3 Reasons Your Asphalt Keeps Breaking Down

If your asphalt keeps breaking down at an accelerated rate even after you fix it, you may have a bigger issue on hand that needs to be addressed. Before you apply another patch, make sure that you spend some time figuring out what the root issue is that is damaging your asphalt.

#1 Poor Water Draining

One of the main reasons that asphalt breaks down is because of poor water management. All the water that runs down your roof should not also run down your driveway. This can cause erosion, which can damage your driveway. You should have a drainage plan that doesn't include your driveway.

For example, you could have physical drains installed at the end of each of your downspouts that direct water directly into the city water system or into a nearby ditch or waterway. Or you could have ditches dug near your driveway that connect to the ditches on the main road.

#2 Intruding Roots

The next thing that you need to watch out for is intruding roots. These can come from larger nearby bushes and trees. One option you have to is to remove the offending bushes and trees altogether. You can also hire a professional to come out and cut the roots from the trees and bushes that extend to your driveway. This could cause damage to your trees and bushes, but they may also be able to survive just fine with fewer roots to rely on.

#3 Improperly Laid Asphalt

Finally, if you keep running into problems with your asphalt developing holes, cracks, and eroding away despite keeping roots away and making sure that your driveway isn't used as a drainage system, the issue may be the asphalt.

Asphalt has to be poured in the perfect conditions in order to it to cure properly. If it was poured when it was too cold outside, the asphalt may not have cured properly. If the mixture was too wet or dry or didn't have the right amount of sand or oil in it, that could also cause issues as well.

A contractor like Virginia  Asphalt Services Inc will be able to easily identify asphalt that is breaking down because of an installation issue. This is something that they are trained to spot. If the asphalt was not laid properly, you are going to want to remove the asphalt and start over. Although you can continue to repair the asphalt, that may not be the best investment of time or money to make with improperly laid asphalt. It is best just to start over again.

Don't just continue to patch your asphalt. Take the time to figure out what is really wearing down your asphalt and address the root problem. Get the water drainage fixed if that is the issue. If roots are damaging your asphalt, get them cut. If the asphalt wasn't put down properly, find a better company to install new asphalt properly for you.