A well-built asphalt driveway installed by professionals with quality materials can last for decades without needing to be replaced. However, there may come a time when you are looking at a full-on replacement project with your paved driveway, which is a rather major undertaking. When it comes to having the old driveway redone, you may be wondering if the old driveway can simply be covered or if the old asphalt will have to be completely torn out and removed. Here are a few factors a contractor will take into consideration to decide what should be done with your old asphalt driveway.
Most old driveways can simply be covered.
Just like what takes place when an old roadway is redone, an old driveway can also usually just be covered with new asphalt materials. The old pavement may be grated to prepare the surface to adhere to the new asphalt. Having the underlying layer of old pavement can actually be beneficial to homeowners because having a subsurface already on the ground can reduce the amount of asphalt materials that have to be used to create the driveway. Over old pavement, the new material only has to be about two inches thick, but without that underlying pavement, the job may require a thicker application.
Old pavement may have to be removed if groundwork must be done first.
In some cases, the old pavement has to be removed before the new pavement can go in place because work has to be done to the underlying ground. For example, if water issues have caused a lot of sinkage with the old pavement, the old pavement may have to be removed in order to stabilize the soil. It is typically not feasible to perform this kind of work with the old pavement still in place, so the contractor may have to remove it.
Careful planning must take place when covering an old driveway with new pavement.
It may sound like it would be simpler to just cover up the old pavement, but that is actually not the case. If a paving company is going to be installing new pavement over the old pavement, they have to take time to tend to any existing issues with the existing pavement first. For example, if your old asphalt pavement is riddled with potholes and brittle spots, these areas have to be tended to because they can affect the finished project once the new asphalt is installed.
Contact a company like Phend & Brown to learn more.
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