What Your Driveway Is Trying to Tell You
Wednesday, April 23rd, 2014
Now that the snow and ice are melting off your driveway, you’ll probably be surprised by damage that wasn’t there last fall. If your driveway could talk, it would say that it needs some repairs as well as regular care and maintenance. Since it can’t talk, you’ll have to read these signs.
Linear Cracks
Your driveway is trying to tell you: You need to act now.
Hairline cracks are common as a driveway ages and weather takes its toll. Cracks will continue spreading, widening, and deepening, which can lead to bigger problems down the road.
Dirt and water will work their way into the cracks. When the water freezes and expands, it causes the cracks to grow. Kent Hansen, director of engineering for the National Asphalt Pavement Association (NAPA) in Lanham, Md., says that simply putting an overlay atop the driveway won’t solve the problem—the cracks will just come through it. Instead, the cracks need to be cleaned to remove any dirt and debris, and then, ideally, filled with a hot sealer, which is usually applied by a professional.
Jay Sutherland, owner of Expert Asphalt in Watertown, Minn., agrees, saying that a hot sealer is the only long-term solution, since the crack fillers sold at home centers are temporary fixes. “To do it right, you have to heat the crack filler,” he says. “It burns into the walls of the crack. When it cools, it expands and fills the crack. It’s a permanent fix.”
Thank you, Popular Mechanics, for this article…..
