Asphalt pavement begins to deteriorate as soon as it is laid. Fuel and lubricants dissolve it, water softens it, and sunlight accelerates oxidation to break down the binder. Unsealed asphalt can lose half its thickness in twenty years.

In about a year, the original black color begins to fade. The binder asphalt begins to lose plasticity. Fine cracks form. After five years, the entire thickness has oxidized and become brittle. The color is light gray. By the eighth year, the cracks clearly extend through the pavement. The material is loose at the top. The base fails when water leaks. In about a year, alligator crack areas turn into potholes. After fifteen years, the entire surface will have crumbled away.

DOES YOUR ASPHALT PARKING LOT NEED REPAIR?

“IMPORTANT REPAIR TIPS”

When was the last time you thought about your asphalt parking lot and its maintenance? This is the same place where you park your car every day and the entrance to your home or office. It is a known fact that first impressions are lasting and this is true for your clients or friends when they enter your parking lot. They are encouraged to come visit or turn around and leave, depending on what their surroundings look like and yes, this includes their parking lot!

First we’ll start with some asphalt parking lot maintenance statistics. If your asphalt is sealed every three years, it will have an average lifespan of thirty years! If your asphalt is not sealed, it will have an average lifespan of fifteen years. Asphalt repairs can cost as much as $6.00 per square foot. Sealcoat can be applied for as little as 8 cents per square foot. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that sealing asphalt every three years saves significant repair costs for years to come.

To determine if your parking lot needs any repairs, take a look. Here are some signs to look for:

1. Rough Asphalt – Is your asphalt surface not smooth? Can you see the top of the rock or aggregate peeking out? Are chunks of rock sticking out of your asphalt? These are all signs that your parking lot needs to be sealed and repaired. Excessively rough areas generally require the installation of a new asphalt skin patch prior to sealing in order for the sealant to last when applied to these areas.

2. Cracked Asphalt – Are cracks appearing in your asphalt? These can be caused by excess water under the parking area or by the sealing layer not being properly maintained over the years. These areas can be repaired by filling the cracks with rubber or removing them and replacing them with new asphalt, depending on the severity of the damage. Cracks can also be caused by pressure from tree roots.

3. Worn Stripes – Do the stripes and stencils on your parking space look worn? Are the old lines showing through your old seal coat? These are signs that it is time to seal and repaint the parking area. The lines are the most noticeable part of the parking lot and it is very important that you have a job well done.

When choosing an asphalt contractor to do the job, be sure to ask for references from previous jobs that have been completed. Call those people to see if they were satisfied with the asphalt contractor’s work. Remember, price is not everything! Some contractors use better materials and do a better job than other contractors.

As a general rule, make sure the asphalt contractor dilutes the seal coat with a maximum of 10% water. This way you will get a thicker layer of sealant and it will last a long time. When your asphalt is severely cracked (crocodile) and needs to be removed and replaced with new asphalt, make sure the new asphalt is installed to a depth of at least 3 inches. This will usually give you a nice solid patch. Remember, first impressions are lasting. People like a clean, well-maintained parking lot.

Stop… Think of your asphalt driveway!
When was the last time you thought about your asphalt driveway (the path that leads to your humble home and the place where you park your car)? This article will give you detailed information on caring for your asphalt driveway, whether it’s new or not.

If you have a paved driveway, seal it! Sun and water are the worst enemies of your driveway. If you don’t regularly seal your driveway, the surface will become rough and the asphalt will begin to crack, causing further damage. If your driveway is older, has started to get rough, and is forming small cracks, it is even more urgent that you seal it to protect your investment.

If you decide to do the job yourself, you can purchase asphalt sealer in five-gallon containers at any of your local lumber companies or home improvement stores. You should also purchase a special broom sealant to apply the sealant and a brush to cut along walls and narrow areas. Applying caulking to your driveway can be tricky. You need to apply it in even brush strokes. When it dries, it will look exactly like you brushed it on. The sealer will dry very quickly, so you need to work very quickly.

