Driveway

[carloco]

I need help deciding how to deal with some driveway problems.

Size: about 4000 sq feet

Problems: 2 small sink holes, 1/2 is original and it is degrading, cracks are becoming difficult to keep up from year to year.

Solution: a Company gave me 3 options:
- $9000 to replace the whole thing ( they would tear up the old asphalt, lay a new base and pave it),
- $5700 to repair the holes and cap it  ( the would cut around the holes fill them, compact them, lay new asphalt over the whole thing)
-  $2000 repair the holes and seal it. 
another company said that it needed to be replaced and the price was  $13000.
I am planning to stay in the house at least 4 more years.
I don't think the $2000 option is any good.  I could fill in the sink holes with cold patch for a small fraction and don't worry about it. 
 I'm no savvy enough about real estate to know if the $5700 is a good "investment."
 I still need to update the kitchen and repair other areas.

[Cranky]

I don't have any great vision for what 4000 sq ft looks like, but I recently got an estimate for replacing my driveway and it was $8000, so the $9000 sounds in the right ballpark.

I'm having mine replaced in the spring because not only is it kind of a mess, being 55 years old, but the ground has settled enough that it drains the rain water towards the house and not away. It hasn't been a top priority, but it does need doing and will make the exterior look a lot better. However, I'm not planning to sell my house, and don't think of it as an "investment".

[Vagabond76]

How old is the house?  Is the driveway as old as the house?

Sinkholes are usually caused by inadequate drainage.  Stormwater get underneath the surface and eats away the foundation or the dirt under the foundation.  While there are sink holes, your driveway and garage are unusable for parking cars.  You might be able to drive around the visible sinkhole, but what about the rest of the driveway?

Patch jobs might get you through the next four years.  Or you may stay in the house longer than that.

[carloco]

 

The House was built in 1960.  The best I can come up is the worst sink hole started from a small hole in the surface. That
doesn't make that much sense to me because that area is sloped.  I would think the water would just run on the surface before it got bad.  when it rained, the areas around the cracks would stay wet.  One of the contractors said that was surface water penetrating and staying around the crack.  I though it was water coming up because . That is why I'm thinking that is how the sink hole started. 
the other one seems more like stump or some other unstable ground that was paved over.  1/2 was capped at some point.  the other 1/2 looks like is original.

[Spork]

It's actually not uncommon for a small hole to allow water in and wash out a bigger area.  I get penetrations where ants start mining underneath -- and the hole is less than dime sized.  And yes, my driveway is pretty aggressively sloped as well.  If I don't patch it within a few months, that fluffy ant soil washes out to baseball, then softball size.  I presume it would continue to increase in size -- but I try to patch them as soon as I see them.

[carloco]

That makes sense.  I've seen ants doing work around those areas.

[Vagabond76]

Also, snowmelt getting in can refreeze overnight and make larger cracks. It's a vicious cycle.

[carloco]

The, the best would be to cap it? As I understand, the lay 4" of asphalt and is pressed to 2"