New Asphalt Maintenance

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  1. Asphalt pavement contains “Liquid Asphalt” which is the black, tar-like substance that holds the pavement together, and this liquid needs time to harden and cure. Your new asphalt could take up to a year to fully cure. Even when fully cured, asphalt pavement can sometimes soften in extreme heat, or harden faster as temperatures drop. To temporarily harden the pavement, you can water down the surface with a garden hose. If soapsuds appear, don’t be worried. This is a reaction between the chlorine in the water and the asphalt.

2. Keep vehicle(s) off new asphalt for at least 72 hours or more depending on temperature.

3. Avoid driving off the edges of your driveway, this will cause it to crack and crumble due to lack of side support. You may support the sides by backfilling the sides with soil.

4. Keep motorcycle and bicycle stands, boat jacks and other sharp objects off the surface.

5.On a hot and sunny day, the sun can easily heat the asphalt back up making it soft and pliable again, therefore caution should be taken when making tight or sharp turns on it. If you wind up causing tire tracking there’s not a lot you can do to fix it. Unfortunately, only time and a little oxidization will make these disappear. Power steering divots are caused by turning your steering wheel while your vehicle is setting in place. This can cause damage to your new asphalt especially on a very hot summer day. If turning around in your driveway is absolutely necessary, try and keep the vehicle moving at all times while you’re turning… moving forward and backwards until you’re turned around.

6. If you have any campers, boats or trailers, and you need to store them on your new asphalt, it’s a good idea to place some plywood underneath each tire in order to spread the weight more evenly to keep small divots or low spots from forming in the asphalt. These divots or swayles are irreparable without causing even more problems surrounding them. The way these are formed is by any combination of several things like the wind blowing, climbing in and out of the boat, climbing in and out of the trailer or camper… this vibrating or moving the vehicle back and forth and wiggles the asphalt back and forth under the tires and eventually causes that low spot or a swayle in the asphalt. To remedy this, place some (3/4”) plywood underneath each tire. Generally you want to about 2 feet on each side of your tires and of course, a couple of feet in length past the front of the back tires. This will distribute the weight more evenly over a larger area and eliminate that potential problem.

7. Your asphalt may look smoother in some areas than in others because of its makeup. Asphalt is composed of various sizes of stone, sand, liquid asphalt and other ingredients which cause a varied texture of the surface. Also, asphalt areas that have been raked and spread with hand tools may appear different in texture from those spread by machine.

8. Sealcoating your asphalt will increase the life and appearance of your driveway. Sealcoating your asphalt will lock in the existing oils to keep the asphalt flexible, which reduces cracking. We recommend that you seal coat your driveway 6 months to 1 year after install and every 2-3 years after that.

Kendall Asphalt Construction uses an emulsion based seal coating. The reason we choose emulsion over oil based sealer is: Emulsions have fillers to seal rougher areas where straight oil based sealer does not. The main base of an emulsion sealer is oil with added fillers such as latex, clay and sand to provide a better protection for the asphalt and a smoother finish. The water in the emulsion evaporates out leaving the oils and fillers intact while a straight oil based sealer is cut with mineral spirits leaving a broken down oil.

Our company uses CRAFCO PolyFlex3 Crack Sealant.re.