There’s no question that regular asphalt maintenance is the key to keeping your carpark, driveway, or paving healthy for years to come. But sometimes, it’s tough to make the call between DIY-ing a repair or investing in professional asphalt maintenance services.
If that’s the choice you’re struggling with right now, you’re in the right place. In this blog post, we’re taking a real look at which asphalt maintenance jobs are DIY-friendly, and which ones need a professional team.
DIY Asphalt Maintenance
First, let’s cover the jobs that are DIY-friendly. Whether you’re a homeowner with an asphalt driveway or a commercial landowner with extensive asphalt paving, these are the jobs you can easily take care of on your own time. We’ve included a few of our recommendations in there, too.
Regular Cleaning
Clean asphalt is long-lasting asphalt. Luckily, cleaning is one of the easiest jobs to DIY. Keeping your asphalt clean will help to preserve the asphalt binder or sealcoat, which will keep the asphalt healthy for longer. It also helps it look pristine and clean, which is great for both homeowners and business owners.
Pro tip: Invest in a store-bought cleaner like 30-Second Spray and Walk Away, and clean every 4 to 6 months. We generally recommend avoiding power washing at a high pressure, as this can blast the ‘fine’ top layer away and cause further issues, especially if your asphalt was laid sooner than 4 years ago. Older asphalt can stand up to low pressure washing more easily.
Weed Maintenance
Weeds can spell doom for asphalt paving and driveways if left to grow for too long, and they look unsightly. It pays to do a quick sweep every month or two to remove any weeds growing up from the edges or cracks.
Pro tip: Weed killer is a quick and easy way to accomplish this, but be careful where you spray the toxic liquid. Keep children and pets away!
Sealing Small Cracks
Generally speaking, small cracks can be filled fairly easily as a DIY solution. Keep in mind that cracks appearing on your asphalt can be a sign of a deeper underlying issue, so it might be worth investing in an inspection on top of that to resolve the issue quickly.
Pro tip: Using cold patch asphalt can temporarily repair small cracks, as long as everything is done properly. You’ll need to invest in compacting equipment to get the job done. Professional asphalt maintenance services use hot-apply fixes that generally last longer and work better, but as a temporary DIY solution, cold patch can work.
When to Call for Professional Asphalt Maintenance Services
In cases where you’re seeing larger issues with your driveway, it’s important to call a professional team. Not only will this help you diagnose the problem properly, but it can also save you time, money, and stress.
DIY repairs are sometimes effective in the short term, but working without the right equipment or expertise can make the job twice as difficult and possibly even more expensive than simply hiring a team to knock it out in a day.
There are a few cases where we recommend giving a professional team a call. Here’s a rundown of a few professional asphalt maintenance services that are worth the investment:
Sealcoating
Your asphalt has a bitumen-based chip seal sprayed on top that’s designed to protect it from wear and tear. Over the years, this seal oxidises. That can leave your asphalt open to all sorts of damage as it becomes less flexible, so it’s important to call in the pros and have it resealed every couple of years.
DIYing this is a long and arduous process that will generally cost more in equipment alone than simply hiring a team.
Asphalt Raising or Resolving Root Invasions
If you’re noticing patches of your asphalt sinking or rising up, this could be from a variety of underlying issues. You’ll need a professional to come and assess what’s causing the problem, then recommend a long-term solution that won’t result in the issue returning just a year down the road.
Generally speaking, you’ll either need the asphalt raised (if you’re noticing settling) or roots removed to prevent unwanted rising or cracking.
Major Cracks
Wide or long cracks are another sign of a bigger problem, and are best resolved by a professional. It’s possible to DIY these with a couple day’s work and some cold patch asphalt, but that would only be a temporary fix. It’s more than likely that the cracks would reappear within one to two years.
A professional will not only repair the cracks, but will also recommend any necessary changes to keep them from coming back.
Pooling Water
Finally, pooling water is one of the most common signs that you need to call on some asphalt maintenance services. Pooling water generally indicates that your asphalt is no longer draining properly, which can happen for a number of reasons.
Calling a professional to diagnose the issue and recommend an appropriate solution will keep your asphalt in great condition for as long as possible. Resolving this problem is fairly tough to DIY, and can often end up more expensive than just hiring a team.
At the end of the day, it’s better to be safe than sorry. If you’re unsure about what’s going on with your asphalt and want some recommendations about the next steps, a simple asphalt inspection is your next best step.
Best of luck with the DIY-friendly tasks; the Asphalt & Civil team will be here when you need us!
Get a free quote on professional asphalt maintenance.
Whether repairing a residential driveway or inspecting a commercial parking lot, the team at Asphalt & Civil are the ones to call. Get in touch today for a free quote on any of our asphalt maintenance services.