Start with use
Decide what the driveway needs to carry.
Residential asphalt can create a continuous driving surface, but the finish is only one part of the system. The starting point is intended use: daily passenger vehicles, delivery trucks, trailers, recreational vehicles and turning movements place different demands on edges and supporting material. Note where tires repeatedly track and where parked vehicles concentrate weight.
Also record what exists today. A gravel drive may need grading and base correction before paving. An old asphalt drive may contain areas that can remain and other areas that have moved or broken apart. Concrete removal, buried structures and fixed garage elevations can change the work. The right method cannot be confirmed from a square-foot number alone.
Ground-first review
Inspect the route from street to garage.
A useful site review follows the whole driveway. It looks at the road connection, sight lines, width, slope, low points, transitions, side support and the path available to construction equipment. Soft or pumping areas, recurring depressions and cracks that return after patching are reasons to look below the surface rather than simply covering it.
- Measure length, width and any flared entrance.
- Note garage, sidewalk and road elevations.
- Photograph ponding and runoff after rain.
- Identify gates, overhead lines and narrow turns.
- Mark culverts, drains and utility covers.
- List the heaviest regular vehicle.
Water has to leave
Grade and drainage belong in the paving decision.
The City of Mission says most urban drainage is enclosed while many rural areas use open channels. A driveway should not be planned as an isolated slab of pavement: runoff direction, ditches, culverts, neighbouring grades and building thresholds all need to be considered. The objective is not a generic slope rule; it is a site-specific route that does not create a new low point or send water where it should not go.
Road jurisdiction matters too. The Province’s residential driveway guidance for eligible side roads outside municipalities discusses sight distance, grade, drainage and culverts, while access on controlled or numbered highways may require a highway use permit. Confirm the authority for the address rather than assuming every Mission property follows the same process.
Comparable proposals
Put assumptions in writing before comparing price.
Ask what material is being removed, what is being retained, how unsuitable areas will be handled, how the base will be prepared, how edges and transitions will be finished, and where excavated material will go. If drainage work or a culvert is outside the paving scope, that exclusion should be visible.
Approximate dimensions are useful for an initial conversation, but the measured area, access, disposal and ground conditions should be confirmed on site. A written scope also helps separate a full replacement from a localized repair or resurfacing proposal.
Before saying yes
Ask questions that expose scope differences.
- What observations support replacement, resurfacing or localized repair?
- Which elevations control the finished grade?
- How will driveway edges and shoulders be supported?
- What happens if soft or wet material is found during preparation?
- Who confirms road-access or drainage requirements when they apply?
- What is included for removal, haul-out, clean-up and access restoration?
Primary sources