Drivewaylopnik

[VincentMalamute]

Update on the driveway advice I got on the old Oppo. I'm such a haphazard off-the-cuff general contractor who doesn't know what he's doing. Maybe I have a career? I scheduled delivery of 30 tons of road base. Receptionist read back my order "30 tons of recycled concrete for Wed 730am". ??!! But I don't want recycled concrete. Nevermind. I went with the flow and decided to see what I get. I was curious to see what recycled concrete looked like. It was cheap at $20/ton delivered and I could cover it with something else so no big loss if it didn't work.

I wanted road base after seeing a neighbor had had spread it out on his clay dirt shop driveway with no prep five years ago and it still looked good. I attribute it to the minimal rain we get. My driveway barely gets any auto traffic.

Driver was decent at a rolling dump. This is the second 15 ton load. His first load ended up evenly spread but 8" thick around the shop. I have the upper body of a pre-teen girl so I'm going to spread it out with a shovel and rake and call it a free upper body workout. A few hours of that nonsense will get me looking around for something mechanical with horsepower, I have no doubt.

As I wrote out the check, I noticed the logo on the truck: "Jake Kaufman and Sons - Recycled Asphalt and Concrete". oh. I thought I had ordered from a gravel yard. I'm still not clear on the practical difference between road base and recycled concrete. Other than what's obvious from their names.

[ClassicDatsunDebate]

Will it interlock and pack-in like road mulch or will it stay loose?

[VincentMalamute]

There's another new term "road mulch". It came with a lot of fines. Internet says recycled concrete packs down and interlocks very well. My neighborhood is like a semi-farm environment which is all very new to me. Remind me to post an update in five years.

[sn4cktimes]

Just hose it down and run a packer over it. I'm sure it'll compact and lock right up. Sharp jaggy edges is how railway ballast is stacked up and remains stable.

[HFV]

@vincentmalamute I think you mean drivewayhyphen. We do not lopnink anymore.

[HFV]

@vincentmalamute that is cheap. I’ll have to look into that when I resurface my driveway next year. It’s a lot smaller, not about 12x40’ but I’d it’s cheaper than gravel I’ll take it.

[jminer]

@vincentmalamute I've used recycled asphalt before and quit liked it. Not sure about recycled concrete though, that seems like it would be dusty.

[SilentbutnotreallyDeadly]

@vincentmalamute Sweet. Recycled concrete will do this job just fine and is an excellent use for an otherwise waste material (it's a good environmentally responsible choice). It might be a bit dusty but if you aren't using the driveway at speed then it won't be an issue and a dust suppression spray mix will sort it if it is. It should last forever unless you are regularly moving big vehicles over it. And if it does crumble down to fines then it makes a fine base for the recycled asphalt.

[VincentMalamute]

@sn4cktimes This seems to be mostly concrete dust with some gravel mixed in. I bet it'll lock up but not happy with how dusty I expect it to be but that's OK, I can always put real gravel on top.

[VincentMalamute]

@hfv oops. I don't like change. Change is hard.

[VincentMalamute]

@hfv A friend tells me that Fort Collins has a recycled concrete plant and it's $6/ton if you pick it up. Still cheap for delivery, I think he said something like $12 or $15 a ton? See other responses about dust. We'll see. It doesn't get much use so it may not matter.

[VincentMalamute]

@jminer I really didn't know what recycled concrete was. It's concrete ground into dust. With some gravel in it. I was expecting concrete chunks.

I suspect you're going to be correct - very dusty. May be OK since the driveway gets minimal use. Or I may be adding regular gravel over it.

[VincentMalamute]

@silentbutnotreallydeadly Didn't even think of environmental aspects - makes me feel good though. One of the reasons I didn't want recycled asphalt was potential toxicity to my dogs who live in the yard, lick their paws. Do you anything about that?

Dust suppression spray mix - interesting! I"m glad you told me about it. No, no vehicles at speed. Minimal use in general. Heaviest are a van, built overland Jeep, and a Class B RV, 8-9000 lbs I'd guess.

I didn't know the recycled concrete was going to be finely ground concrete with some gravel mixed in. I was expecting concrete chunks.

[SilentbutnotreallyDeadly]

@vincentmalamute if you ever let your dog walk on a tarred road then it's basically the same thing as recycled asphalt...

If you ever get the opportunity or need to use recycled crushed clay bricks...it's a fantastic material too.

[VincentMalamute]

@silentbutnotreallydeadly OK, no recycled asphalt for me then.

Appreciate the info! Esp that dust suppression. No one mentions the clay bricks around here so I assume not available.