Snowbelt driveway material?
 

My driveway is about 100' long and maybe 10' wide. Right now it's crushed rock/gravel, but I'd like to do something else with it. Is there a reasonably priced DIY alternative? The other drives in the neighborhood are gravel, pavement, or concrete.

The issue is Minnesota winters and keeping the driveway clear. My current solution with the gravel is to pack down a couple of inches of snow as a frozen 'base' and then snowblow down to that the rest of the winter. I still end up kicking up rock, and it can get pretty slick.

Thoughts?

I vote concrete with frequent expansion joints - I've had a concrete driveway for about 15 years that, though it has a few cracks, is in remarkably good condition. The nice thing is in the winter, you can snowblow all the way down to it and have dry pavement.

I vote concrete too, but it is so expensive. I've been thinking about pouring it myself in 10x20 sections, but I'm not sure how well the next pour would do with the last pour.

Concrete with expansion joints and a nice "broom finish"...It works here in MI, so it should work there in MN! No salt in the winter, it will ruin the concrete.

How thick does a concrete driveway need to be?

My neighbor made his driveway out of a combination of pavers and concrete. It looks nice but it cost a lot more than plain old concrete. The pavers expand and contract with the weather so they act as expansion joints. You can stain and seal the concrete to get some attractive looks, too...

Concrete will be fine... The best concrete men will tell you that concrete cracks... So put plenty of expansion joints and don't worry about a few cracks...

In our area, the approach has to be 6" and the pad is 4", i don't remember how deep the underlayment has to be. Our underlayment is crushed limestone...

The secret to making a driveway last, or any road for that matter, is what is done underneath. If you want a good driveway, have a proper one built, otherwise stick with what you have.

I did asphalt this spring. 125' long x 12' wide by 4" thick. $4200. Most folks here in OK do concrete or crushed stone. I hated the maintainance that stone needed, and didn't want to afford concrete. As long as I keep it sealed it will last a long time in the OK sun. Redbeard is absolutely right - it's all about what's underneath. An added benefit out here is the black color helps the inevitable snow and ice melt faster when the sun comes out. But then, we only get a few inches at a time. I also did a red/white FIA style curb as kind of an inside joke...

i've heard that shag carpeting has a great coefficient of friction :)

Funny you should mention that. Our office is being remodeled and I'm sure there was enough carpet being thrown away that would have done the job.

Back to the regular programing;

Wouldn't the existing crushed rock that's been compacted for a few years make a good base?

What you need is drainage, to allow water that gets under the boad base, to be able to drain out. If you don't you get frost heaves and undermining.

Concrete or pavers are your DIY options. As noted by others the base is what makes for a good driveway. How thick is the current base? How long has it been there? How high above grade is it? All these determine if you can use it as your base or if you have to start over.

With concrete you can get pretty creative. Dye it the shade you want and then use a stamping pad to customise it. Just helped do one like this at a buddy from works home. Turned out very nice.

Red Beard is correct in both posts. Drainage is important, particularly where it's gonna freeze and thaw. Crushed rock makes the best base material. It packs more densely than gravel. It is more "structural." Concrete is the good stuff. DO NOT try to self-batch concrete for a 100-ft driveway. It would take you a month. With a good, compacted sub-base of crushed rock on top of undisturbed earth, three inches of concrete depth should work fine. Place the base, compact it, set up the forms and be sure to have a crew ready to work the concrete when the truck arrive.

+1, It's all about the base. I paved my driveway 15+ years ago, and it is holding up fine. Hard shale base, then 4" crushed stone, then 2 lifts of asphalt, 1st lift base, 2nd lift top. Black helps melt the snow when the sun hits it.

A house I owned in upstate NY in a snowbelt area (Allegany Co., high elevations, Lake Erie dumps on it all winter) had two driveways, one asphalt and an older one concrete, both had about the same exposure to sunlight. Not much difference in the depths of winter(Jan, Feb), but in December and March, the sunny days really melt off the snow more quickly on the asphalt(black) than the concrete(white). If the asphalt has a good base, it will last a long time(but not as long as the concrete). The salt seemed to affect the concrete most with a type of abrading or slight erosion of the surface.

whatever you decide to do (concrete wise), make sure you put some texture on it so it's not too slippery.
Last thing you want is to slide into the road, just as the plow is coming along

cost may be prohibitive but running water lines in either concrete or asphalt will stop you from ever having to worry about snow again.

i have no affiliation with this company but they were one of the first hits on google. this is a radiant electrical heating setup though, not water.

Heated Driveways and Radiant Snow Melting Systems

For what it's worth, also being a MN guy, I like asphalt since it's black If your driveway gets any direct sun at all it's a breeze to keep clear. Blowing or shoveling is easy and the remnants quickly melt in the sun. In a pinch, I can just shovel a small section and let it sit in the sun while I'm at work. If the snow fall was less than a few inches the entire driveway will be clear before I get home from work. Light, dusting snow falls generally disappear on their own. I suppose the same result could be attained by staining the concrete a darker color. Just my two cents.