Best Driveway Material

[Loadrunner]

I've benefitted from a little windfall sufficient enough to put in a driveway to the garage. The least expensive would be asphalt with the alternative being cement concrete. I'm leaning toward cement concrete for a few reasons: the area where it's going doesn't have much fall and it would be easier to make it drain away from the garage door; jackstands and floor jacks won't mar the surface and the lighter color won't be as hot.

Asphalt on the other hand is about 2/3rds the cost and would match my neighbors' driveway in appearance; I'm not sure I care much about the aesthetics. I wonder which one is the easiest to clean oil off of?

[quietdad]

Asphalt is easier to repair WHEN it cracks and they both will

[chirorod]

If the subsurface is fairly stable, the concrete will have less tendency to crack and will, if all goes well, greatly outlast the asphalt.

[Loadrunner]

Workmanship is a big deal with concrete and in this area the concrete crews rarely have an English speaking person on them making communication tough. Anything other than a flat rectangle will be a challenge. The crews tend to be too small for the work and so the concrete starts to set up before they can get it all finished; they sprinkle water on the surface to make working it easier but that creates weak spots that spall off a year or two later.

The key to concrete is controlling where the cracks occur with joints and getting proper curing.

[Dick]

Consider where you live and do you get sub-freezing temperatures, snowfall and, most important, municipal plowing and salting of roads.

Salt is an enemy of concrete. Driving on salt treated roads will bring a small amount of salt onto your property. Eventually, this may cause the surface of the concrete to pop off in small pieces.

Asphalt can be repaired much easier than concrete. Cracks can be filled with liquid tar. Sealer applied every few years will keep the asphalt looking good and lubricated to prevent drying out.

I have owned two houses with concrete driveways which cracked, broke due to settling and surface popping due to salt. I have owned two houses with blacktop (asphalt) and never had a problem, other than minor cracks which were fixed with tar and fading which was remedied by sealing.

Here in my area of New Hampshire, streets are paved with blacktop.