How About a New Asphalt Pavement Driveway?

Asphalt paving is the most common method of carving out our 'travel patterns' and 'pit stops' - more often pit stops (in the form of driveways) than any other. Technically, asphalt pavement is bituminous and crushed gravel or sand, but to a home owner - it's where we park our vehicles, stop to talk with the neighbor, or where our children jump rope or practice their roller skating skills before hitting the rink.

Yes - asphalt pavement can be much more than a driveway and that's why it's important that yours is built to last. A well-built asphalt pavement can last up to 30 years with minimal care - freeing you to worry about more important things like getting to work on time or quickly getting those perishable groceries in the house.

Problems with Alternative Driveway Materials

A damaged driveway is the last thing you want to fuss with when you need to travel here and there several times a day. But that's what you'll end up doing if you install a driveway with other materials, like concrete for example. Concrete is prone to periodic cracking as temperature changes in the weather occur and it just isn't as flexible as asphalt pavement is.

Other materials, such as sand, gravel, or dirt aren't reasonable options either. Because these materials are never secured to the ground, they can actually damage the vehicle that sits on top of them. Loose dirt, dust, and rocks can flatten tires and/or fly up into motors and cause all kinds of problems that are completely avoidable by installing an asphalt pavement driveway instead.

In fact, as part of the asphalt pavement installation, you contractor will completely remove loose dirt, dust, and rocks (topsoil) so that it's never an issue. This topsoil is replaced with a foundation that helps asphalt pavement stick to the ground and prevent debris from entering your vehicle.

Special Asphalt Pavement Considerations

In addition, your contractor may need to level the driveway in an effort to prevent and/or drain potential water collection. Water that's left to collect in a driveway will eventually erode the driveway or worse, drip and drain and find its way into your home or garage!

If you plan to store large heavy vehicles on your driveway, you should talk to your contractor about full-depth asphalt pavement. This kind of application combines asphalt pavement with liquid asphalt cement, and as a result, creates an even stronger bond between the asphalt pavement and the ground that it covers. This strong binding combination can safely hold weights that are heavier than the average car - even more than today's SUV's and Hummers!

Of course if you or someone in your home has special needs - and your driveway must be built in a way to accommodate for those needs (such as handicapped access for example), you should talk to your contractor about non-conventional designs. If your current driveway makes it difficult for you to get out and enter your home without complications, then you certainly have grounds for designing an entirely new asphalt pavement driveway.

Author Paul White represents FloridaHomeBuild.com. A site designed to help home owners from Florida locate local home contractors with their home improvement projects.