pave. Hot mix goes down 2.5 to 3.5 inches loose, which compacts to 2 or 3. We roll it while it's still above 175 degrees, because after that it won't tighten up.
- Finish the edges. We tamp the edges at a 45 degree angle so they don't crumble under a tire. Then the cones go up and the driveway is left alone to cool.
What Dallas ground does to a driveway
Dallas sits on Blackland Prairie clay. It swells in a wet spring and shrinks in August, and the surface can move more than an inch between seasons. Two inches of asphalt laid on bare clay follows that movement and cracks within a year or two. Six inches of compacted base spreads the load and lets the clay move underneath without breaking the top.
Water is the other half. We set a cross slope of about 2 percent, a quarter inch per foot, so rain runs off the side and doesn't sit against your garage. On flat lots we sometimes add a shallow swale along one edge to carry it to the street.
What it costs
New asphalt driveways in Dallas typically run $4 to $8 per square foot with the base included. A 12 by 50 foot driveway is 600 square feet, so $2,400 to $4,800. Breaking out and hauling old concrete adds $1 to $2 per square foot. Tight access, steep grades and soft ground push a job toward the top of the range. If your base is still sound, resurfacing costs about half. Full numbers are in our Dallas driveway cost guide.
Driveway questions
How thick should an asphalt driveway be?
Two inches after compaction for cars, and three if you park a pickup, RV or trailer on it. The base matters more than the top. We use six inches of flex base on Dallas clay.
Can you pave asphalt over my old concrete driveway?
Yes, but we advise against it on most Dallas driveways. The joints and cracks in the slab show through the new asphalt within a couple of years. Breaking out the concrete and building a proper base costs more now and lasts much longer.
How long does a driveway job take?
One day for most driveways under 1,500 square feet. Tear-out and base go in during the morning and we pave in the afternoon. Long lanes, or jobs that need a new concrete approach, take two to three days.
Related pages
Want a number for your driveway?
We'll measure it, check the slope and send a written quote. It's free.