Winter poses major threats to your driveway pavement. The freeze-thaw cycles affect the integrity of your driveway surface. A simple crack or pothole are the lead catalyst to asphalt crackling. When ice and snow melt, it pools water, which affects the compactness of the driveway pavement. In addition, when water freezes it expands in small potholes and cracks, increasing pressure, and developing cracks that cause the damage to your driveway surface. Therefore, as temperatures drop during winter time, the asphalt becomes harder, stronger, and brittle. Avoid expensive driveway repair costs.
Use these helpful tips to protect your driveway pavement this winter!
1. Remove Debris From Driveway Pavement
Being proactive can ensure your driveway is in great condition for the winter freeze and thaw cycles. It’s key for you to work on clearing your driveway and street of debris, before the season. Professional driveway cleaning services may help you reveal issues, like potholes or surface crackling, that require immediate repair.
Another reason driveway cleaning is important is to prevent large pieces of debris from freezing and damaging your driveway pavement during the long and cold winter months. Most debris left to freeze create potential issues with snow plows and negatively affect driveway pavement. Make sure you’re proactive and have your driveway surface cleared of debris in advance. This will ensure your driveway is in great condition post winter season.
2. Sealcoat Driveway Surface Before It’s Too Late
We understand that driveway paving installation is an important investment to home and business owners. Therefore, we encourage all of our clients and neighbors to take great care of their investment. One way to protect your driveway surface is to fill any cracks before winter time, this is called sealcoating or asphalt sealing.
Sealcoating is recommended to be done after your driveway surface has been cleared of debris to guarantee proper coverage of crack openings. It’s important to ask you driveway sealing professional if this service is still available in your area. The right temperatures for sealcoating need to be considered.
3. Routinely Shovel Pavement
Once again being proactive works in your favor towards protecting your driveway investment. When you continuously clear your driveway surface during the winter of standing water and snow, you are preventing the freezing and thawing cycles from damaging driveway further.
Whether you choose to shovel or plow snow, be aware that you’re doing this to prevent water damage, therefore it should be done before the snow melts. If you’d rather delegate this job to a professional, due to lack of time or if the area covered is extensive, consider hiring an experienced team in your area that holds the right equipment and knowledge to prevent further damage to your driveway pavement.
4. Think Twice About Applying Salt
Although professionally installed asphalt pavement should keep you worry free about salt developing potholes or damaging driveway, you should consider the following before you de-ice:
- Environmental Effects
- Selecting the Right Deicer Mix
- Pooling Water On Surface
- Booking A Reputable Driveway Repair Team
The environmental truth of this topic is that runoff water containing salt greatly affects plants, wildlife, and your local waterways. You can prevent this by first shoveling or plowing snow and then using the best deicer mix that offers as few environmental effects as possible. After this, you should access the area for any pooling water. This may signal a potential pothole in the spring season. This is a concern to the protection of your driveway investment, consider booking a reputable driveway repair professional to fix your driveway surface problems before they get bigger.
5. Winter Driveway Repair
Repairing any potholes as the coldest months approach may be a huge challenge for the average individual. Consider this an important task though, because pothole repairs in the winter months help prevent further damage to your driveway pavement investment.
The most professional paving specialists tend to use high quality asphalt mix products that allow for the best driveway repair. Research your area for the top driveway repair team and be brave to ask for help. This will save you lots of money in the long run and ensure you have a healthy driveway surface for multiple years and winters ahead.
Have you assessed if your driveway pavement is suitable for winter? Consider the tips above to protect your driveway surface investment and prevent future repair costs.
Limitless Golden Construction offers high-quality asphalt paving services in Putnam and Westchester County, NY. Our seasoned experts can guide you and answer any of your questions regarding your pavement needs.
Request your complimentary quote now and proactively book your spring service with us! Call Limitless Golden Construction today at 914.810.3125.