Asphalt driveways are very important for domestic and commercial properties. When you have a well-maintained driveway, it boosts the outlook of your property greatly. Also, you will have great functionality out of your driveway as well. However, driveway maintenance is necessary as well to make it last longer. Especially, with winter approaching, you need to ensure proper maintenance for it.
Autumn is a season that can make your driveway surface behave differently. It is a season where occasional rain showers might be commonplace in many parts of the world. Also, autumn leading to winter can leave your driveway in a bad state. So, we have some autumn asphalt driveway maintenance tips that will help it stay protected through winter. Read below to find out more:
Sealcoat Your Asphalt Pavement Driveway
Freshly laid asphalt driveways have a new sealcoat on them. This sealcoat ensures everything on the top surface stays where it is supposed to be. Also, a sealcoat will neat up your driveway making it regain that dark appearance quickly as well. Not to mention, sealcoats are inexpensive.
Additionally, fresh sealcoats help snow melt quicker too. So, if you get a sealcoat just before winter starts, all that snow will go away quicker. Residual snow is often the case on driveways that have faded away sealcoats and are dull on the surface.
Your driveway should be seal-coated every 3-5 years anyway. If the top surface is faded in color and you have some levels of stones coming off, it surely needs a sealcoat. Also, sealcoats don’t work well when provided in cold winter season. So, autumn is the right time to get yours done.
Crack-Filling for the Asphalt Driveway
Quite often, asphalt driveways will get different cracks on them. Cracks might appear in a square or portion of your driveway. They might be running all along the driveway from one end to the other. Some might be along the edges or raised curb sections of your driveway.
Winter season gets snow in many parts of the world. When snow settles in these cracks, the water will melt deep into the layers. Chances are that your adhesive layers might lose their effectiveness when left unchecked too. This is why crack-filling is important before winter starts.
So, get crack-filling done by a reputed driveway paving company Washington . Get all those cracks sealed away even before that sealcoat. Also, make sure there is a slope to the driveway driving melting snow water into the runoff areas. Care for your driveway and it will last decades.
Look Out for Pooling Water on Your Driveway
Autumn season gets a lot of occasion showers. This is why water pooling is pretty common at different places of any property including the driveway. In fact, pooling water can also be very dangerous for the health and longevity of your asphalt driveway too.
What you need to do is to have a very flat driveway surface with a nice slope. This will make all that rain water run off into the safe area. However, there are some minor indentations to be expected on the best driveways over time too. So, make sure to check for water pools and puddles.
When you get a proper sealcoat, such minor issues can be removed during it. Also, it is a great idea to check for pooling water every day as well. Remove water that will not slide away. Additionally, ask your asphalt paving contractor to make your driveway porous in nature. It will not let water settle.
Leaf Blower to Blow Falling Leaves Away
Falling leaves onto your driveway are always worrisome in the autumn. If you have trees alongside the paved surface, dry leaves will collect on the driveway. These leaves on their own may not hurt the driveway. However, driveways that don’t get cleaned often, will have a problem.
Organic matter rotting away on paved surface will also attract water. If too many leaves collect, they will hang on to rainwater or even dew drops. This water can leak into the underlayers of your driveway damaging it from the inside.
So, a leaf blower treatment should be easy to do. Also, if you don’t have a leaf blower, just pick off settled leaves with a trash picker. Dispose of them properly. Maintain your driveway and keep it clean before entering the winter season to guarantee best asphalt protection.
Check for Leaky Engines and Oil Collection on Driveway
Leaky engines can be quite devastating for your driveway health and longevity. Car, truck, van or motorcycle engines can leak quite a bit of hot oil on the surface. This oil will drain into the inner layers of your driveway. This will quickly deteriorate the adhesive layers on that driveway.
Also, rain showers and excessive nightly dew will help that oil get into the inner layers. So, it is important to fix your leaky engines before you park those vehicles on that driveway. Also, if you have oil stains, they will be quite hard to remove. Do this yourself or get a professional to remove those stains quickly.
Make sure to perform a full oil stain removal on your driveway quickly. When it gets snowed on, you will not have much chance of removing that excess oil. Additionally, you should prepare that driveway for the winter season in the best way. When the snow goes away, you want a clean looking driveway.
