Providing Helpful Tips
At Premiere Industries LLC in Thomaston, Connecticut, we offer asphalt driveway installation in and around the area. Having a new blacktop driveway can undoubtedly increase the appeal of your curb. However, we understand that maintaining its great condition may be a challenging task. That is why we provide helpful tips so you can keep it looking brand new for years to come.
New Asphalt Driveway Care
Hot and sunny days can heat asphalt surfaces, making them soft and pliable. During times like this, you should be cautious in making tight and sharp turns on your driveway to avoid tire tracks. That is because there aren’t many solutions to remove these impressions, only time and oxidation.
Power steering divots can damage your new asphalt, especially during hot summer days. These low spots are formed when the steering wheel turns while the vehicle sets in place. If you need to turn around in your driveway, try to carefully move forward and backward until you've completely turned around.
The best time to repair a power steering divot is in the middle of a hot sunny day. Simply take a short 2 x 4 plywood, then push some loose asphalt into the low spot. Next, press the raised blacktop into the lower area in a downward motion, then hammer it back into place.
Although this will not completely repair the asphalt and make it look brand new, it will lessen long-term damages. Over time, the spot will mostly fade but, some slight impressions may still be visible. Nevertheless, once you have your driveway sealed, power steering divots will pretty much disappear.
Avoid driving on your new asphalt if you plan to do any construction work requiring any heavy equipment. The best time to drive on the asphalt is early morning or evening at its coolest. However, these heavy concrete mixer trucks may still damage your new asphalt driveway.
Storing campers, boats, or trailers on your new asphalt driveway can cause divots or low spots to form. These swales are formed from different factors, including wind blowing, climbing in and out of the boat, trailer, or camper, and the likes. Vibrating or moving the vehicle wiggles the asphalt back and forth under the tires, eventually causing divots on the surface.
Additionally, these swales are irreparable without causing even more damage to the surrounding area. That is why it is a good idea to place some 3/4” plywood underneath each tire of your camper, boat, or trailer when parking them in your driveway. To distribute the weight more evenly, place about 2 feet on each side of your tires and a couple of feet in length past the front of the back tires.
Oil can stain the asphalt and cause it to get somewhat gummy over time, attracting dust and dirt. As long as you clean up immediately after the leak, these spots are not a significant problem. However, if you neglect the oil spot for a long time, your asphalt will become soft in specific areas. Although getting your new asphalt driveway sealed will prime and cover these stains, there is no permanent solution to the damages these oil spots have caused.
Spilling regular unleaded gasoline will not damage the asphalt immediately. It would take some time before it causes severe damage, so you need to clean them up as quickly as possible. However, diesel fuel on asphalt is a different story. You’ll notice that the company that installs asphalt sometimes uses this to clean some of the moving parts on their paving equipment and hand tools. That is because diesel fuel is the best solvent for asphalt.
Diesel fuel completely dissolves the binders in the bitumen and eventually creates a hole. That is why it's important to make sure you don’t spill any on your asphalt driveway because it can quickly destroy your blacktop surface.
Ice melting solutions come in very handy during the wintertime. Luckily, salt and other commercial products do not damage asphalt and can be used liberally. However, they can still stain blacktop surfaces. That is why it's best to spray them off your driveway frequently.
If you’re using tire chains, make sure that your vehicle wheels do not spin in place when you’re plowing or having someone shovel the snow off your driveway. These may cause deep gashes in the asphalt, which may not be noticeable until the spring. Unfortunately, there’s no concrete solution in repairing these unsightly damages, so better be cautious when clearing snow on your asphalt driveway.
On more than one occasion, we’ve seen moving vans destroy asphalt driveways. That is why it is important to prevent such vehicles from passing up on your drive as much as possible.
Trash collecting trucks are extremely heavy and can destroy even six-inch-thick parking lots. That is why you should never, on any occasion, allow them on your asphalt driveway.
Get in Touch With Us Today
For more information about us and the services we offer, contact our team anytime. We’ll be more than happy to answer any questions you may have.