Lansing Best Asphalt Paving is an asphalt paving contractor in Lansing, MI that lays new asphalt driveways over a compacted gravel base and repaves old ones that have broken up. Before any price, someone walks the pavement, because a soft base or a low spot where water stands decides the fix. The hot mix is the easy part.
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There are usually two things you can do with your asphalt. The first one is to continue to sealcoat and repair it, which would keep it sound for years, but in case the whole base has given way, there's no other way than to replace it. One important note is that the plant that makes the hot asphalt closes around late November and opens again in April, so a paving job that misses this window has to wait for spring.
A home driveway would usually get two to three inches of asphalt, pressed down, on six to eight inches of gravel, also pressed down. Clay soil could mean digging deeper and putting in more stone. New asphalt on a soft base would look fine at first, but would start failing within a season. Also keep in mind that when rolling is done, soil is filled in level with the edges, so a tire that rolls off the side does not crack them.
The drive is swept and dry before any sealer goes on. The cracks are filled first. If not, water would still go down to the base through them. Sealing a 600 square foot driveway usually costs between $1,000 and $2,000, including filling the cracks. But it also depends on the season, because during the cold fall it would dry slower, and a fall job waits for a few dry days in the forecast before it begins.
The way it works is a hot patch replaces about the top two inches and lasts between one and two years. But alligator cracking, a pattern of small blocks like reptile skin, means the base underneath has failed. That needs a saw-cut patch. A square is cut out down to the stone, the stone is packed again, and the hole is filled with hot asphalt, which costs between $4 and $12 for each square foot. Then the edges of the patch are sealed so water cannot run down the joints.
Every pothole starts as a crack that let water in. On a driveway, the hole is cut square, cleaned out down to firm base and filled with hot asphalt in layers, each one rolled. One pothole would cost between $100 and $400, but $100 to $250 is the cost of bringing the crew and machines out. It makes sense to fix every hole on the driveway in one visit and seal all the cracks around them, so you can save money on bringing the crew.
The old asphalt is torn out, the ground is regraded, then new stone base and new asphalt go down. That usually costs $4 to $10 a square foot. It is the only chance to fix whatever ruined the old driveway, and the most common causes are water collecting against the garage every spring and a base that was too thin, which would get fixed in the grading before any asphalt comes.
An overlay lays 1.5 to 2 inches of new asphalt over the old, glued down with a tack coat. HomeGuide says it adds 8 to 15 years at $1 to $3 a square foot. Where the drive meets the garage slab or the apron, the old surface is milled down first. Then the new one meets them flush instead of standing a lip above them.
Cracks between 1/8 and 3/4 inch that still move get hot rubberized sealer, poured once the crack is blown clean and dry. HomeGuide prices crack work at $0.50 to $3.00 a linear foot. Filling lasts 1 to 2 years and sealing 3 to 8. On a drive you plan to keep, we'd pay for sealing. Get it done before the first hard freeze.
The apron at the street often breaks up first, since plow blades and street runoff reach it before the rest. It can be replaced on its own while a sound driveway stays. In Lansing the boulevard between sidewalk and street is city right-of-way, and the city's permit gives two weeks to put back any sidewalk or curb ramp taken out with the apron.
A wider drive or a parking pad beside the garage is new paving tied into the old, with the same base depth under it. The joint is cut straight and tack-coated so it doesn't open. Small areas cost more per foot. Homewyse prices 120 square feet in zip 48912 at $13.07 to $15.97 a square foot, against $11.65 to $13.97 for a 600 square foot drive.
Tell us roughly how big the driveway or lot is and what you see on it: cracks, low spots, crumbling edges, potholes. We call back with the fix that fits and a ballpark for it.
A lot takes delivery trucks and plow blades a driveway never sees. The business stays open, so lot work runs in sections, with signs at the entrances before any part closes.
The 2010 ADA Standards tie accessible stalls to lot size. One for up to 25 spaces, two for 26 to 50, three for 51 to 75. One in every six of them is van-accessible. HomeGuide prices stalls at $4 to $5 and an accessible stall at $25 to $40. Restripe after every seal coat.
