Getting a driveway coated with asphalt can be an expensive service. What more? It is not every day that you get your driveway asphalt coated. So, you would want to take every precaution, whatsoever and employ adequately skilled paving contractors to do the job to the best of their ability.
As necessary as it is to ensure that you hand over the job of aestheticizing your driveway to an experienced paving contractor only, it is equally important to also make sure that your new driveway gets as much care and maintenance as it gets attention.
Did you too, got your driveway beautifully paved with asphalt? Well, great if you did! But, are you also providing it with the care it needs to retain its freshness? If you are absolutely clueless about what we are talking about, hang on! We’ve got your back with some professional tips about how to maintain your new asphalt driveway. A bunch of simple steps is all that will be needed for the maintenance of your new driveway. Well, that and some effort on your side. These simple steps will make sure that your brand new asphalt coated driveway stays protected and functional for many years to come.
Find below, some reliable examples of the ways through which you can maintain your asphalt driveway. Also, do not worry, as you would not have to shed big bucks to hire a professional paving contractor for the regular maintenance of your asphalt driveway. With the following tips, you can take care of your driveway all by yourself!
Remember to note the following tips down to get some help in keeping your asphalt driveway looking good brand new at all times. You would also not have to incur unnecessary expenses on unexpected repairs if you follow the following steps–
- SEAL COAT YOUR NEWLY COATED DRIVEWAY
A large number of driveway repaving that is performed today is in the first place, needed because of a previously performed bad sealing job, or because the wrong materials having been applied to the surface of the driveway by the previous paving contractor. Do not use materials that are water or latex-based as they tend to dry out the surface and cause cracks because of the presence of certain additives. You wouldn’t even know and your asphalt coated driveway would have become a mess within just the first three to five years.
Also, you wouldn’t want to repave your driveway again that quickly, or would you? It might be tempting for you to get over-enthusiastic and head straight away to your local home improvement store to get some cheap repaving materials to quickly glam up your driveway again. In general, though, doing that will only prove harmful for your driveway. Those materials are usually of inferior quality and will result in a low-quality job only.
- EXTRA CARE DURING THE FIRST YEAR AND A HALF
Sealcoating is not the only step when it comes to looking after your driveway. There are also some other steps that you can take to maintain the surface of your newly coated asphalt driveway. For example, if you are driving a car on your asphalt coated driveway and the car is not moving, you should totally avoid turning on your power steering. Doing so is important because it can loosen the surface stones and create scruffs on the asphalt. In a matter of seconds, your asphalt driveway would have turned into a mess.
If you want to know why this happens, do not worry, we have an answer.
It takes anywhere between twelve to eighteen months for brand new asphalt coating to fully cure. So, during that time, it is more susceptible to marks and indentations which could be hard to remove at times. If such an accident does happen to your beautiful driveway, you can perform a little trick to help smoothen the scruffs. Driving over those scuffs will help smooth them back into a plain surface. However, the area might still appear darker than the rest. This will hamper the aesthetic of your brand new asphalt driveway. So, why take a risk? It is better to take precautions to avoid making such a mistake altogether than going here and there, stressing over on finding a way to rectify it.
- PROTECT THE EDGES
Every newly coated asphalt driveway is supposed to be kept a watch upon. Not doing so might prove unlikeable for your driveway. The most sensitive area, however, in a newly coated asphalt driveway, are the edges. The vulnerable edges of a new driveway are prone to accidents. Also, your asphalt will often require backfilling to prevent the edge from falling away. The edges are responsible to keep the whole asphalt stick together. Therefore, it needs some extra attention than the rest of the driveway. Keep certain things in mind while on the driveway. Do not drive along or off the edges, as this could easily result in breaking the edge off. If the edge is lucky enough to not fall off entirely, the chances of at least some serious cracking is high.
However, the possibility of such accidents should not bother you if you are taking adequate precautions to avoid them. One way or avoiding such an accident, as suggested by a professional paving contractor, is to make sure that you engage in proper backfilling with topsoil in any areas that have lawn, mulch or gravel. What this would do is, it will make the asphalt driveway and the are around it lie on the same level. That way, the chances of anything hitting the edges of the asphalt driveway will reduce in a great way as the ground is now plain. This will not only help to maximize the life of your newly done asphalt driveway, but will also make sure that it’s appearance is not compromised with. Your driveway would not only be protected from accidents but will also retain its beauty and strength for years to come.
