How to Repair Asphalt Damage?

Repairing, sealing, and filling cracks can increase the life of your asphalt by preventing water and debris infiltration. When cracks are repaired as soon as they appear, with hot-applied products, it saves you major repairs and is excellent preventive maintenance. For some, repairing cracks is their primary method of maintaining asphalt. The repair asphalt is therefore the first solution to do when cracks or pothole.

Causes of asphalt deterioration

The harshness of the Quebec climate puts the asphalt to the test. Freeze and thaw cycles and water infiltration, which are the enemy of asphalt, give way to cracks, swelling and sagging. Fortunately, all these faults are repairable, the best is to repair the asphalt immediately after the appearance of the faults.

The various asphalt damages to be repaired

When a crack or break appears, the sooner you intervene and correct the problem, the longer the asphalt paving will last, so if there is any advice to give: act and act quickly. This is because the appearance of a crack promotes water infiltration, which can be fatal for the asphalt. In order to prevent further deterioration, you can call in asphalt repair specialists and they will intervene depending on the nature of the problem.

Small crack (less than ¾ inch)

If you detect a small crack, the repair will be rather simple to do:

Fill the crack with a special coating composed of asphalt and rubber and let the product dry.
Depending on the size of the crack, the product should be more or less liquid.

Large crack (more than ¾ in) or pothole

The repair of this asphalt crack must be done by following the following steps:

Repair the defect with a cold asphalt mixture specially designed to carry out this type of repair.
Prepare the surface according to the manufacturer’s instructions, then pour the product into the cavity.
Compact manually.
For best results, leveling should be completed by driving the car on a wooden panel placed on the repaired surface.

Greater damage

If the damaged area is large or if the defects are important, it would be very difficult to carry out the asphalt repair yourself due to lack of experience or equipment, it is better to consult a specialized contractor. It will use suitable equipment and products, in particular hot asphalt. Essentially, the contractor will perform the following actions:

He will delimit and mark the surface to be repaired. The perimeter of the area should extend slightly beyond the damaged area.
It will cut the circumscribed surface with a saw, which will facilitate the removal of damaged asphalt, avoid damaging the rest of the surface and allow for more careful patching.
If necessary, it will scatter granular material and compact it.
It will heat the existing asphalt on its contour to promote its fusion with the repair asphalt.
He will apply the hot asphalt to obtain a thickness of at least 2 inches after compaction.

If it is to correct slight depressions, especially those attributable to the weight of a vehicle, it is not always useful to remove the asphalt and do all of these steps. The intervention will then be limited to applying an adhesion coating called collapse before applying the asphalt.

Resurfacing

Even if it is carried out according to the rules of the art, any asphalt coating ends up undergoing the effects of time. After 20 years, the surface often becomes rough and almost impossible to sweep. In this case no repair to be made, it is necessary to give new life to the asphalt.

Your asphalt needs to be repaired or to be resurfaced? Over time, inclement weather and temperature changes, it is normal for asphalt to deteriorate. If your driveway is damaged, don’t worry. Skye Asphalt offers you its affordable asphalt repair and resurfacing service!

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