When your Asphalt Driveway starts showing its age around Wayne County, you notice real quick. Dealing with shifting clay soil and brutal freeze-thaw cycles means your Asphalt Pavement takes a beating every single year. Fortune Asphalt Detroit gets a lot of questions from homeowners trying to figure out the best move for their property. We will walk through the most common things people ask us when those Asphalt Cracks and Asphalt Potholes start showing up.
How do I know if I need a patch or a complete Asphalt Replacement?
The decision usually comes down to the foundation of your Asphalt Driveway. If you have a couple of isolated Asphalt Potholes or a linear Asphalt Crack, Asphalt Patching is usually fine. But if your Asphalt Driveway looks like a jigsaw puzzle with alligator cracking spreading everywhere, Asphalt Patching will not save it. That web of Asphalt Cracks means the base underneath has failed, usually because water got trapped and froze. When the sub-base goes soft, you are just throwing money away by putting new Asphalt Pavement over a sinking ship.
Why do Asphalt Potholes keep opening up in the exact same spot every spring?
Blame the water and our local clay. If a previous Asphalt Patch did not address a drainage issue or a weak sub-base, water pools underneath the Asphalt Pavement. When temperatures drop below freezing, that trapped moisture expands and pushes the Asphalt Pavement up. Once it thaws, it leaves a void, and the weight of your car drops it right into an Asphalt Pothole. Until you dig out that bad soil and fix the drainage, Asphalt Patching that same spot every April is going to become an annual tradition for your Asphalt Driveway.
Can I fix these Asphalt Cracks myself with a tube from the hardware store?
You can, but you must manage your expectations. Those DIY pourable or rubberized Asphalt Crack fillers work okay for minor, stable Asphalt Cracks if you clean them out properly first. The catch is that most homeowners skip the prep work. If you do not wire-brush and blow out the dirt and weeds, the rubberized Asphalt Sealant will not bond to the edges. For small Asphalt Cracks, DIY is fine. If an Asphalt Crack is wider than half an inch or running all over the place, store-bought filler is just a temporary fix.
When is the right time of year to get Asphalt Repairs done around here?
You want to aim for late spring through early fall when the hot mix plants are fully operational and the ground has dried out. Asphalt Pavement needs heat to compact properly. If you try doing major Asphalt Repairs in January when the ground is frozen solid, the Asphalt material will not bond. That said, cold patch is available for emergency winter Asphalt Potholes, but you must treat that strictly as a temporary fix until the weather breaks.
How long should I keep my car off the Asphalt Driveway after Asphalt Patching gets completed?
Give the Asphalt Driveway at least 24 to 48 hours depending on how hot it is outside. Fresh hot-mix Asphalt takes time to cool down and cure fully. Even after the Asphalt Pavement looks hard, hot summer sun can soften it up. Avoid making sharp turns or spinning your steering wheel while the car is parked stationary during the first week, because that scuffs and gouges the fresh Asphalt surface.