Signs Your Driveway Needs to Be Repaired Soon

November 20, 2020

Asphalt is a highly durable material, but it does have a limit to how long you can expect it to last. It’s important to stay on top of maintenance and repairs as needed to extend its life and keep it in good condition for as long as possible. This will help you avoid having to prematurely shell out money to a local paving contractor in Nashville, TN for what would otherwise be an unnecessary repair.

If you do not make asphalt repairs in a timely manner, you can expect the issues in your asphalt to worsen, causing weakened structural integrity and a greater likelihood that you’ll have to repair the entire paved area.

With this in mind, here are a few signs that you need to call in a professional to perform some asphalt repairs on your driveway:

  • Cracking: Aging asphalt will begin to develop cracks, which is one of the most noticeable and common signs that you need to repair the surface. A failure to promptly patch up and fix cracks in your asphalt will almost certainly result in those cracks growing and spreading, getting to the point where they start to resemble alligator skin. When you let it get that bad, you may need to replace the asphalt entirely. Individual cracks in the pavement are usually neither difficult nor expensive to repair, so it’s just a matter of being proactive about making those repairs to prevent the problem from worsening.
  • Potholes: Potholes occur when water penetrates through the pavement through smaller holes or cracks, causing the sub-base to shift or erode. This makes for greater surface instability, so when vehicles roll over the area that has a weakened sub-base, it could develop a hole or depression. Potholes must be filled and sealed completely. Not only can they cause other issues with your pavement, but they can also cause damage to your vehicle and are a significant tripping hazard for people walking on your driveway.
  • Areas of pooling water: Any time you have standing water on your asphalt, it’s not a good sign. Water can get through cracks and cause major damage during freezing and thawing cycles as it expands and contracts. Water pooling is usually a result of poor drainage or an uneven surface, so you may need to fix the grading and drainage of your asphalt to resolve the problem.
  • Warping: Vehicles exert a lot of pressure on a driveway when they pass over it. This results in the driveway warping. How hard it can be to fix the warping depends on the extent to which it has occurred—you may be able to get away with some touch-ups and minor repairs if the problem isn’t too significant, but otherwise you’ll need a total replacement.

These are just a few examples of some of the biggest signs that you need to bring in a paving professional to fix your driveway. For more information about getting your driveway fixed up, we encourage you to contact RoadBuilders to speak with our local paving contractors in Nashville, TN.

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