chipseal parking lot?

[JMac]

Not sure if this is the best place to put this but as there are a few contractors here who I believe to be knowledgeable in this, I will ask anyways.

Im looking to purchase land soon to build my own shop on. One of the requirements the county has is the parking area has to be of a hard material. Im trying to do this with as little expense as possible and am looking into chipseal as an option. Can anyone give any thumbs up or down to this idea? The parking area is only going to have trucks/trailers overnight and a mulch and salt pad in one corner of the property. Will chipseal be appropriate and the least expensive? What about just spraying sealcoat material overtop a well compacted base of 411s? I also read something about spreading portland powder over a well compacted base of limestone? Any pointers, tips, tricks, etc would be appreciated as I cant shell out close to 100k for a 32,000 sq ft parking area.

[Pelican]

Sealcoat is just that, a sealer. Rule that one out.

The Portland over base I've heard of only I've heard it to be tilled in to the material which then sets up similar to concrete. I'm not sure how economical this will be since Portland is pretty expensive. I also don't know how it holds up long term, the use I've read is to firm up ground quickly so work can be done in the area.

I don't think chipcoat will hold up for long, especially with heavy traffic.

An alternative to asphalt that I've seen used that works well is a process called "Penetration". 1 1/2" crushed stone is spread 4" thick over a base, compacted and then a latex/asphalt emulsion is spread over it pretty heavy. Then 3/8" crushed stone is spread over it and rolled in. The emulsion "penetrates" the 1 1/2" stone adhering it together, and the 3/8" stone creates a topcoat. They used to do the town roads here like that and they held up well, the latex allowed it to remain flexible without breaking up. Unfortunately the EA got involved and they had to change the formula of the emulsion, I'm not sure if that was a state reg or federal.

[Tileman]

What are they defining as hard material? Gravel is harder than dirt.

My guess chip and seal would be ok if you have a real good base to work from. Many of our township roads went from gravel to chip and seal, but question is how may years did they have base packed down first.

And just how soon does it have to be hard material?

I know each county is different, nothing in ours about hard material.

[JMac]

Thanks Steve and Rich. Its Miami county and I already talked to zoning before buying the lot to be sure it is appropriate for my uses. Thats when they spelled out the hard (dust free) material lot, detention basin for runoff, etc. Im half tempted to just put in gravel and let them sue me if it bothers them that I dont have pavement badly enough. The problem is if it does bother them enough, its going to be big money. Its too bad society has gotten to the point of over regulation as it costs everyone more money and makes things so much more challenging than they need be.

[speedy]

Use Asphalt Millings, if possible get them fresh off the road and have them spread and rolled right away. A hot day is best. Spray a tack coat on top to seal up the surface voids.

You'll probably need it 4" thick after compaction and make sure the drainage is good. See if you can borrow a couple sets of 'wobbly wheel' rollers and hit it again on a couple of hot days. http://www.wrtequipment.com/pulltyperollers.html

In a couple years you could fix any failures and have this 'chip sealed' and it would be every bit as good as asphalt.

[Pelican]

I thought of this today as well. I've seen asphalt millings spread with a grader set up pretty good after a few hot days. These used to be waste product, but lately they are being used to recycle asphalt so they might not be as inexpensive as in the past.

[JMac]

where would I look to get these millings? Im assuming we are talking about the old surface they grind up when putting down new.

[The boys]

where would I look to get these millings? Im assuming we are talking about the old surface they grind up when putting down new.

Asphalt companies, but if it is the same up there as it is down here right now 90% of the millings are being recycled and reblended with the new asphalt to save money. Talked to a guy the other day that works for one of the big paving companies down here, said they would haul in a load of new asphalt and haul back a load of millings to the plant. Was this way all summer. but there is a chance you might still be able to get some.

[Holder C4.74]

Hello from faraway :o
I am in the same situation.

I would not go with the portland solution. That it last longer time you have to work it in real deep.
If i could i would go with the recycle asphalt, we have it on smaller roads around here. When it has to get fixed they come with a milling machine and do the top layer, just down to the ground of the holes and then rolled it in again.
But on parking areas it's not accepted because it's not complete water and oil seald.
In my place i have to go with "real" asphalt and sewer with a oil separator. :mad:

I hope you understand what i mean, i still not learned to write better english. :o