Asphalt Driveway Paving in Omaha, NE

Asphalt paving builds a new driveway, or replaces a failed one, from the ground up: excavation, a compacted aggregate base and hot-mix asphalt rolled on top; around Omaha it is the right call once cracking covers most of the surface or the loess under the base has given way. HomeGuide's guidance for residential work is 6 to 8 inches of compacted gravel under 2 to 3 inches of asphalt, and 3 to 4 inches of asphalt for heavier use. Asphalt driveway installation is a job for a paving contractor with excavating and rolling equipment, not a sealing crew. Installed prices are on the cost page.

The base is the part of a driveway nobody sees and everything depends on. The Monona-Ida silt under most of the city drains well, which helps, but silt is also the classic frost-susceptible soil, so the aggregate base has to spread wheel loads over it and keep water moving out. A paving contractor should explain how deep the excavation goes, what aggregate goes in, how it will be compacted and where water leaves the driveway. Monona soils occur on slopes up to 40 percent and Ida on slopes up to 60, so on sloped lots the edges and the downhill end deserve the closest attention.

Paperwork depends on the city. In Omaha, work that disturbs more than 250 square feet of street right-of-way falls under the stormwater program's linear underground project rules, with 48 hours' notice to Public Works and inlet protection. Papillion requires a Drive/Patio permit with a site plan and a public right-of-way permit for work there; La Vista requires a permit when any part of the approach is replaced or a curb cut or grind is needed; Bellevue exempts replacing a driveway no larger than the old one. Nebraska's one-call law requires notice at least two full business days before digging, and Iowa's requires 48 hours.

Hot-mix season follows the weather. Angi's guidance is that asphalt dries and cures most readily between 50 and 85 degrees and that late spring or early summer is the time to repave, which in Omaha points to May and June, ahead of July's 10.8 days at 90 degrees or above. Cars can usually use new asphalt after about three days. The first seal waits much longer: Angi says as little as 30 days but recommends three months, Fixr says roughly six months, and HomeGuide says a year. For a driveway paved in June, that usually means sealing the following summer.

Not every tired driveway needs a tear-out. HomeGuide's rule of thumb is to resurface a driveway less than 15 to 20 years old with less than 30 percent needing repair, adding a layer 1.5 to 2 inches thick, and to replace when cracks cover 60 percent or more or the driveway is 20 to 30 years old. An overlay follows whatever is underneath, including heaved sections and poor drainage, so the base has to be sound first. For ongoing care after paving, see asphalt maintenance plans.