Your residential or commercial property’s pavement plays an essential role in completing your building’s overall curb appeal. It connects the structural elements of your home to a flat surface alongside the organic features of your structure. Although aligning a flat collection of building materials like bricks and flagstone can seem like no trouble, these installations can still receive damage over time. This can lead to an unsightly and impractical pavement that can ruin the overall appeal of your building’s exteriors.
Being Cautious with Your Asphalt Pavement
Asphalt is generally regarded as one of the more durable materials of choice for pavements. This is why it’s the preferred material for highways and roads. However, it’s not as indestructible as people would think. Some sources of damage are unavoidable, while others can be mitigated with the right precautions in place.
In this article, we’ll share three causes of wear and tear on your asphalt pavements.
1) Water Damage
Water damage is a common problem for most building materials. However, it becomes an increasingly more dangerous issue if it’s in the form of standing water. Standing water can gradually deteriorate an asphalt pavement’s surface, rapidly damaging these surfaces before evaporating completely. A simple solution is to apply seal coating on your asphalt pavement to prevent potholes and cracks.
2) Sunlight
Exterior structures will always face damage from environmental sources. Damage resulting from the sun’s harmful rays, for instance, is unavoidable—especially if your asphalt pavement doesn’t have any protective structure covering it. For this reason, asphalt pavements are expected to endure wear and tear from UV rays 24/7. Thankfully, preventing damage to asphalt pavements is the same solution to water damage. Remember to apply seal coating once every three to six years. If you’re facing an especially rainy or sunny season, doubling your sealing dates may be more beneficial for your pavements.
3) Overuse
Like any physical structure, asphalt pavements will receive damage from constant pressure and stress. This can come from regular foot traffic or the load of heavy vehicles. Even simply parking your car above your pavement can cause it to sustain more stress than necessary. Although its durability as a stable horizontal pavement is impressive, that doesn’t mean it doesn’t gradually deteriorate.
One way to prevent the breaking down of your asphalt pavements is to receive proper installation. Uneven installations are the leading cause of pavement damage, which is why it’s vital to get pavement experts to install them on your property. Otherwise, you could run into regular complications with using and maintaining your asphalt pavements.
Besides mitigating damage from weight and pressure, asphalt pavements are also susceptible to oil spills and grease. Although it’s unavoidable for fuel and oil grease to land on your pavements, you can prevent it from staining by responding immediately. Rapidly hosing down these liquids stops them from permeating through the asphalt’s surfaces, keeping its structure intact and preventing long-term damage.
Conclusion
Even public applications of asphalt require routine maintenance to keep its layer in tip-top shape for the safety of motorists and pedestrians. Thankfully, you don’t need to legally own a highway to receive routine repairs and treatment for your pavement. With the proper service of paving contractors, you can make your curb look pristine and seamless from an unsightly and damaged asphalt pavement.
If you need reliable asphalt contractors in Edmonton, AB, we’re the right company to call. At W&W Construction, no job is too small or large for our team, since we can handle anything from residential to industrial asphalt pavements. Call us now at (587) 990-3447.
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