Paving Contractors Champaign, IL

How is Your Driveway Holding Up?

Paving contractors have been telling you that you need to consider repairing or replacing your driveway, but you aren’t sure which process is right or your needs. The following tips will help you better understand the benefits of each method and give you an insight into when to use them for your driveway.

How Old Your Driveway Is Matters

If you ask any paving contractor how age affects your driveway, they’ll tell you that the natural wear and tear of the years can devastate your pavement. For example, they typically state that any driveway that is over 25 years old is probably in a state that requires a full replacement to fix. That’s a quarter of a century and a very long time for your driveway to exist.

After this point, your driveway is likely to start experiencing some problems that affect its surface. For example, you may start seeing various cracks across its surface that are hard to get under control without professional help. These cracks may not seem like a significant problem for some people, but they can quickly take over your driveway and cause serious problems.

Even more of an issue, the paving material is likely starting to fail at this point and leaving your driveway exposed to the elements. Regular maintenance can help stave off some of these issues, such as adding a sealcoat to protect your driveway from water and UV rays. However, your driveway pavement is still likely to suffer from many problems as it ages past 20 and into 25 years.

That said, your newer driveway may not have nearly as many issues as an older one. Or, even better, your older driveway may still be in decent shape but has a few problems that require repair. In this situation, you need to gauge the severity of the damage to decide which approach is best for you. Not every type of issue is going to need paving contractors to replace your pavement.

Replacement vs. Repair or Resurfacing

Minor cracks should never necessitate a full driveway replacement. These cracks may indicate a more severe problem with your pavement, which is true, but you should still be able to perform spot repairs to keep the driveway sturdy. For example, filling in small cracks can keep them from growing too large and prevent more serious damage from impacting your pavement.

However, wider and deeper cracks may still spread across the surface of your driveway and make spot repairs less effective. You may want to contact paving contractors to get patches for your driveway, but these typically serve as more of a bandage than a real repair. Instead, you may want to seriously consider a high-quality resurfacing to ensure that your driveway stays strong for years to come.

A resurfacing works by adding new surface materials to your driveway to increase its strength and resistance to weathering problems. It starts by taking the top layer off the pavement using many replacement tools and then adding a new layer where the old surface existed. This process can cover up many huge cracks in your driveway, and resurfacing can even keep your driveway looking great for years.

Try to get a resurfaced driveway first before you decide to replace all of your pavement. In some instances, a new surface can keep cracks from getting worse and even add years of life to your driveway. However, there comes a time when every good driveway really needs to be replaced. In this scenario, you need to understand your options and the symptoms your pavement has got to go.

When It Makes More Sense to Replace

Though repairs and resurfacing jobs can fend off damage on your driveway for an extended period, you’re eventually going to have to replace it at some point. This replacement cost might seem prohibitive to many people but is honestly lower than continually trying to repair your driveway instead.

If you’re worried that your old driveway needs to be replaced entirely, you should ask yourself the following questions. These will help you better understand the necessity of replacement and will give you an insight into whether this process is right for you:

  • Cracks aren’t fixed by patches any longer. If your driveway’s cracks continue to expand no matter how often you patch and attempt to repair your concrete, you should probably seriously consider getting all of your pavement replaced by newer and stronger types.
  • Longitudinal cracks continue to spread – Longitudinal cracks often indicate serious subbase issues with your pavement that patches and other types of repairs cannot fix. Instead, you typically need to either fix the subbase or replace all of your asphalt or concrete.
  • Alligator cracking gets worse and worse – Alligator cracking is one of the worst types to see on your pavement because it typically indicates more serious support issues with your slab. In this instance, you probably need paving contractors to replace your driveway entirely.
  • Potholes keep appearing – Potholes are very damaging on driveways because they typically spread rapidly and cause damage to the whole surface of the pavement. Even worse, these types of cracks can damage vehicles that drive in them, which can become a problem for you or friends who visit.

In these situations, you have no choice but to contact professionals to replace your driveway. Research which professionals are the most respected in your area and calculate how much their repairs will cost you. In this way, you can know what to budget for your repairs before you pay for them.

Just as importantly, you need to work with paving contractors who you can trust to do a great job and at an affordable price. Try to find professionals willing to work with your needs and desires, such as adding specific types of asphalt or concrete to your driveway to help get the best results for you and your needs.

Ask Our Experts for Advice

As you can see, the decision to repair or replace your driveway is more complicated than you may realize. Thankfully, there are plenty of people willing to help you with this process. Please contact us at Elite Paving & Sealcoating if you want to work with paving contractors who fully understand when to replace or when to repair your pavement.

Our experts will examine your driveway and gauge how serious its damage has spread throughout the slab. We will then come up with a repair or replacement plan that is right for your Champaign, IL, or Central Illinois business. We strive to utilize the least expensive method possible to save you money and time.

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