How to Make Asphalt Maintenance a Proactive Strategy

Numerous studies have proven that proactive maintenance saves money and extends the life of the item receiving the maintenance. This is true for a wide variety of items, including industrial equipment, heating and cooling systems, roofs, vehicles and lawn mowers. It is also true for asphalt pavement. If you are proactive about your parking lot maintenance, your pavement can often last longer than its expected life. However, neglected asphalt pavements often require a total replacement before reaching the midpoint of their life expectancy. If you are wondering how to establish a proactive maintenance plan for your asphalt pavement, the following tips may help.

How to Make Asphalt Maintenance a Proactive Strategy

What Is the Process for Creating a Proactive Maintenance Plan for Asphalt Pavement?

Creating a preventive maintenance plan for your pavement does not need to be a time-consuming, expensive or difficult task. Although you may need to invest a little of your time, it will be far less time than you will spend responding to complaints from those using your parking lot or soliciting bids for a new pavement. Maintenance is also less expensive than major asphalt repairs or a total reconstruction. If you want to be proactive about your pavement maintenance, here are five critical steps.

1. Never guess at the condition of your pavement. Take a walking tour of your asphalt pavement to ascertain its condition for yourself. You should make this inspection in the spring so that you can evaluate whether your pavement suffered any damage over the winter that needs to be repaired before summer arrives. You should conduct another inspection every autumn so that you can have any issues corrected before winter weather has an opportunity to make them worse.
2. Select a reputable asphalt paving company with extensive experience in repairing and maintaining pavement equivalent to your own. Some contractors only have experience with residential driveways, but if you have a large parking lot, they may not have the right equipment or skills. The reverse can also be true. You need to find a contractor you can trust — one who is honest, dependable and knowledgeable. A credible paving contractor can help you establish the proper schedule for work and prioritize the most urgent problems.
3. Breaks in the surface of asphalt pavement can allow water to infiltrate. Your pavement is supported by a foundation, and the integrity of this foundation is a critical element of a long life for your pavement. Water can erode and destabilize the foundation, but it can cause even more damage if it freezes while it is trapped beneath the pavement. Therefore, all potholes and any cracks wider than approximately a quarter of an inch should receive immediate repairs. If your budget does not allow you to repair all damage at once, prioritize those that are in the areas receiving the most traffic.
4. Have your contractor apply asphalt sealcoating before your new pavement reaches its first anniversary. You should also have fresh sealants applied as recommended by your contractor. The average parking lot needs new sealcoating every two years, but you may need it less frequently or more often. Sealants improve the appearance of asphalt pavement, but they are more important for protecting the pavement from petrochemicals, ultraviolet radiation and deicing agents.
5. When preparing a long-term budget, you should allocate funds to have an asphalt overlay installed every 12 to 15 years. This procedure is also known as asphalt resurfacing. It is far more economical than having your pavement reconstructed, but the results will be virtually the same. However, overlays are often not possible if the pavement has not received proactive maintenance; the foundation must be in relatively good condition to make resurfacing cost-effective.

All Pro Asphalt offers a complete range of asphalt maintenance services, including sealcoating, asphalt repairs, infrared asphalt restoration, parking lot striping, asphalt overlays, crack repairs and asphalt paving. We also install, repair and maintain concrete. Customers throughout the greater Kansas City area know that they can count on us to use high-quality products and the latest technologies to deliver exceptional results at reasonable prices. We offer free quotes, so request yours today by submitting the online form or calling 816-249-6800.

Recent BLOGs

Asphalt Maintenance Budget Tips | Property Management

Service Areas

"*" indicates required fields

REQUEST AN ESTIMATE
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Request Estimate