Any experience with stamped asphalt?

I've only seen it once. It's a normal black asphalt driveway, then they sprinkle red brick dust on it and roll again. Then a rebar grid is laid down and the roller mashes the pattern into the warm asphalt..

Maintenance: Some spots will split, cracks 1/4 X 1/4 inch should be filled with rubbery ooze. Every few years a normal black asphalt driveway should be recovered with a bucket of tar, can or should this be done with a stamped driveway?

Thanks.

Edit:

The soil around me is all clay, moves a bit but water runs off rather than soaks in.

I get snow and muscle a snow thrower up and down the driveway as necessary. Harms the surface?

I didn't know that there was such a thing.

On a semi-related note, I had a bunch of stamped concrete done last year and I really like it.

A development I drive through regularly re-did their roads about 2 years ago, and installed these faux-red bricks, exactly like your picture.

I thought the first winter would wreck them. I think we're heading into their second winter, but it might be the third. They look just fine. Absolutely fine. Better than the rest of the road looks in fact. I was/am very surprised at how well they've held up so far.

I was concerned about using the snowblower on my stamped concrete, but when I asked about it, the guy says that it wont hurt it. He uses a plow to clear his.

The last city I worked for had some as cross-walks in the downtown area. They were a PITA to maintain. The colour wore off in the wheel paths, and we had to re-paint it every year.

This would probably be less of an issue on a driveway when traffic isn't running over the exact same spot all the time. Still, I wouldn't run studded tires on it.

I'll talk to my resident asphalt specialist, but I know even she prefers concrete for a driveway. If you have unstable soil, asphalt will move to follow it so it won't stay level. Concrete won't, it'll just crack. That's going to be the case whether it's stamped or not.

She also thinks that putting black goo on your asphalt is mostly to make it look pretty.

I think the goo is to keep water out of the cracks, expanding with frost and blowing things out.

There's a big difference between crack sealer and just painting the whole thing black.

Woody wrote: On a semi-related note, I had a bunch of stamped concrete done last year and I really like it.

This sounds like a massively better idea. Like concrete, but extra prescored.

My wife is a civil engineer and has installed this stuff around our city. Mainly as cross-walks on relatively busy roads. The color fades a bit, but it still looks decent. Keep in mind this application has a road bed under it, and we are in South FL.

With the demise of herbicide use in my part of the planet, anything has got to be better than conventional interlocking stone.

Never heard of stamped asphalt, I have a hard time seeing it maintain the features.

Not that I ever follow my own advice, but be wary of being an early adopter of any new technology or product.

I remember once-upon-a-time Bob Villa did a driveway using old car tires munched up and compressed. It would move with frost and not get ruts or the dreaded high spot in the center.

Last I heard of it ......

I've been considering it for my driveway. It's in bad shape but then it again has been there since 1962. The problem at my house is that it is on a slope that moves over time, so various parts of the drive move. I called our local dealer and went to see a few of the places he has used this, and it appears to be holding up quite well.

One place was around 5 years old and it still looked new. I did hear from the owner of the place I went to visit that although it looks like stones, it still has the same characteristics of asphalt. That's good and bad. First, it does move with the terrain, so if like me, you have shifting base, it doesn't crack or wear as the ground moves. Keep in mind that the movement is tiny, but it does make a difference. It stays looking good for years according to the people I talked to, but it does get soft with heat. So just like a parking lot, if you jack up a car, etc., you will need to take precautions with your driveway so you do not "dent" it in hot weather.

I'm pretty sure I am going to go this route, and it is less costly than concrete.

As for stamped concrete, if you've been to Las Vegas in the past 15 years or so, you've definitely seen stamped concrete. I think they are the capitol of the world for using this stuff. It looks good and seems to be very robust, but it is more costly.

I prefer this:

It is a coating that is applied to concrete. The first coat (showing as mortar joints) is troweled on. The next day the pattern is laid out using packing tape and the second coat is applied. For the brick look on the patio the second coat was sprayed on with a special sprayer, the front porch which looks like slate had the second coat troweled on.

After the second coat sets up the packing tape is removed and a sealer/bonding agent is sprayed on. I don't know what is in the sealer but I could tell from the little bubbles coming up that there is some chemical reaction taking place.

The patio was done 8 years ago. It gets pressure washed at least twice a year and has the snow removed by snowblower when it snows 3-4 times a year. It still looks a good as it did when it was new. The wife and I are seriously considering having the worn out asphalt driveway replaced with concrete and having some version of this coating applied.