Driveway Paving
I'm planning on getting my 40 year old driveway replaced. Does anyone have any recommendations for who to call and has anyone used All Image Asphalt in Stewartsville? I wanted to call Layman's in Oxford, but just discovered that Tom passed just a few days ago. No one answers the phone there, so not sure if they are in business now.
Lonesome Dove 
Michael Some names on that list are rip offs please get several quotes and look at all postings on pavers ... trust me 2 names on that list I would never use I have been burnt badly by 1of them and the other is related from family ties... be very careful!
LibertyThinker 
Mel81 Call chris at All Image.He and Tom from Laymans worked together on many large projects.Same quality as Laymans.
Boomer 
Happiest girlRobert Burd from Hackettstown, ( (908) 852-4461) does paving as well. Has been in the area for a long time.
Mr 4Paws Got scammed by one on the list today.
Giving them the chance to do the right thing before I go nuclear.
Josh Please let us know what happens, Josh. We have a large driveway shared by three homes that needs resurfacing. We’re planning on waiting until spring but were considering one of those companies. Best of luck to you.
Stymie From my limited research, Charlie’s, CH, Hicks and one other name that escapes me now are all related. I had Harrington over for an estimate and they were 25% higher than the next highest estimate. I figured, “hey, for that kind of money they must do a great job.” And then I read Stymie’s post. Care to elaborate, Stymie?
Harrington is way overpriced
Consider J Pip’s.
Also consider the price of petroleum and labor in recent months.
I called J Pip’s to do a driveway sealcoat. The cost for that job has tripled, but they repaved our driveway and we were very happy with the work. We are going to wait on the sealcoat for now.
3wbdwnj Consigliere- big job.
Garbage quality- almost immediate deterioration.
Settled for major settlement involving usually cast, Attorneys, engineers, mediator.
Interesting process but time consuming. Costly.
Would never consider them again.
Never.
Harrington is #1. Period! You always get what you pay for. There are things to consider that most aren’t even aware of. Meaning the prep underneath and thickness of asphalt. Had my driveway done 10 years ago. Live on a hill in the woods. Yes expensive but worth every penny.
Zmama I guess Zmama and Stymie has wildly different experiences. I’d have to lean toward stymie on this one. Considering what Harrington charges, you’d expect them to correct any and all mistakes should they arise. To pay all that money and then have to hire lawyers and engineers just to get the original job done correctly is insane. I honestly don’t mind paying more for quality, but that comes with an expectation of that company standing by their work.
I’m also waiting eagerly for Josh’s story. The earlier we can warn others about the shady and the shoddy, the better.
Indie Consigliere-
It is resolved.
Given the circumstances of the resolution, I'm not going to go any further into detail.
Lets just say-
#1- if you get a knock on your door and a young guy says 'working nearby- have extra material'- close the door.
#2- whatever work you have done- get the quote and scope of work in writing before they start- and be there to watch while they work.
It's not that I haven't heard about paving scams before- but I guess I was too trusting that a recognizable logo on a shiny truck we've all seen a million times wasn't the type to have bad business practices. I associated that with flyby night beat up trucks that look like they came from Paterson.
So I was too trustful- had only a verbal agreement and I left for work.
Glad it worked out in your favor, Josh.
I noted several times that CH has a shiny logo wrapped truck that they often send out with a pretty young lady stating the same deal about working in the neighborhood yada, yada yada. In fact she was in my neighborhood a month or so ago. She did well! LOL.
Greg Josh,
I had a similar knock on my door by a young guy in a shiny truck. In the last few weeks. I'm guessing it was the same company. I said no to him, but I can see why you went for it. Glad you.got some resolution.
Mr. Joe 
What would cause ripples like this in a driveway ( was paved spring ‘23 ) ?
Panda Panda Koala That is odd for sure. The only logical answer in my mind would be a subpar preparation of the base layer. Now at 6-8 months later with a wide swing in temperatures, the poorly done base is manifesting in the top layer damage.
