Consumer Considerations—

Paving Your Way:

Driveway Basics For Homeowners

By Jerry Farrell, Jr

HARTFORD — It’s summertime, and for many homeowners, contractors, and scammers, that means driveway time. Your driveway protects your vehicles, shoes, and clothing from wet weather, provides a “first impression” to visitors as they approach your home, and enhances curb appeal, adding value to your investment — so it’s worth planning your driveway carefully.

If your driveway needs a complete reconstruction or resurfacing, consult your neighbors, friends, and family members for names of reliable firms with which they are familiar. Call the Department of Consumer Protection at 800-842-2649 to ensure that the firms are registered as Home Improvement Contractors and ask about any complaints that we may have on file.

Interview several companies; pay special attention to what they recommend and what they can provide. Be sure that you discuss the methods of installation or repair the contractor plans to use. Get at least three bids on the project. Monitor the project and plan to be on hand for the construction.

Avoid the common trap of pavers who knock on your front door with “a load of asphalt that was left over from another job,” offering you a bargain. At best, asphalt that is “left over” from another job will be too cool to make a good driveway pavement. More likely, you’ll fall prey to traveling pavers out to scam you.

Groups of traveling or transient pavers often appear unannounced at your door, ready to offer you a bargain. They also pitch low-cost paving services with flyers or door to door, mostly on weekends. They approach people out in their yards, especially senior citizens. Often, they offer a “neighborhood deal,” a low-cost pitch designed to scam as many victims as possible.

Many transient pavers are members of widespread fly-by night operations out to grab the most of your money for little, if any, work. The quality of their work and materials is often inferior, requiring extensive repairs. Every year we get calls about these scams, so don’t become their next victim!

Plan your project carefully, learn something about the subject, hire a reputable contractor, and oversee the work. This is the best way to approach any work on your home.

Two different types of asphalt driveways, hot mix asphalt and chip seal, both lie on a gravel base. Before workers proceed to pave the driveway, check that the gravel base is between two and eight inches thick. A base that is too thin or too thick will not produce a satisfactory driveway. There is a proper amount of process stone and grading needed for adequate water run off, and each driveway is unique.

Hot mix asphalt is a mix of aggregate, containing stones and sand; asphalt also contains liquid asphalt cement. This cement, a petroleum product, is heated to about 300 degrees, the point where it liquefies.

The liquid cement and aggregate mix is poured on top of the gravel base, where very soon it cools and hardens into a thick black driveway that absorbs heat in the winter, and therefore helps to melt any snow on its surface. This driveway gets a minimum of cracks, except in locations where the ground freezes well below the surface.

Some hot asphalt mixtures are smoother on top than others; some have a higher content of asphalt cement than others. Consult with your contractor to assure that your mixture will provide the surface and performance characteristics you want.

Some pavers offer full-depth hot asphalt driveways that are built entirely of asphalt mixture from the soil subgrade up. These driveways keep water out of the pavement, preventing ice damage, and overall are considered more durable.

Before full-depth paving, topsoil containing clay should be removed or modified. A solid, thoroughly compacted subgrade should be prepared before paving with five to six inches of full-depth hot mix. As an option, some contractors use six to eight inches of compacted aggregate, or gravel, as a base under three inches of hot mix.

A chip seal driveway contains asphalt that has 30 percent of the liquid cement replaced with water. During paving, the water within the hot asphalt evaporates, and a layer of crushed gravel is sprayed over the asphalt with a special spreader, then a drum roller packs it all down. The warm asphalt “holds” the sprayed gravel pieces, which adds texture to the driveway.

Asphalt must be placed and compacted while it is hot. Air and surface temperatures play significant roles in how fast the mix cools, and therefore determine the amount of time a contractor has to complete the work. The amount of time that a contractor needs will depend on the size of the job, amount of handwork, and available equipment.

It is also important to ensure that the soil or rock on which the pavement is being placed is firm and dry. If this is not the case, you should ask that the paving be delayed until it is.

How To Hire A Paving Contractor

All reputable contractors will be registered with the Department of Consumer Protection and will include their HIC registration number in their ads, on their vehicles and on their contracts, as required by law. They will also be able to provide references and phone numbers of satisfied customers.

Ask references about the contractors’ quality of work, attention to details, on-time performance, and ability to finish work completely. Your contractor’s registration with the Department of Consumer Protection is vitally important to you — it can provide you with a measure of protection in case something goes wrong.

Maintaining Your Driveway

If designed and built correctly, an asphalt driveway will give you years of effective service. A high-grade asphalt emulsion sealer (sometimes called bituminous emulsified sealer) should be applied every two to five years, depending on your climate, wear patterns, and the like.

Driveways that are sealed regularly look better and last longer. Emulsion sealers consist of asphalt cement treated to mix with water. Once applied, the water evaporates, the material hardens, and the surface is waterproof. For driveways on slopes, some sealers contain sharp sand that will provide added traction.

Jerry Farrell, Jr., appointed in 2006 by Governor Rell as Connecticut’s Commissioner of Consumer Protection, is an attorney with 15 years experience. Important information about consumer affairs can be found on the department’s website, www.ct.gov/dcp.

Tips For Successful Driveway Projects

*Once you have selected the contractor you want, get all the details in a signed contract. The contract should detail such items as the responsibility for grading work and accuracy, for compacting the subgrade and base, for measuring compacted pavement thicknesses, for pavement slopes and smoothness, payment schedule, and guarantee of the finished product. It is important to make sure your contractor has adequate liability insurance. Ask for written proof, and contact their insurance provider to be sure their policy is in place.

*Be sure your copy of the signed contract includes the contractor’s Home Improvement registration number, three-day right of cancellation, a start and end date and a list of all aspects of work to be done.

*Do not respond to unsolicited offers of home improvement. Contractors who show up, often in unmarked trucks, offering high-pressure, low-priced service, sometimes urging you to hire them the same day, should be sent packing. If a solicitor refuses to leave your premises when asked, contact the police immediately.

*Check gates for clearance; know who is responsible for rehanging them, if needed.

*Decide whether you, a plumber, or someone else will raise any water valves or sewer inlets to meet the asphalt around them. Assign specific responsibilities and make notes.

*Surface drainage is very important. Make sure your contractor plans and builds adequate surface slopes to produce good drainage. “Ponding,” or standing water, on or near the driveway, is undesirable.

*Don’t ever pay for your whole project up front. Use a payment schedule that is fair to you and to the contractor, such as 1/3 up front, 1/3 when work is half done, and 1/3 when the project is completed to your satisfaction. Beware of pavers who strongly request cash payments or ask you to make your check payable to cash, rather than to a business name. These are tactics commonly used by transient pavers who are getting ready to take the money and run.