Saturday, March 8, 2014

Install Paved Driveways With Help Of Asphalt Company Maryland Area

By Jaclyn Hurley


A properly installed asphaltic driveway and parking lot creates a good impression in your home and business. If you want to install quality driveways or parking lots, you can consult asphalt company Maryland area. The life expectancy of asphalt pavements is determined by the kind of materials used, and the skills applied. If well constructed, asphaltic pavements can have a life expectancy of about 25 years or even more.

If you have to stand above your competitors, you need to consult the best contractors in building your pavements. With properly installed pavements, you ensure they last for long. The asphaltic pavements can have a life expectancy of more than 25 years if they are constructed using the right standards and practices as well as quality materials. Such investments can help enhance the image of your business or home.

Crushed gravel stones or aggregates make the foundation, which supports the blacktop. The foundation has to be compacted properly in order to support heavy loads. Properly constructed foundation promotes stability of the structure ensuring that it lasts for long. If the contractors lay about five to eight inches of crushed stones beneath asphaltic layer, this offers greater stability.

When the gravel is laid in a thickness of about five to eight inches, it supports the blacktop pavement materials and allows the structure to last for long. A good foundation allows the driveways or parking lots to last for many years without experiencing major structural defects. Once you have constructed your pavements, you need to seal them in order to protect the blacktop.

The flexibility allows the material to withstand the changes in temperatures as well as the heavy weights. When it is hot, asphalts expand and when cold they contract meaning that they can move evenly. This minimizes the chances of cracking. However, since the material is constantly drying, it reaches a point where it hardens and becomes brittle.

Naturally, asphaltic material cures and dries slowly with time. In fact, it undergoes an oxidation process in the rest of its life. As the molecules seek for an equilibrium state, they shuffle and rearrange themselves. This process of oxidation happens in lifetime until it is complete, and this is when the life of the material ends.

Before sealing, the new asphaltic material has to cure and dry out the excess oils. Applying sealing products in an uncured material will not adhere well to the surface. If the surface is sealed too quickly, the hydrocarbon oils will make the materials to be too flexible. Applying a sealant product on driveways before the blacktop cures makes the material to be too flexible. This means that it will show greater marks over time.

You have to repair cracks immediately you see them since they can allow water, another destructive element, to enter the sub grade of pavements. Water has its own set of problems different from the sunrays when it enters the sub grade layer of pavements. Water could freeze inside pavements and create enlarged openings or cracks, which eventually form potholes when the frozen water melts away. You need to seek help of a primed contractor to construct and maintain asphalt pavements.




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