Milling grinds off the worn top so the new surface stays level with curbs and drains, at $0.25 to $0.75 a square foot by HomeGuide. Failed spots get cut out to the stone and refilled first. Skip that and the old potholes come straight back through.
HomeGuide's national range for a new asphalt lot is $3 to $7 a square foot, or $900 to $2,500 a stall. Paving is timed around business hours. Corners and islands a paver can't reach get raked and rolled by hand. Drains get checked before paving, since water standing on a lot is how its base fails.
The lot is sealed in halves so residents always have somewhere to park, with notice posted before each half closes. Sealing runs $1 to $2 a square foot nationally, per HomeGuide, cracks filled first. The stripes go back once the coat cures.
A private road is the association's to maintain, not the county's. With garbage trucks and plows on it, HomeGuide's heavy-use figure is 4 inches of asphalt or more. Sealing cracks as they show keeps an overlay from becoming a rebuild.
Tar and chip is hot liquid asphalt sprayed over gravel with stone chips rolled in before it cools. HomeGuide puts it at $2 to $5 a square foot and a 7 to 10 year life, against $5 to $12 for hot mix. On a drive several hundred feet long, the kind found around Mason and Holt, that gap runs to thousands. Some owners pick it for the stone look. Expect loose chips the first weeks.
Millings are old pavement ground up. Rolled and warmed by the sun, they pack tighter than gravel. HomeGuide puts a recycled asphalt drive at $4 to $9 a square foot and the millings alone at $12 to $32 a yard. A rubber-tired roller beats a steel drum on the uneven chunks. We'd skip anyone who sprays diesel on millings to bind them, because fuel dissolves the binder.
A backyard court is paved like a driveway, base first, but a ball finds every birdbath. So the slope that sheds rain stays gentle and the roller makes extra passes. Lines and color coating wait until the asphalt cures. Size and truck access set the price, so a court is quoted once it's measured.
Lansing gets about 33 inches of rain and melted snow a year by NOAA's normals, and every drop needs a path away from the garage. Finished asphalt follows whatever slope the stone base has, so grading sets the crown and pitch. On rural drives the culvert under the apron gets checked too, and a crushed one is replaced before anything is paved over it.
Tearing out an old drive runs $765 to $2,305 for 600 square feet in zip 48912, by Homewyse. Old concrete and loose millings come out the same way when an owner moves to asphalt. Near a city street tree, Lansing's Forestry office, (517) 483-4161, wants a call before anyone digs within 10 feet of it.
Most driveways do not need to be torn out. A new layer on top works when the driveway is under 15 to 20 years old, the base is level and less than 25 to 30% of it needs repair. But you should tear it out and replace it once cracks cover 60 percent of it or run one to two inches deep. Lansing’s airport weather normals count 142.5 days a year at or below freezing and 52.6 days that stay frozen all day, which should definitely affect the asphalt. That leaves about 90 days a year that freeze at night and thaw in the day, and each one pushes water deeper into the open cracks. What you can do is look after it rains. Water that stays where the car parks means the base has sunk. A 12-year-old drive with firm edges and only a few cracks would totally fit the overlay case.
We had an issue with our bathtub, and the water kept going out even when we closed the part which seals the drain. Initially we just called the first number that looked the cheapest, closest and fastest, and it was cheap and good, but in a few days it started to leak again. This time we decided it definitely does not work this way, and we called another guy who was more expensive. When he came, he clearly explained what the issue was, why the first fix did not work long term, and what we could do to fix it properly. After his work, it’s still working great, years later.
