Two tips for building a high-quality asphalt driveway

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Advice for Home Extensions, Additions and Adaptations

Thanks for checking out my blog! My name's Olivia, and I'll be sharing my advice about construction and contractors here. When my husband and I first decided to move in together, we didn't fall in love with any of the homes on the market so we decided to build our own. We learned a lot about construction and contractors during that time, but our journey wasn't over yet. Over the years, we've had multiple changes made to our custom home, including extensions to accommodate new babies, adaptations for in-laws moving in and even an outbuilding studio for my son's music production endeavours. As you can imagine, I've had to do a lot of research on home building over the years, and now I'd love to pass that advice on to anyone else who needs it. Look around—I'm sure you'll find something useful.

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Two tips for building a high-quality asphalt driveway

21 August 2017
 Categories: Construction & Contractors, Blog

If you have decided to have an asphalt driveway built on your property, there are several steps your contractor should take to ensure that this structure is built to a high standard. Read on to find out what these steps are.

Take drainage requirements into account

There are several types of asphalt used in the construction industry, including porous, semi-permeable and non-permeable. Most asphalt construction projects, including driveways, involve the use of the non-permeable variety of this material. 

If your driveway is being built from non-porous asphalt,  rainwater will not be able to seep through it into the earth below. Because of this, it is crucial to make sure that your contractor builds it in a way that allows for adequate drainage.

Failing to take this into consideration during the construction process could result in serious problems in the future, particularly if you live in an area with a wet climate, as any rainwater that falls onto your driveway could end up accumulating on its surface, possibly to the point where it starts to flood your home and cause major water damage.

One effective drainage solution that many builders opt for is adding a gradient when building the base of the driveway; this gradient should be sloped in such a way that it directs rainwater away from your home, towards the closest public drain.

Ask your contractor to add a protective sealant

Asphalt is a very durable material, which is why it is routinely used for the construction of driveways and roads. However, it is not indestructible and will eventually begin to deteriorate after regular exposure to UV rays, fluctuations in temperatures and heavyweight vehicles. The nature of this deterioration can vary quite a bit, but you may notice issues such as cracks and crumbling.

One way to drastically slow down the rate at which your driveway deteriorates is to ask your contractor to add a coat of protective sealant to the driveway at the end of the construction process.

There are several types of sealant available; whilst almost all will offer the same level of protection against the above-mentioned sources of deterioration, they may differ in terms of the length of time they will protect the driveway for (some sealants, for example, need to be reapplied on an annual basis, whilst others only need to be reapplied once every three years or so) and the type of finish they create (i.e. glossy or matte).