Crack filling is arguably the most important aspect of maintaining an asphalt surface. Unfilled cracks in an asphalt driveway or asphalt parking lot lead to an array of problems which include the following. Undermining of the surface due to water flowing through the cracks resulting in pot holes. Freezing water expanding and causing the asphalt to pot hole or crack more. The one that will surprise many is ANTS.
Ants will slowly mine out the area they have inhabited under the asphalt surface eventually resulting in a pot hole.
There is multiple approaches used for filling cracks in an asphalt driveway or asphalt parking lot and the approach is dependent on the project. For large surfaces that are spendy to repair or replace. We prepare the cracks by widening them where necessary to 3/4"x3/4" to ensure they accept the hot pour crack filler into the crack rather then lay across the crack like a band aid. By ensuring the crack is wide and deep enough to accept the crack filler it will have more filler to expand and contract through the seasons and will not be removed from snow plowing. This method can be costly in the short run because it requires more material and more man hours but will last much longer then the next method.
The other approach is to simply remove the debris with a wire wheel and blow the remaining debris out of the crack using a back pack blower or compressed air and then filling the crack. This method is typically deployed on your average residential driveway because it is much more affordable and the crack filler typically last as long as the sealcoat. When the driveway is due for another application of sealcoat, we simply reapply the crack filler at the same time. Given the additional labor to prepare for grinding cracks results in a cost to repair the cracks that does not equate to any savings.
All the cracks we repair in an asphalt driveway or asphalt parking lot are filled with a rubberized hot pour crack filler.
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