Maintenance of your asphalt driveway or parking lot is at its best when the area is still in good to fair condition. Regular care of your asphalt paving will give you many more years of good, solid use than waiting for the major cracks to appear. Far more damage can occur under your asphalt if cracks are not immediately dealt with. The greatest culprit is water seeping into the cracks and sitting under the asphalt which eventually destroys the underlying base of the asphalt. This is especially important in areas of the country where the temperatures drop drastically in winter, causing the cracks to grow wider and allowing more moisture into the subgrade. Once this damage has travelled it is far costlier to address these problems than taking care of the cracks as they appear.
A good asphalt company will usually repair cracks with a hot poured rubberized crack sealant. The cracks will have to be very carefully air blasted, cleaned and sometimes routed out to prepare them for the sealant. Hot poured rubberized sealant is the preferred repair method.
You can seal cracks almost any time of year providing they are not wet from rain or snow. Most cracks will open and close, depending on the temperature. In Summer cracks will be narrower and in mid-Winter cracks will be at their widest.
Professional Procedures
There are many procedures that good companies will use such as routing or sawing, high-pressure air blasting, sandblasting, wire brushing, hot air blasting or high pressure water. If the cracks are deeper a specialised backer rod that is shrink resistant, non absorbent and non melting will be placed inside the large, clean crack. The size of the backer rod will be slightly larger than the crack to prevent movement and floating. Another important point that a good company will watch for is air bubbles in the sealant which will eventually weaken the repair.
These are just a few examples of repair work that Bradley Asphalt takes on and is very successful with.
If you have any other questions we would be glad to help you. Call us and we can chat:
Denver Asphalt Co – Bradley Asphalt Services Inc.
4973 E Collinsville Pl
Highlands Ranch, CO 80130
Denver Office: 303-467-0631
Email: duane@bradleyasphalt.com or duane@bradleyasphalt.us
We’re rated A+ by Better Business Bureau; Bradley Asphalt Services – Denver Asphalt.
