Winter is entirely upon us and could cause a lot of devastating damage to asphalt driveways and parking lots, particularly older ones. Thankfully, the best asphalt repair Champaign, Mahomet, and Monticello, Illinois has to offer can help. When you contact us at Elite Paving & Sealcoating, you can schedule these repairs and maintenance methods for your driveway. Doing so will save you a lot of money and ensure that you are protected from various types of damage for years to come.
Understand Winter Damage Risks
Asphalt is a powerful paving option and one of the best for those who need winter protection. That’s because it resists cold temperature changes, ice, wind, and snow better than almost any other type of paving option. That said, asphalt is not immune to damage of this type. Unfortunately, there is a good chance that it could experience some loss if you aren’t too careful.
For example, the summer heat can be particularly damaging to asphalt and expand its surface in a variety of ways. When this happens, you may end up with a surface that is cracked or open to various types of damage. Even worse, there is a good chance that the surface could be impacted by ice and snow, which can trigger a multitude of issues that home and business owners may not anticipate.
As a result, you need to consider asphalt repair and maintenance techniques every winter season. These steps are relatively simple and shouldn’t take a lot of excess work to manage. The steps below are among the most potent and effective ways of handling this problem. Follow them to ensure that you get the best results and to protect your driveway from severe damage for years to come.
Keep the Asphalt Clean of Debris
A good driveway should be strong enough to withstand damage from a broad array of different contaminants. However, it would help if you still cleaned off your driveway before snow hits. For example, you need to clean up all dirt, gasoline stains, mold, and other elements that may have built upon a driveway over the years. Doing so is critical for a number of reasons.
First of all, when snow falls on top of a stained driveway, the stains will get trapped and will be allowed to wear away on the surface of the driveway. Even worse, contaminants such as these can also freeze and thaw and cause even more damage to asphalt. Therefore, it is critical to talk to asphalt repair and maintenance professionals to learn more about this process for your needs. Doing so can help to make this process easier to handle.
Do you need to call experts for this kind of cleaning? Probably because many types of stains can be hard to remove. Gasoline, in particular, has a nasty way of working down into your pavement and becoming very hard to eliminate. Mold is also a real problem because the spores will spread rapidly and damage your asphalt in many areas. So call professionals and get your driveway cleaned using high-quality treatment options, such as de-molding and much more.
Fix Potholes Immediately
Winter has a nasty way of turning small imperfections in a driveway into a severe danger. That’s because the snow, ice, melted water, and cold temperatures of the sizes can trigger the development of potholes. These holes can occur throughout the surface of a driveway without warning and may be very hard to repair without help. You shouldn’t try to manage this type of repair on your own, though, because there are too many possible complications if you end up making a mistake.
For example, an asphalt repair specialist can come to your home and fill in all potholes to ensure that they don’t become more considerable. Potholes may appear out of nowhere, particularly during the winter, and need to be maintained appropriately to avoid worsening damage. Just as importantly, all potholes must be covered with patches or other types of repair methods. Doing so will help to make sure that the cold of the winter environment doesn’t further damage the deeper areas of a driveway’s surface.
Just as importantly, you need to make sure that you are very careful about how you de-ice your driveway. That’s because salt and other types of melting tools have a nasty way of working into potholes and making them worse. So pay attention to this facet to ensure that your driveway is protected. This step includes ensuring that all potholes get sealed up as soon as possible and to keep them from developing again on the surface of your driveway or parking lot.
Get a Sealcoat
Lastly, you’re going to need to get a sealcoat to protect your driveway fully. Although you may not be able to install one during the winter, you can get t once the weather warms up. The temperature should be at least 70 degrees Fahrenheit for several days straight before you get a sealcoat. Although this process is something that you can’t do now, getting it done later does provide you with many benefits.
First of all, sealcoating helps to keep winter weather from expanding the asphalt surface and causing more damage. That’s because a good sealcoat is designed to be protective and robust in all temperature conditions. Just as importantly, a sealcoat can ensure that a driveway is protected from mold, ice, rain, snow, and other weather conditions that can easily trigger even more damage on a driveway. This damage can spiral out of control and make asphalt a pothole-filled mess.
So perform all of the steps mentioned above to keep your driveway secure through the winter. And then, once the snow has melted and the temperature is stable, get a sealcoat. This process is one that you only need to do once every 5-10 years or so because a typical coating should last at least that long. Make sure to talk to asphalt repair specialists about this process, as well, to ensure that it is finished correctly and that your driveway stays in great shape for years to come.
Help is Available With Us
As you can see, keeping your driveway protected from damage doesn’t have to be a significant challenge. The best asphalt repair Champaign, Mahomet, and Monticello, Illinois, have to offer can provide many great benefits. So please don’t hesitate to contact us at Elite Paving & Sealcoating right away to learn more. Our experts have years of experience working in this field and fully understand how to help you. We can provide you with the maintenance and repairs necessary to keep your driveway secure.