Why Choose Asphalt Paving for a Residential Property?

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Asphalt paving is an excellent choice for residential properties and is quickly becoming a favorite paving material for driveways, walkways, outdoor tennis courts, and other such surfaces. Asphalt offers many benefits over concrete and provides a durable surface that lasts for years!

Why choose residential asphalt paving on your property?

• Asphalt paving is typically more affordable than concrete.
• Asphalt is 100% recyclable.
• Asphalt paving projects can be done quickly and driven on soon after installation.
• Soft, porous asphalt absorbs shock and vibration, creating a safe, quiet surface.
• Asphalt’s dark color provides lots of contrast for lawns and landscaping.

Before you call a paving contractor near you and decide on a material for your home’s driveway and other such surfaces, you might note some reasons why so many homeowners are choosing asphalt today. You can then discuss your choices with a paving company in your area and decide which is right for your home.

Is Asphalt Paving Best for a Residential Property?

To help you determine if asphalt paving is the right choice for outside your home, note some advantages of blacktop and especially when compared to concrete. While both materials offer durability and strength and their own advantages, you might find that asphalt is the best choice for your property, for a variety of reasons!

• Asphalt paving costs are often far less than concrete, sometimes even half the cost when you include materials and labor. This consideration is especially vital if you have a large property and need lots of surfaces paved.
• Asphalt installation is usually faster than concrete, and asphalt also sets and cures far more quickly. In many cases, you can drive on new asphalt within a day or two while concrete might require up to two weeks if not longer to cure properly!
• While concrete recycles somewhat easily, some homeowners are under the mistaken impression that asphalt is not recyclable! Blacktop is actually 100% recyclable, making it a very eco-friendly paving choice.
• Asphalt’s dark color provides lots of advantages over lighter concrete and other paving materials. One advantage is that the dark paving color cuts down glare from harsh sunlight, keeping you safer behind the wheel.
• Dark asphalt also provides natural contrast to your property’s green lawn and colorful landscaping features, adding visual interest and aesthetic appeal. Dark asphalt is also an excellent choice outside white or lighter colored homes.
• While you might not need parking lines and stripes on a residential property, asphalt’s dark color does provide more contrast along its edges, often making it easier to see where your driveway ends! Avoid ruts along a lawn’s edge or damage to borders and edging with dark asphalt pavement installation.
• Asphalt paving has a naturally bumpy texture, which offers added traction when driving. That bumpy texture also discourages standing water, helping to protect asphalt from water damage and keep the pavement dry and safe for vehicles and foot traffic.
• Soft, porous asphalt absorbs shock more readily than concrete. If you’re considering installing a tennis court, basketball court, or paved play area for the kids, consider asphalt! The pavement is softer on the joints and slows down bouncing balls, for more enjoyable play.
• Porous asphalt also absorbs noise far better than concrete. If your home is located near a busy roadway, noisy school, airport, or other such distraction, consider asphalt installation for a quieter environment indoors and out.

Note, too, that there are many asphalt paving color varieties from which to choose. If you hesitate to consider blacktop for your residential property because its dark color seems a bit overwhelming, talk to a paving contractor near you about lighter shades of gray or reddish tones, for a distinct look you’re sure to love!

Is Asphalt Paving Durable for Residential Properties?

Asphalt paving is very durable but, like any other material, is prone to damage over the years. While asphalt breaks down on its own due to age and everyday wear and tear, there are many steps property owners might take to avoid otherwise unnecessary damage and to keep asphalt in good condition over the years. Consider a few tips for ensuring your property’s asphalt paving is in good condition and always looks its best!