Or there is a significant water issue either below grade or washing over the surface of the black top. Either way that really stinks as snow removal other than by hand will wreak havoc.
Panda, that has to be whatever’s under the pavement moving around. Like Greg said, with the recent freezing/thawing cycles, the issues with the prep work will begin to show. Who did the work? I’d call them immediately.
Thank you for your time. I am so worried about this, and really appreciate it.
When I first had him out, and he walked around and checked things, I already knew that it would have to be done from scratch. I told him this. I knew it was never going to be a pave over what was already there situation. It was very old, had not been maintained, and had a few holes from snowplowing, where I could see just how thin the macadam and the gravel underneath it was. It had been put down by the prior homeowner himself, and I knew it wasn’t up to standards. And I was completely honest with the contractor about this fact. Visibly, there were at this point cracks everywhere and ruts running up the driveway, not only from the cars’ tires traveling over it for 35 years, but from a full-sized digger on treads being run up it when the ground wasn’t frozen on at least two occasions that I know of, plus heating oil delivery trucks over the years. I spilt everything and was completely up front about all of this when showing the contractor around the property as he measured and inspected. I myself brought up the fact that we would need more gravel base while talking to the contractor when he was out there that first day I met him. Knowing all this and seeing it for himself that day, he gave an estimate of $14,000. I know estimates are not written in stone, but I was never trying to hide anything to lowball the work, and definitely told him just how bad it was before getting his estimate. Only after he had torn out our entire driveway, was I informed by him that he needed an additional $9,000 check for a total of $23,000, because he did not understand until that point that there was not enough base in the driveway and he needed to add much more crushed rock (not gravel). I know he did in fact bring in crushed rock base, but I haven’t a clue about what “a lot” or “a little” base looks like, so I can’t speculate on the adequacy of what he put down. Is there any legitimate remedy other than tearing up the macadam and laying a proper base? Is $23,000 far too low for this kind of work to be done properly? The driveway is 250 ft according to Google Maps “measure distance”. It has enough slope that you’d better put on your hand brake or you will start to roll in neutral, but isn’t steep enough to be exciting coasting down on a scooter for a kid. Sorry I can’t do better than that, I really don’t know how to judge the angle.
I don’t want to name names in a public space, but I did choose him because I saw him recommended on the forum at Hackettstown Life when I was looking for paving. When the new season comes, if anyone really needs to know, message me and I will return your message.
Found this in a search for rippling:
"If it is asphalt, it could be lack of compaction of the asphalt surface or a base failure due to poor base placement. A lack of compaction of a soil base is common near structures. Asphalt has very little strength and is a covering to protect the base (which carries the loads) from moisture."
OnTheEdge Call the company that installed the driveway. They may be able to heat the blacktop up and roll it again to smooth out and compact the area.
GreatMeadows 
Panda.. generally the rule of thumb is you price out a driveway by square footage not by how many feet long it is. you should’ve paid about 3.80 a square foot, which was what I paid in 2021 for a complete redo. Additionally, when I reached out for quotes, none were estimates they were solid quotes for how much they would do the driveway for.
Hadenough Adding NINE THOUSAND dollars to an estimate is only reasonable if the original estimate was like $100,000. Adding $9k to a $14k job would have him thrown off the job (unpaid) if it were me. I’d let him take me to court.
It’s a crappy lesson to have to learn but always get more than one estimate and always get everything in writing.
The first step is to contact the paver, tell him about the problem and have him fix it for free. Every paver I spoke to told me a 1 year warranty was the norm. Do not wait until the spring to complain. Do it today. Good luck.
Consigliere,
Yeah, that additional $9000 on the original estimate of $14,000 he gave AFTER I had already told him *everything* about the potential issues and lack of proper original base due to the prior homeowner doing it himself did tick me right off. Especially as he had access to the driveway and I would have thought that an experienced contractor could have seen for himself via the holes and exposed original base that it was, as I had told him, obviously insufficient.
