The secret to a smooth and visually appealing driveway is regular care and maintenance. Whether it’s asphalt, concrete, brick, cobblestone, or just gravel, a driveway is exposed to the elements all year round, and sooner or later, nature will begin to win the battle. But, of course, that could be an even faster process if the original work was rushed or shoddy. This article is an in-depth look at the cost estimation for driveway repair and replacement. Hopefully, at the end of it, you’ll come out with a much better idea of how much addressing your driveway problems will cost you. So let’s get into it!
How Much Does It Cost to Seal a Driveway?
Sealing a blacktop or asphalt driveway is a great way to prolong the material’s longevity, prevent moisture penetration, and keep it looking new and fresh. You can do it yourself, but there are plenty of professional services out there that’ll take care of it for you. The US’s average cost for materials and labor is $0.17 to $0.24 per square foot. For a 480 square foot driveway, that comes out to anywhere from $80 to $115. On the other hand, sealing a larger driveway, for example, 1,000 square feet will cost between $170 and $240.
How Much Does It Cost to Resurface a Driveway?
Resurfacing an asphalt driveway involves doing any necessary minor repairs and applying a new layer of asphalt on top of the old. Resurfacing can cost you between $3 and $7 per square foot on average, depending on the condition of your driveway and the area you’re in. This comes out to roughly $1440 to $3360 for a 480 square foot driveway and $3000 to $7000 for a larger, 1000 square foot driveway. The bigger the job, the better the price you can usually get from contractors, as labor makes up most of the expenses of this job.
How Much Does It Cost to Replace a Driveway?
Replacing an asphalt driveway is a big job, and you’ll have to cover the costs of removal of the old asphalt layer (if necessary) as well as the materials and labor of the new one. This is how a cost estimation for driveway replacement breaks down.
Paving a driveway costs between $7 to $13 per square foot – $2 to $6 per square foot for materials and $5 to $7 per square foot for labor. Asphalt removal can cost you between $1 to $3 per square foot. This comes out to between $3360 and $6240 for a 480 square foot driveway if you’re just paving a layer of asphalt, and between $3840 and $7680 if you also need or want the removal of the old layer.
How Often Should You Seal or Resurface Your Driveway
Sealing is a great way to keep your driveway looking fresh and prevent (most) water from getting in and causing cracks. Resealing too often, though, can be too much of a good thing. Some homeowners insist on sealing their driveways every year, but this can cause the coat to crack and peel.
Average Driveway Repair Costs by Material
Sometimes you don’t need to seal, resurface, or replace a driveway – you just need to repair it. Here is a cost estimation for driveway repair by material type.
Concrete
Repairing a concrete driveway tends to be a bit more expensive than asphalt since asphalt is easier to work with. That said, you can expect to pay between $3 and $8 per square foot for concrete driveway repairs and patching. In addition, if you have cracks, expect to pay $0.50 to $3 per linear foot to fix those.
Asphalt
Asphalt is the most popular driveway material for good reason. It’s easy to work with and cheaper than most alternatives (only gravel is cheaper). Fixing it is also less expensive than fixing problems with concrete, brick, or cobblestone driveway.
You can expect to pay $2 to $5 for asphalt driveway repairs, including patching.
If the repairs call for the use of a saw cut, then that price will jump to around $4 to $12 per square foot.
Infrared asphalt repair will cost you between $2 and $6 per square foot. This technology involves using infrared rays to heat the asphalt until it softens, and it becomes possible to blend new asphalt with the old seamlessly. This can be a good choice to level uneven surfaces and similar issues – where removing the existing asphalt would be excessive, but so would laying a new layer on top.
Finally, filling cracks in blacktop driveways will cost you the same as concrete – $0.50 to $3 per linear foot.
Brick
Repairing a brick driveway will run you between $2 and $8 per square foot.
Cobblestone
Cobblestone driveway repair can be tricky, requiring careful removal of damaged pieces and the ones surrounding them and then equally careful replacement. This involves a lot of labor, so cobblestone driveway repair is comparatively expensive – $8 to $20 per square foot.
Gravel
Gravel is the cheapest material out of this list and also the easiest to repair. It’ll cost you only $0.25 to $2.20 per square foot to repair a gravel driveway.