An asphalt driveway may be the best choice for your house. But if you have one, you want to make sure that it is going to last as long as possible. Getting a new driveway installed can be an investment, and you want to make sure that you are going to get the best return on your investment. There are several things that you can do to make sure that you get an asphalt seal coat applied on a regular basis.
Petroleum Product Degradation
Asphalt is a conglomerate product. It is made out of bitumen and aggregate. The aggregate is generally made up of small rocks. Bitumen is a petroleum product. When it gets heated up, it turns into a thick liquid, and the aggregate can be added to the liquid. After that, the asphalt is ready to be laid as a driveway, parking lot, or road. Because the bitumen is a petroleum product, it is vulnerable to other petroleum products, like gas and oils. They leak out of your car and they will break down the asphalt, making your driveway fall apart before it really should.
Weather Protection
Your driveway is going to get hit with a lot of weather, and that will break it down as well. If there are any cracks in the driveway, water can get into them and start to erode the driveway away. Water that gets under the asphalt can start to break down the substrate. If you live in a place that has regular freezes, then making sure that the driveway is sealed can be even more important. That's because of the way water works when it freezes. Most things, when they turn to ice, contract and end up smaller. Water, on the other hand, expands when it becomes ice, because it has a different crystalline structure. So when water gets into the cracks and freezes, it actually makes the cracks expand. That lets more water get into the cracks, and the cycle continues. Sealing your driveway when it is installed and then getting it patched and resealed as scheduled will help to keep that from happening.
If you are getting an asphalt driveway installed, then you should talk to the people doing the installation about having the driveway sealed when they are done installing it. That will keep your driveway in good shape for a long time and let you get the best return for your investment.
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