Driveway Paving in Georgetown, TX

Most calls start the same way. The driveway has gone grey, there is a crack running the length of it, the edge by the lawn has crumbled, and there is a low spot by the garage that holds water after every storm. In Sun City and Berry Creek that is usually a driveway built on thin base twenty years ago that has simply run out of life. In newer neighborhoods like Wolf Ranch and Santa Rita Ranch it is more often a builder-grade drive that was never sealed and has oxidized in the sun.

East of I-35, add clay heave to the list. Houston Black clay under a driveway near Westinghouse Rd shrinks away from the edges in a drought, the unsupported edge cracks, then the clay swells back in the fall and lifts the pavement. If your driveway has a hump near the street or the edges have dropped, that is the ground, not the asphalt.

Some of these driveways can be saved with patching and a sealcoat. Others need to come out. We will tell you which, and why, before we quote anything.

For a normal suburban driveway the answer is hot mix asphalt, every time. For a 1,500-foot ranch lane the math changes, and we are honest about it.

Chip seal is sprayed asphalt emulsion with a layer of rock rolled into it, usually one or two courses over a compacted base. It costs a fraction of hot mix per foot, sheds water well, and is what most county roads around Taylor and Jarrell are made of. The trade-offs are a rougher surface, loose rock for the first few weeks, and a shorter life before it needs another course.

Hot mix asphalt is a dense, plant-mixed pavement laid with a paver and compacted with rollers. It is smoother, quieter, tighter against water, holds up better under trucks and trailers, and can be sealed and maintained for decades. It costs more up front and needs a paver on site, which means a wider access path and a bigger crew.

Our usual advice: hot mix from the house out to where you park and turn around, then chip seal the long run to the gate. That puts the money where the tires are.