Work in Lansing’s boulevard goes through the Public Service Department’s permits office, (517) 483-4156, which also inspects asphalt. A cut into the street is patched by the city and billed to the applicant. Miss Dig answers at 811 or (800) 482-7171.
| Step | Typical time | What sets it |
|---|---|---|
| Miss Dig locate | 72 hours or more | Miss Dig notice |
| Hot mix available | April to late November | Plants close in winter |
| New drive, no cars | 24 to 48 hours | Asphalt cooling |
| First seal coat | After about a year | Oils in new asphalt |
| Sidewalk put back | Within 2 weeks | Lansing permit |
| Topsoil and seed | Within 5 days | City Code 1218.16 |
The permit rows come from Lansing’s right-of-way permit form, the season from Calhoun County’s road department, and cure and sealing from HomeGuide.
| Job | Typical range | Source |
|---|---|---|
| New drive, 600 sq ft | $6,995 to $8,385 | Homewyse 48912 |
| New drive, per sq ft | $5 to $12+ | HomeGuide |
| Overlay, per sq ft | $1 to $3 | HomeGuide |
| Sealcoat, 600 sq ft | $990 to $2,010 | Homewyse 48912 |
| Crack work, per foot | $0.50 to $3.00 | HomeGuide |
| One pothole | $100 to $400 | HomeGuide |
| Tear-out, 600 sq ft | $765 to $2,305 | Homewyse 48912 |
| Lot paving, per sq ft | $3 to $7 | HomeGuide |
| Striping, per stall | $4 to $5 | HomeGuide |
These are market ranges, not a price list. Homewyse covers zip 48912 in 2026 with basic labor on an easy site, crack filling included in its sealcoat row. HomeGuide is national, and Lansing asphalt contractors tend to quote high in its range. The firm number comes after a walk over the pavement.
Distance. HomeGuide notes a $40 to $65 an hour delivery fee for homes 15 to 20 miles or more from a hot mix plant. Clay that needs deeper digging adds base stone.
An overlay where the base allows. Crack filling and sealcoat in one visit, so the setup is paid once. A patch and the apron bundled into the same trip.
Honestly, I would not care about having the driveway go gray. Unless I had an unlimited amount of money and wanted to maintain an image of wealth and abundance, I would not care about keeping the driveway black and looking new. But it’s up to everyone to decide where to spend their cash.
I would not try to fill the crack or patch the hole myself, because at first look it might look fine, but in a few months or even less it will look horrible or can cause more damage. I would definitely prefer to pay someone who knows how to do it properly.
A soft base, standing water and broken edges decide between a patch, an overlay and a tear-out, and none of them show in a photo. The firm quote comes after a look on site.
Lansing Best Asphalt Paving paves, seals and patches driveways and lots in Lansing, MI and out through Ingham, Eaton and Clinton counties.
Holt is in Delhi Township and Okemos in Meridian Township, so street-side work there answers to the township and the county, not the City of Lansing.
East Lansing, Grand Ledge and Meridian Township ban coal-tar sealer, by local news reports. Seal coats there are asphalt emulsion.
A call to (517) 878-2459 gets you a ballpark soonest. Or send the form and we phone you back.
We would recommend waiting at least 24 to 48 hours before driving or parking on it, because the surface would be super soft. Turning the steering wheel while the car is not moving could scuff it.
Generally, we would recommend doing it after about one year. Fresh asphalt still has oils in it that keep it flexible, and sealer does not stick well until they are gone.
For a pickup pulling a trailer, or an RV, three to four inches on an 8 to 10 inch base is more recommended. The quote should give you the thickness after rolling.
That would be 15 to 30 years if it's put in well and looked after. But rock salt used during winters damages asphalt, and you could use sand or calcium magnesium acetate on the driveway instead.
Often it's possible, as long as the hot mix plants are still open and the ground is not fully frozen. But we would advise getting the paving date in writing before you pay a deposit.
The usual trick is an invoice with empty lines, and the price and the work get written in after you sign. We strongly recommend reporting it to the Michigan Attorney General as soon as possible.
Meridian Township banned it, then East Lansing and Grand Ledge did too, because coal-tar sealer has about 50,000 ppm of harmful chemicals. To compare, asphalt-based sealer has about 500.
Not to lay asphalt at a house. A 1986 Attorney General opinion found that the state's home repair license law lists concrete but not asphalt.
The sun dries out the binder, the black glue that holds the stones together, and the surface would go gray and brittle. To slow that down, a seal coat is usually applied, once the open cracks are filled.