Where we stand: this site connects people with a concrete contractor, so we have a stake in the answer. We have tried to write the comparison a paving company would agree with.
Side by side
| Concrete | Asphalt | |
|---|---|---|
| Upfront cost | Higher. About $8 to $14 per square foot. | Lower, often by a third to a half. |
| Typical lifespan | 30 years or more when built and cared for properly. | 15 to 20 years, longer with regular sealcoating. |
| Upkeep | A penetrating sealer every few years. Keep salt off it in the first winter. | Sealcoat every few years and fill cracks as they appear. |
| Winter | Can flake if it is poorly made or salted heavily. Lighter color melts snow more slowly. | Shrugs off salt. Dark surface melts snow faster. Flexes a little with frost. |
| Summer | Stays cooler and does not soften. | Gets hot and can soften, so kickstands and trailer jacks leave dents. |
| Repairs | Hard to hide. A replaced section is a different color for years. | Easy to patch, and a worn surface can be overlaid with a new layer. |
| Time before use | About a week before cars. | Two to three days. |
| Looks | Light, clean edges. Can be colored, stamped or given a border. | Uniform black that fades to gray between sealcoats. |
Cost over the life of the driveway
Asphalt wins on the day you pay for it. Over 30 years the gap narrows: an asphalt driveway will be sealcoated several times and probably resurfaced or replaced once, while a concrete one needs a sealer every few years and little else. If you plan to stay in the house a long time, the two often end up costing about the same over that period, and concrete can come out ahead. If you may move within ten years, asphalt's lower upfront price is hard to argue with.
Asphalt is the better choice when
- The driveway is very long. On a rural driveway of 200 feet, the price difference runs to thousands of dollars.
- The budget is fixed and the old driveway cannot wait.
- You use a lot of salt, or the driveway is plowed hard by a contractor.
Concrete is the better choice when
- You plan to stay, and want to do the job once.
- Heavy vehicles, trailers or campers will be parked on it, especially in summer.
- Appearance matters to you, or the neighborhood is mostly concrete and you are thinking about resale.
- You would rather not sealcoat every few years.
A common middle path
On long driveways, many Michigan homeowners pour concrete for the apron at the garage and the pad where the cars sit, and use asphalt or gravel for the run to the road. You get the durable surface where the weight and the turning are, at a fraction of the cost of concrete throughout.
Whichever you pick
The base decides how long either one lasts. Four to six inches of compacted gravel, and a surface sloped so water runs off, matter more than the material on top. Ask every contractor, paving or concrete, what they plan to put underneath.
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