After Winter Spring Is Coming… Asphalt Maintenance Checklist

Isn’t it great to have a drive or parking area covered in asphalt paving? It makes wintertime snow removal so much easier and tidier and the dark color absorbs the heat of the sun and helps melt any standing snow or ice quickly. Yet, after the winter months have taken a toll on your paving and seal coating, it is time to consider spring maintenance.

A Basic Asphalt Pavement Checklist for the Upcoming Spring Season

Is the snow melted in your neck of the woods? Are you eager to get outdoors and do some cleanup after all of those months stuck indoors? If so, start with your asphalt paving. After all, you will be using that parking area as much as you will the yard or garden. In fact, you’ll be using it even more, and if it needs repairs and cleaning, now is the perfect time.

The basic steps for your spring maintenance include:

1. Visual Exam

The spring season allows the entire pavement to be exposed and it is now that you might realize that some cracks or even holes have developed in the asphalt paving. Identifying such issues now can help you to make effective repairs or hire experts to come to your property and do them. In fact, getting a jumpstart on those repairs in the spring ensures you can contact the repair professionals before they are booked solid as the spring progresses into early summer. It will also remind you to plan on a few days to get the seal coating done before the hotter weather arrives (A bit more on that in a moment!).

2. Clean

Doing a vigorous sweeping of the asphalt paving is not enough. While it is good to eliminate all of the debris, dirt, and sand that accumulates throughout the winter, it is also a good idea to hose off the drive to ensure that any build-up of potentially harmful materials is washed away (into the street and basins or drains). All of these materials may cause the seal coating and pavement to break down or decay, and so a good scrub and rinse is a great way to kick off spring maintenance on the drive or pavement.

3. Sealcoating

Once you have looked for damages and effected repairs, and done a thorough cleaning, you may want to have an expert do some seal coating on the drive. If you haven’t done sealcoating in two previous springs, you must get it done this season. Because the spring weather can be cold and rainy, now is the time to book your professional. After all, you can pick a date when the spring weather becomes a bit more predictable, less rainy, and drier. That is the perfect moment for the seal coating, and it gives you adequate time to do the other spring repairs.

Do you need experts to do these things? The visual exams and cleanings may be a DIY activity, but it is best to have an expert do the coating. Why? They will also include a visual exam of the drive and help you to uncover any potential issues. If all you need is the coating, they can do it quickly, consistently and far more efficiently than the average homeowner.

Beyond Basics

Of course, an expert may take a look at frost heaves, major cracks, and other issues and let you know that it is more than just sealing or basic spring maintenance that is required. In fact, they may say that repairs are not needed and that a new asphalt paving job is what your lot or drive demands. Sometimes, asphalt paving is not done on a good foundation or that foundation has succumbed to forces such as groundwater, freezing, and more. This causes the drive to be incredibly uneven, bumpy, and unattractive. At such times, asphalt paving needs much more than a spring update. It may need excavating, grading, drainage and more.

When hiring an expert for some of your spring maintenance or even to have an assessment of your pavement, it is best to look for one that offers commercial and residential work. This ensures they have the knowledge, experience, and equipment needed to tackle a job of any size. And you want a firm that accepts even small jobs. In fact, it is firms such as this that will provide the kind of spring maintenance services you’ll want in the years to come. Don’t let spring get ahead of you – book your spring maintenance now and enjoy a level, sealed, and attractive pavement the rest of this year. Burnaby Blacktop offers free quotes and a long list of services.