There is a big difference between the sealants YOU can buy and the sealants used by asphalt contractors who seal driveways for a living. The sealants used by asphalt contractors contain silica sand and/or shale, which allows the seal to last about twice as long as store-bought. The asphalt contractor uses a mixing machine to keep the aggregates agitated. Otherwise, it would stick like lead to the bottom of the container. If you seal your own driveway, it’s a good idea to do it every year. If it’s done by a contractor, have them seal it every three years.

If your driveway is older and has a few cracks, it is recommended that they be repaired before further damage occurs. Asphalt cracking is mainly caused by the effects of sun and moisture. Proper attention to cracks will prevent your driveway from further deterioration and double the life of your asphalt. If you’re sealing your own cracks, be sure to purchase a crack sealant that has rubber compounds. This type of product allows the crack to expand and contract without breaking. The rubber crack sealant will flex with the movement of the asphalt and help prevent water from entering the crack. Always seal cracks before sealing your asphalt driveway. If you hire a contractor to seal the cracks, make sure they use a rubber-based sealant. (some don’t!)

Your input is an investment. The better you take care of it, the less it will cost you in the long run. The best thing about a well-maintained driveway is that it looks great and enhances the look of your home.

Does your parking lot sing the garbage truck blues?

I cannot count the number of phone calls we have received from angry apartment owners. The conversation usually starts with the landlord saying, “Those damn garbage trucks are ruining my asphalt parking lot. There are cracks as far as the eye can see and the ground is starting to shift. I’m afraid one of my tenants is going to fall.” and break a leg. As you know, these are all very valid concerns.

Garbage trucks are the leading cause of damage to asphalt parking lots. Parking lots are generally not built to handle heavy truck traffic. The base material (decomposed granite) in older parking lots has typically not been installed or has been installed in a very thin layer. The pavement that is placed on top of this base is only as strong as the base material. This can cause premature stress in the asphalt pavement when a heavy truck drives over the surface.

Think about it! One pass of an 18,000-pound load on a single-axle truck has the same effect on an asphalt parking lot as 9,600 passes of automobiles. How much does your local garbage truck weigh when it’s full of wet, smelly, compacted trash? It usually weighs more than 18,000 pounds. If your garbage truck shows up once or twice a week, the damage load can be the equivalent of 10,000 to 20,000 cars. That’s a lot of traffic!

By now, you are probably wondering what you can do about this problem. Depending on your property, there are several steps you can take to help repair current damage and limit future damage from the garbage truck.

The first thing you should do is repair the damage caused by the garbage truck. This usually requires sawing and removing the damaged asphalt and replacing it with new asphalt to a depth of no less than four inches. The new asphalt patch should always be deeper than the existing asphalt.

If the damage to your garbage truck is not too severe, you can cover the damaged areas with a new layer of Petromat and asphalt. This is less expensive than removing and replacing the asphalt. Petromat is made of fiberglass and is designed to help prevent cracks in the old pavement from breaking through the new layer of asphalt. The new asphalt layer should be a minimum of 1.5 inches deep above the Petromat for maximum effectiveness. Since the Petromat patches will raise the level of your existing parking lot, you need to make sure that puddles of water do not become a problem.

Once the asphalt patches are complete, you should seal and repaint the parking lot to keep it looking good and to help keep the patches well sealed and waterproof.

The second thing you need to do is figure out how to help prevent the damage from happening again! One way to do this is to install concrete pads where garbage trucks do the most damage. This is usually located in the FRONT of the dumpsters. The concrete pads I see are often too small or in the wrong place. You need to make sure that the concrete pad is longer than the garbage truck and installed where he stops and picks up his dumpster. The reason this area is subject to the most damage is because the garbage truck stops and causes the most pressure on your pavement. The truck also shakes and shudders when it is unloading its dumpster, causing additional stress to the area. The concrete pad must be a minimum of six inches deep, using steel rebar and 3000 PSI concrete.

The third thing you should do is review your existing dumpster locations. Closer is better! Some apartment properties are located so that dumpster areas can be moved closer to the street. Just remember, the closer you can locate your dumpsters to the street, the less parking lot repairs will cost you. In most cases for apartment owners, this means thousands of dollars $$$ in long-term savings.