And yes, I am one darned jaded gal at this point, but in retrospect, I can’t help but wonder if this contractor hadn’t sensed our vulnerability and purposely waited until he had the entire driveway torn out to put pressure on us because we no longer had a useable driveway & and likely a new contractor would have paused before taking on a client that the original contractor had quit on. My husband had been hospitalized for over a month about 1/2 a year prior to the paving after suffering several mini strokes, and was not yet back to his normal abilities when this job was started.
(Please Don’t worry about my husband, he’s doing much better now)
But based on what I’m learning recently from here and from people I’m speaking with, I’m starting to feel just a bit “put upon” by this contractor.
-=-=-=-=-=-
I am now trying to decide if it would actually be prudent to even speak with the contractor himself at this point or if it would be counterproductive in the long run. I kind of wonder if there is any point to trying to work with him because we were the ones who should have fired him when he came back with the new estimate. Are we basically screwed because we paid him the additional money, thus agreeing to something legally binding by doing so?
I would appreciate Any and All opinions regarding whether or not I should trust the contractor enough to contact him to deal with this situation,
OR
If this a lost cause based on his perhaps not stellar character, and I need to contact an engineer as others have had to do when they had trouble.
Again, thank you to everyone who has replied as well as anyone who replies further!
My advice … get a lot more pictures and with a better camera and go see a lawyer. Stop wasting anymore time on this you need to get a lawyer. I believe you have been scammed and only a lawyer can give sound legal advice.
Absolutely agree with LibertyThinker---and look the company up and see what the Better Business Bureau has to say - past complaints etc
4catmom https://njconsumeraffairs.state.nj.us/file-a-complaint/
https://legalcounselnj.com/scam-alert-paving-scams/
If you credit card, 60-90 days for dispute so you are probably out of that.
Yes, contact him, if not responsive, court, consumer affairs, BBB, I would use any and all that you could.
My driveway was done 20 years ago and the only issues are water damage underneath creating three dips in twenty feet ---- all fixed with patches, not great but serviceable. And about three other dips, one understandable (digging underneath), and two oh wells. And some cracks mostly between pours in large driveway. All patched with hot seal. So, all in all ----- I am amazed how well it held up,
Even as you pursue it with this guy, I would call NOCES for a quote to fix. You can trust them at least to give a fair price for a great fix. And my recommendation is for NOCES ---- did not pour my driveway but has been maintaining for over five yeaers and has "rehabilitated" driveway immeasurably. Their more expensive labor intensive brush method is great quality. Have had some of the hot patch smear on hot days, but consider a technology 'thats the way it is" more than a installation issue.
babbit When did driveway paving become such a dishonest profession ? I remember another instance when a paving contractor working in the area knocked on my door and gave me his business card back in 2017 and he looked very familiar . A few hours later I remembered that he pulled into my driveway two years earlier selling meat out of the back of a refrigerated truck . I looked up the yelp reviews and they were not good , no they were not .
97XBAM 97: as long as there are "gypsies" or people operating under that stereotype.
One part water, one part cooking oil, one part sealer, and look how your driveway shines! And at half the price!
Wait till you see how I can make your roof shine like new, too,
That’s why I always recommend Harrington. He holds his word and comes back if there is a problem.
Michigan 
AuntieL Panda what have you done about the issue? Did you contact the paver to see if he would fix it?
I was very happy with All Image. Complete tear out and pave for $4,800 last summer. Reasonable price, and they did an awesome job.
Rob Durana I had the same done. All Image did a great job. I thought the price was reasonable too.
That looks to be a 20' x 25" driveway. at $4800 all in that's Just under $10 per square foot. Sounds reasonable for a complete removal and 3" top layer. Clearly that driveway was newer and in fairly good repair to start with. I'd gather an older drive with more base work and material needed would be a bit more per square foot for sure.
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