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Why seal cracks in asphalt pavement?

For asphalt in areas with slow moving vehicle traffic and foot traffic such as but not limited to: parking lots, driveways, residential streets and walkways. Because of the increase in tires grinding on the asphalt, motor fluids dripping and other damage to the pavement, it is so important to seal cracks promptly and properly. As asphalt ages, it will oxidize and shrink causing random cracking throughout the pavement. Cracks in the asphalt allow moisture to seep below the pavement and leads to potholes and speeds up the deterioration of the pavement. Properly sealing cracks that appear can more than double the effective service life of the asphalt pavement.

Repaving your parking lot is usually a large expense, but if you take proper action, you can actually delay the need to repave your asphalt. To do so, you must be proactive and take preventative action and maintain your asphalt while it’s still in good condition.

This post is a version of the article "How To Protect Your Asphalt Pavement From Water Damage" which will be featured in the December 2014/January 2015 issue of Building Management Hawaii.

Water is one of the main causes of asphalt pavement degradation and can lead to cracks, potholes, and base course failures. The longer water is allowed to pond on top of your pavement or seep into the pavement itself, the worse your problem will become.

The good news is that there are ways to prevent water damage to your asphalt. The following tasks are pillars of pavement maintenance.

Untreated oil stains will deteriorate your asphalt pavement. Your pavement is made up of sand and aggregates which are held together by a binder called asphalt pavement. Oil will dissolve the binder, causing raveling to occur. In cases where the oil stain has been untreated for a while, the top of your asphalt pavement may become soft.

It's always best to treat oil stains as soon as possible. The longer the stain is left on top your pavement, the more it will become saturated into the asphalt, causing the pavement to deteriorate quickly.

Your parking lot budget likely consists of a number for repaving. But do you have a budget for asphalt maintenance? Performing asphalt maintenance will help extend the useful life of your asphalt and delay the need to repave (repaving can be very costly). Asphalt maintenance is the practice of preventing, or quickly resolving issues such as cracks, water penetration, and oxidation. Neglecting maintenance will result in the deterioration of your pavement. This is why we preach performing regular maintenance.

(Click here to schedule a site visit and have an estimator help you assess your parking lot needs.)

There's no point budgeting to repave your entire asphalt parking lot if only a relatively small area actually needs to be repaved. Ideally you'd like to budget to repave just the area that needs it and then re-allocate the remaining budget to keep the good areas good through pavement maintenance. Typical maintenance tasks include:

• Sealcoating
• Crack-Filling
• Pothole Repair
• Striping & Marking

Forecasting when each task needs to be done is the next step, and this can be difficult on your own. That's where having your parking lot evaluated can help.

Asphalt begins to degrade beginning the day it is laid down. If not properly maintained, your asphalt will likely degrade to the point where your pavement will need serious (costly) work. However, if you catch problems in their early stages, you can take preventative action to avoid future (costly) headaches. 

Oxidation is the first visible sign of a pavement distress. Once asphalt pavement becomes oxidized, your pavement will begin to fail (cracks, alligator cracks, potholes, depressions, etc.). Below are three signs that your pavement is oxidized:

Hawaii's unique environment poses challenges when it comes to keeping your HVAC/R unit running efficiently. The salt air from the ocean will cause corrosion against unprotected units. When your unit's fins and coils corrode, the air can't flow as easily, causing your unit to work harder than it needs to. The harder your unit needs to work, the shorter its operating life.

Our protective treatment for HVAC/R units extends the unit's operating life. Below are some frequently asked questions we receive from customers.

Asphalt maintenance and repair is a lot more than repaving. In fact, repaving is usually going to be your last resort. There are a number of things you can do (and not do) to extend the life of your asphalt pavement. But the most important part of maintenance is being preemptive: you've got to keep your good pavement good. This means treating your pavement before any serious deterioration starts.

Below are five DO's and DON'Ts for asphalt maintenance and repair. 

You may not realize it, but when it comes to asphalt maintenance, there is a difference between "slurry" and "sealcoating." While both slurry and sealcoating are preventative maintenance tasks that extend the life of your asphalt, there are key differences that you should be aware of. We'll outline those differences below:

1) What is the difference between a slurry and a sealcoat?

The main difference between a slurry and a sealcoat is that a slurry is thicker than a sealcoat. A slurry uses larger aggregates in its mix while sealcoats contain smaller, or in some cases; no aggreagates, in its mix.