When To Repair, Resurface, And Replace Your Asphalt Driveway
Is your asphalt driveway looking about ready to be worked on? If so, you need to ask yourself: What KIND of work does it need? A repair? A resurfacing? A full-on replacement?
The answer to that question depends upon the extent and kind of damage that your asphalt driveway is dealing with. Once you determine the scope of the damage, then you can decide which service is the best one for your driveway -- as well as your budget.
Repair Minor Cracks
Because of the nature of the work and pressure it will endure, your asphalt driveway will inevitably begin to develop cracks. Of course, you'll want to go ahead and address cracks as soon as they develop since they could allow water damage that could lead to a host of other issues down the road.
Luckily, if the cracks your asphalt driveway sports are small spiderweb cracks that are less than a quarter-inch in thickness, you can get by with a simple repair. Just have the cracks filled in, and your asphalt driveway will be good to go.
Resurface Larger Issues
Of course, not all cracks are that small and simple. If your asphalt driveway endured a particularly heavy or harsh pressure or if you waited too long to get its otherwise minor cracks repaired, you could find yourself faced with larger cracks that a simple repair would be insufficient to address.
Should you be faced with an asphalt driveway in such condition, you might bemoan the prospect of getting a full-blown repair. But you don't need to bemoan just yet. After all, you always have the option of an asphalt resurfacing that will do all the work of a repair but at a much lower cost.
Replace Older Asphalt
Unfortunately, you can't avoid the need for an asphalt repair forever. After all, if the base asphalt gets into particularly shoddy condition, then your resurfacing won't be effective at all. So, when your asphalt driveway reaches a certain point of wear, you'll simply need to have it repaved.
This point of wear can be indicated by a couple of things. One is the frequency and severity of repairs. Another is the age of your asphalt. Once it reaches about 20 years of age, repairs and resurfacings will become more and more ineffective, and you'll have to get a replacement.
