My partner and I are about to hire a contractor to pour new asphalt on our driveway and parking lot. My question has to do with edging. I have read up on Permalock which is an aluminum edging that requires 10" spikes nailed into compacted ground. It will be more expensive and we'd have to wait for it to arrive from out of state to our home. I was wondering if I could use 2×4 or 2×6 pressure treated lumber instead. I know it won't last as long as aluminum but will it at least give me ten years or so? Or is this just a bad idea?
I have a neighbor who installed landscape pressure treated timbers along the edge of his paved (brick pavers) driveway. His are holding up very well. I was wondering if I could do the same with an asphalt driveway.
Best Answer
Unless your neighbor pulls up his timbers to check their condition, it's impossible to say if they're truly holding up well; wood in the ground will rot from the bottom up, so the top can look great but underneath could be a soggy mess.
That said, ground contact-rated, pressure-treated lumber (typically pine here) should last 10 years without issue, especially if you wait long enough to use it that you water seal it or stain with a moisture-sealing stain. Alternatively, you could pay more (3x or more) for a wood that is naturally moisture-resistant like cedar or redwood.
However, while I'm not very familiar with the behavior of asphalt, I do know it will flex a lot more than brick pavers, so the wood lining your driveway may well crack over time due to that.