• While residential properties don’t need overly thick asphalt, never skimp on its depth when you choose asphalt installation! Typically four to six inches of asphalt is sufficient for residential homes but ensure you choose a thick depth if you have a large vehicle and especially if you own a trailer, motor home, or anything else that puts undue weight on your property’s asphalt.
• Asphalt is manufactured with a petroleum base mixed with binders or cement. Fresh petroleum such as in motor oil dilutes those binders, allowing asphalt to soften. To keep your property’s asphalt in good condition, ensure your vehicles don’t drip oil and especially in the same spot day after day!
• Regular power washing removes corrosive chemicals, motor oil, and other such materials that otherwise break down asphalt adhesives. Pressure washing during summer months also keeps asphalt cool, helping prevent early breakdown.
• Asphalt binders hold together aggregate, or a mixture of gravel, rock chips, and other such pieces. Heavy-duty snow plows and other such equipment scrape away that aggregate, even pulling it from the asphalt mixture! Protect your property’s blacktop by avoiding the use of snow plows, shovels, and other such sharp tools and equipment.
• Cracks, chips, potholes, and other such damage allow water to seep into lower layers of asphalt, weakening the material even more. Timely repairs of even the smallest cracks help avoid more extensive and costly fixes.
• Excess moisture breaks down asphalt. This moisture might result from standing water above asphalt or overly moist soil below! Proper grading or sloping of a property ensures water runoff, keeping asphalt dry and in good condition.

Improper asphalt installation also contributes to early breakdown. To ensure your blacktop stays in good condition for as long as possible, invest in quality installation from a reputable asphalt paving company near you and never choose an asphalt contractor based on price alone! Check their references and portfolio of past work, so you know your asphalt paving will stay strong and durable for years to come.

What Is Driveway Sealcoating and Why Does Your Property Need It?

One excellent way of ensuring your property’s blacktop is always in good condition is regular driveway asphalt sealcoating. Sealants provide an added layer of protection between asphalt and harsh sunlight, corrosive chemicals, rainfall, and the like. Regular sealcoating keeps asphalt in good condition longer than exposed asphalt.

Driveway seal coating is not the same as a chip and seal, however. Chip sealing involves application of a liquid asphalt layer and then fresh aggregate. These layers are then pressed into place, providing an entirely new asphalt surface.

Chip sealing fills in minor cracks and other damage and provides a new appearance to your asphalt, ready for striping and marking. Chip sealing also extends the life of residential asphalt paving but is more involved and costly than seal coating.

How Do You Repair Damaged Asphalt Paving?

Small asphalt cracks might be repaired with patching kits and equipment but large chips, potholes, spalling, and other damage is best left to an asphalt repair company near you! The process for repairing damaged asphalt is typically more complicated than homeowners realize and begins by actually clearing away damaged asphalt and surrounding pavement material, to ensure new materials adhere properly.

An asphalt paving contractor also examines the asphalt foundation or gravel and soil layers, to check for additional needed repairs. If foundation aggregate and its underlying compacted soil are weak, your asphalt will only continue to buckle and heave and crack as time goes by! Needed foundation repairs ensure your fixes last and help avoid future damage.

Filling and tamping a pothole and other damaged areas properly is vital for ensuring lasting repairs. Without proper tamping, fresh asphalt mixture will only loosen and soften over time, pulling away from its base. Your freshly repaired pothole or crack will then reappear and even grow as it suffers additional damage!

Sealing is typically the last step in proper asphalt pavement repairs. A fresh seal coating protects that patching material and keeps it durable and strong, avoiding future damage and keeping your blacktop looking its best for as long as possible.

Related Questions

What is an asphalt overlay?

An overlay is a fresh, thin layer of asphalt, installed when the pavement has too many cracks and other damage for patching but not enough damage to warrant full-scale asphalt installation. An overlay provides a safe surface for driving and a fresh appearance as well.

Can you add fresh asphalt over old asphalt paving?

Whether you can add fresh asphalt layers over existing asphalt paving depends on the strength of the pavement’s foundation, the condition of the current paving, and its thickness. Overly thick asphalt becomes soft and damages easily while adding new asphalt over a damaged foundation only leads to added cracks and potholes. An asphalt paving contractor near you can inspect your property’s current asphalt and note if it needs removal before new asphalt installation.