How can you tell if your driveway was built with cheap materials (rocks)?

Well, driveways are made with cheap materials. The difference is how it is built.

Typically, you want 3″-4″ of concrete thickness in your driveway. 6″ if large trucks drive on it regularly.

If your driveway has rocks larger than a golf ball you’d want to add about the same thickness. But, rocks are okay as long as they don’t pose a driving hazard.

Pretty much anything as hard as a brick will do fine in a driveway.

Now back to the question.

Bad signs:

• Wood laid in the concrete as elements.
• Cracks. Most cracks are quality control issues unless you can stick a twig into one. Then things are moving either due to soil conditions are something like a nearby tree.
• If you have cracks and can see that the concrete thickness is 2″ thick or less.