Asphalt Paving and Sealing Liner: The Hard Facts of Asphalt Repair
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 are formed. After five years, the entire thickness rusts and becomes 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 the water gets soaked. In about a year, areas with crocodile crevices turn into potholes. After fifteen years, the entire surface will have been broken.
IS IT NECESSARY TO REPAIR YOUR ASPHALT PARKING LOT?
“IMPORTANT TIPS FOR REPAIR”
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 last and this is true for your customers or friends when they enter your parking lot. They are encouraged to either come visit you or turn around and leave, depending on what your surroundings look like and yes, this includes your parking!
We will first start with some asphalt parking lot maintenance statistics. If your asphalt is sealed every three years, it will have an average life of thirty years! If your asphalt is not sealed, it will have an average useful life of fifteen years. Asphalt repairs can cost up to $ 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 applying a topcoat to your asphalt every three years avoids higher repair costs for years to come.
To determine if your parking lot is in need of repair, 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 the aggregate poking out? Are chunks of rock coming out of your asphalt? These are all signs that you need to seal and repair your parking lot. Excessively rough areas generally require the installation of a new asphalt skin patch prior to applying the seal coat in order for the seal coat to last when applied to these areas.
2. Cracked Asphalt – Are there cracks in the asphalt? These can be caused by excess water under the parking area or a lack of proper maintenance of the seal coat over the years. These areas can be repaired by filling in the rubber cracks or removing and replacing them with new asphalt, depending on the severity of the damage. Cracks can also be caused by pressure from the tree’s root.
3. Worn Stripes: Do the stripes and stencil on your parking space look worn? Do old lines show through your old sealing layer? These are signs that it is time to seal and re-scratch the parking area. The stripes 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 to previous jobs that were completed. Call these people to see if they are satisfied with the asphalt contractor’s job. Remember, price is not everything! Some contractors use better materials and do a better job than other contractors.
As a general rule of thumb, make sure the asphalt contractor dilutes the seal coat with a maximum of 10% water. This way you will get a thicker layer of sealer, and that will last a long time. When your asphalt is severely cracked (alligators) 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. Usually this will give you a nice solid patch. Remember, first impressions last. People like a clean and well-kept parking lot.
Stop … Think About Your Asphalt Road!
When was the last time you thought about your asphalt road (the road that leads to your humble home and where you park your car)? This article will give you information on how to take care of your asphalt road, whether it is new or not.
If you have an asphalt driveway, seal it! Sun and water are your driveway’s worst enemies. If you don’t seal the driveway regularly, the surface will become rough and the asphalt will begin to crack, causing further damage. If your driveway is old, 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 buy a special sealant broom to apply the sealant and a brush to cut along walls and narrow areas. Applying sealer in the driveway can be tricky. You should apply it with even brush strokes. When it dries, it will look exactly like you brushed it off. The sealer will dry very quickly, so it should work very quickly.
There is a big difference between the sealers YOU can buy and the sealants used by asphalt contractors who seal driveways for a living. Sealants used by asphalt contractors contain silica sand and / or shale, which allows the seal to last approximately twice as long as what is purchased in the store. The asphalt contractor uses a mixing machine to keep the aggregates agitated. Otherwise, it will stick like lead to the bottom of the container. If you stamp your own driveway, it’s good to do it every year. If you have a contractor to do it, ask them to seal it every three years.
If your driveway is old and has some cracks, it is recommended to repair them before further damage occurs. Asphalt cracking is mainly caused by the effects of the sun and humidity. Proper attention to cracks will prevent the driveway from breaking further and will double the life of the asphalt. If you seal 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 sealer will flex with the movement of the asphalt and help prevent water from seeping into the crack. Always seal cracks before sealing your asphalt driveway. If you hire a contractor to seal your cracks, make sure they use a rubber-based sealant. (Some don’t!)
Your driveway 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 garbage truck blues?
I cannot count the number of phone calls we have received from irate apartment owners. The conversation usually begins when the landlord says, “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 shake. 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 in asphalt parking lots. Generally, parking lots are not built to handle heavy truck traffic. Usually the base material (decomposed granite) in older parking lots has not been installed or has been installed in a very thin layer. The flooring that is laid on top of this base is only as strong as the base material. This can cause premature stress on the asphalt pavement when a heavy truck passes over the surface.
Think about it! One 18,000 pound load pass on a single axle truck has the same effect in an asphalt parking lot as 9,600 car passes. How much does your local garbage truck weigh when it’s full of wet, smelly, compacted garbage? It usually weighs more than 18,000 pounds. If your garbage truck shows up once or twice a week, the damage load can be equivalent to between 10,000 and 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 garbage truck damage.
The first thing to do is repair the damage that the garbage truck has caused. This generally 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 overlay the damaged areas with a fresh coat of Petromat and asphalt. This is less expensive than removing and replacing your asphalt. Petromat is made of fiberglass and is designed to help prevent cracks in the old pavement from breaking through the new asphalt layer. The new asphalt layer should be a minimum of 1.5 inches deep on the Petromat for maximum effectiveness. Since Petromat patches will raise the level of your existing parking lot, you need to ensure that puddles of water do not become a problem.
Once your asphalt patches have been completed, you need to seal and redraw your parking lot stripes to keep it looking good and to help keep your patches tightly closed and waterproof.
The second thing to do is figure out how to help prevent the damage from happening again! One way to do this is to install concrete decks where garbage trucks do the most damage. Usually this is in the FRONT of your trash cans. The concrete pads I see are usually too small or in the wrong location. You need to make sure the concrete pad is longer than the garbage truck and is installed where your garbage container stops and picks up. The reason this area is subject to the most damage is that the garbage truck is stopped, causing the most pressure on the pavement. The truck also shakes and shudders when it is unloading its dumpster, causing additional stress in the area. The concrete pad must be a minimum of six inches deep, using 3000 PSI concrete and steel rebar.
The third thing you need to do is check the existing locations of your garbage cans. The closer the better! Some apartment properties are located so that the dumpster areas can be moved closer to the street. Just remember, the closer to the street you can locate your trash cans, the less it will cost you for parking repairs. For most apartment owners, this means thousands of dollars $$$ in long-term savings.