Your driveway is designed to take a lot of punishment, but even the toughest ones need a little bit of tender loving care. Bringing in a professional team for driveway repairs and high-touch maintenance is important, but there are many things you can do as a homeowner to keep your driveway looking pristine.
In today’s blog post, we’re breaking down our top five must-know tips for residential asphalt driveway maintenance. These are the small, semi-regular things you can do to make sure your driveway goes the distance. Let’s dive in.
Give Your Driveway a Gentle Wash Every 6 Months
Driveways are just like any other part of your house: they need an occasional wash! There are many people who choose to use a power washer to take care of this job. While that’s satisfying and quite effective at removing dirt, it can actually do some damage.
Your driveway has a layer of ‘fine’, which is the very small grains of sand and particles of asphalt that fill in the gaps between larger pieces. Water blasting at a high pressure generally takes this top layer off, allowing water to seep into your driveway and age it much faster.
For homeowner-friendly asphalt driveway maintenance solutions, we recommend a simpler method. Grab a store-bought chemical spray like 30-Seconds Spray and Walk Away, and use it every six months or so to clean the surface of your driveway. If your driveway is brand new, avoid power washing altogether. If it’s over 4 years old, feel free to use a power washer on a low setting to spray away any dirt or debris.
Get Rid of Weeds Around the Edges and in Cracks
Weeds can grow into cracks or around the edges of your driveway, causing cracks to widen or other unsightly issues with the asphalt. They also don’t look great!
While it might be tempting to blast them away, the best way to get rid of your weeds is to either pick them out as you see them or carefully use weedkiller. Weedkiller is fairly toxic, so make sure to be careful with your application.
Doing a quick sweep for weeds every couple of months will help enormously with keeping your driveway healthy.
Get Regular Inspections
One of the cornerstones of asphalt driveway maintenance is regular driveway inspections. This is a cost-effective way to stay on top of your driveway’s condition. Not only will you be able to pick out issues early, but you’ll also be able to resolve them for much cheaper than if they progressed.
For example, an inspection might pick up an issue with water pooling, which can indicate that your driveway is improperly sealed, or even settling. Taking care of that early is a much cheaper repair than needing to replace the entire thing.
For residential asphalt driveways, we recommend calling the pros for a single annual inspection, just to keep an eye on how your driveway is doing. If you have a driveway over 5 years old, live in a unique climate, or regularly deal with heavy machinery on your driveway, then every 6 months might be a better frequency for you.
Invest in Bi-Annual Sealcoating
Your driveway’s sealcoat is a layer of waterproofing professionals apply to finished asphalt driveways. Most sealcoats are bitumen-based (which is a kind of rubber), and can also be known as ‘chipseal’ or ‘binder’. Once sprayed onto the driveway, the thin liquid seals into a tough, protective layer that keeps your newly-installed asphalt safe.
With regular use, your driveway will gradually lose its sealcoat over a couple of years due to oxidisation. This is a natural process, so we recommend investing in a new sealcoat every two years or so. Without this, your driveway will be vulnerable to increased damage or water infiltration.
In the long run, this is a cost-effective way to maintain your existing driveway (especially when you compare it to the cost of installing a whole new one).
Keep an Eye Out for Bigger Issues
Finally, the best asphalt driveway maintenance strategy is to keep a wary eye on your own driveway! Much like issues with your car or home, the sooner a problem is caught, the easier and cheaper it is to solve. There are a few dead giveaways that something deeper is wrong with your driveway, so if you see any of the following, we recommend giving your driveway repair team a call:
- Settling or sinking. Driveways are laid over soil, which can shift over time for various reasons. If you’ve noticed certain areas of your driveway settling or sinking, this is a sign that the asphalt needs to be raised with the help of a team to prevent cracking or other issues.
- Root invasion. If areas of your driveway are rising higher than others, or you’re noticing cracking along a certain pathway, it could be a sign that roots are invading the ground beneath it. This is generally an issue if you have large trees close to your driveway.
- Water pooling. Your driveway is designed to drain water, which prevents puddles from forming and other issues from occurring. If you start to notice pooling or puddling water after rain, this is a sign your driveway needs a repair.
- Large cracks. Large cracks can be a sign of many underlying issues, such as a fully oxidised binder or simply age. The longer this is left, the more damage it will cause, so it’s best to have cracks treated quickly.
Need help with your asphalt driveway maintenance? Get a free quote.
The Asphalt & Civil team are Auckland’s residential driveway experts. Whether you’re developing a maintenance plan or just want a bi-annual check-in, we’ve got your back.
Get in touch today for your free quote.