Pave firmly.

Asphalt is bought by the ton, so everything converts to weight

A paving contractor quotes tons because that is what arrives on the truck and what the plant bills for. Your driveway is measured in square feet. The bridge between them is density: compacted hot mix asphalt weighs about 145 pounds per cubic foot, so area times thickness in feet times 145, divided by 2,000, gives tons. A 20 by 40 foot driveway at 3 inches compacted is 14.5 tons before waste.

The word doing the work in that sentence is compacted. Loose from the truck, asphalt runs nearer 110 pounds per cubic foot and occupies roughly a quarter more volume than it will once rolled. Calculate at the finished thickness you want, not the depth of the pile. The calculator above handles the conversion including waste; this page covers thickness, base, cost, and when an overlay beats a replacement.

How thick should a driveway be

The most useful thing on that table is the base column. Asphalt is a flexible pavement, which means it distributes load rather than spanning it the way a concrete slab does, and it is only as good as what it sits on. A driveway that cracks and dips in its third winter almost always has a base problem: too thin, poorly compacted, or laid over soil that was never properly prepared. Adding an inch of asphalt costs meaningfully less than adding four inches of base, which is exactly why cut-rate quotes cut the base.

Asphalt driveway cost

Read that chart as a decision tree. If the surface is worn but the pavement is structurally intact, with no alligator cracking and no soft spots, sealcoating at pennies per square foot buys two to four years. If the surface is failing but the base is sound, a 1.5 to 2 inch overlay bonded to the existing pavement, sometimes described simply as asphalt on asphalt, costs roughly half of replacement. If the pavement is cracking in interlocking patterns or has areas that flex underfoot, the base has failed and an overlay will telegraph the same cracks within two years; that is a full removal and rebuild.

On recycled asphalt, which people search for by name: an asphalt millings driveway is built from ground-up old pavement, spread and compacted without new binder. They cost roughly half of new hot mix, they compact into a firm surface that sheds water reasonably, and they darken and knit together over a hot summer. They are not a paved driveway. Edges ravel, weeds find gaps, and it needs periodic regrading. For a long rural driveway where the alternative is gravel, millings are excellent value. As a substitute for a paved suburban driveway, they will disappoint.

Asphalt repair and maintenance, in order

Asphalt maintenance is a sequence, and doing it out of order wastes the money. Clean first, then fill cracks, then patch holes, then sealcoat last. Sealing over an unfilled crack simply paints the crack; sealing over a pothole hides it for a month.

Two specifics worth knowing. Cold patch asphalt is a bagged cold-applied mix that needs no heat, goes down in any weather, and is the correct answer for a homeowner filling a pothole; a 50 pound bag fills roughly a square foot at two inches deep. It wants to be compacted hard, ideally by driving over it repeatedly, because uncompacted patch material ravels out within a season. And alligator cracking, the interlocking pattern that looks like reptile skin, is not a surface problem at all. It means the base below has failed, and filling or sealing it accomplishes nothing; that section has to be cut out and rebuilt.

On timing: crack filler and cold patch both want a dry surface and temperatures above about 50F, and cracks should be blown or brushed clean of debris and vegetation first. Anything growing in a crack has roots holding it open, and filling over them fails immediately.

Asphalt versus concrete

The climate line is the one that should decide it. In the northern US, asphalt is the default for driveways because it moves with seasonal frost instead of cracking, it absorbs heat and sheds snow faster, and it tolerates de-icing salt that scales concrete surfaces. In the deep south the calculus reverses: sustained heat softens asphalt enough that jack stands and motorcycle kickstands leave dents, and concrete stays put. Everywhere in between, the upfront price usually wins the argument.

Where asphalt jobs go wrong

Calculating loose depth instead of compacted. Asphalt compacts about 20 to 25 percent. Ordering to the loose depth overstates tonnage; paving to the loose depth leaves you thin once it is rolled. Specify compacted thickness in the contract.

Paving too late in the season. Hot mix needs to be compacted while hot, and cold ground pulls heat out of it fast. Below about 50F ground temperature the mat cools before the roller finishes, and the result never reaches proper density. Northern paving seasons effectively close in late October.

Sealcoating too soon. New asphalt needs 60 to 90 days to cure and release its volatiles before it is sealed. Sealing a fresh driveway traps them and softens the surface. It is also the most common upsell offered right after a new install.

Ignoring drainage. Water under a pavement destroys the base, and asphalt needs a slope of at least a quarter inch per foot to shed it. A flat driveway that ponds after rain is a driveway with a countdown on it, regardless of how thick the asphalt is.

The rest of the driveway

Base material under the asphalt runs through the gravel calculator, an apron or garage slab is a concrete calculator job, and if you are weighing a paved surface against a paver one, the paver calculator prices that alternative. Grading spoil and topsoil for the edges come from the topsoil calculator.

Measure the area, decide the compacted thickness, and carry the tonnage into the conversation. A contractor who cannot tell you the base depth in their quote is quoting something other than what you asked for.