Concrete and asphalt both are used frequently in driveways. Concrete is used as a building material, made by the combination of sand, cement and broken stones with sufficient amount of water. It forms stone-like moulds on hardening. Asphalt is made by the combination of bituminous pitch along with sand or gravel. In this post, we will discuss about the common differences between concrete driveway and asphalt driveway.
The following differentiation will give us a good overview of the concrete vs asphalt driveway to broaden our views on them:
Concrete driveway
Asphalt driveway
The adhesive used for concrete driveway is cement.
The adhesive used for asphalt driveway is tar.
Concrete requires high budget to make due to the expensive nature of cement. Estimation shows that concrete driveway will require $4-$6 to build.
It requires fewer budgets to make in comparison to the other due to the inexpensiveness of tar. Estimation shows that asphalt driveway will require $2-$4 to build making it cheaper to use for large projects.
It is a hard material, making it durable with a long life age.
It is comparably soft, making it easily degradable with a short life age.
It is not suitable for places with extreme weather conditions. It tends to crack due to frost in freezing conditions.
On the contrary asphalt driveway has issues with hot weather conditions. The tar in it tends to get soft in extreme hot conditions making its life span short.
Concrete once build need not be sealed for 50 years. It has the durability to sustain withering for such long periods of time.
Asphalt driveway has to be sealed after 6 -12 months of installation. After repairing works, it has to be again sealed after 3-5 years.
It is an easy material to provide finishing touches with. It can be used to get unique patterns and shapes that will catch the eyes of a viewer.
It is difficult to work with asphalt driveway. It has to be rolled and compressed, which makes it difficult to provide elegance.
