Maintaining your asphalt driveway or parking lot is crucial to extending its longevity and appearance. Not only does a beautifully kept parking lot make your business look professional but it also keeps your customers and their vehicle safe. You don’t want them to drive over a pothole or worse; step into a pothole and fall down. Call Lovell Construction Group, LLC and ask about our asphalt patch work as soon as you see a pothole or crack in your asphalt driveway or parking lot. It’s best to tend to damage as it first starts instead of waiting which can lead to a more complex and expensive repair.

You should inspect your pavement for damage every few months and then perform a full and detailed inspection every year. The damage you should watch out for are:

Cracks are created by water seeping into or under the asphalt and washing the base material away. This causes the surface to shift and crack. Excessive heat, cold, and ground movement also cause cracks.

Alligator or Crocodile cracking is caused by a poor base foundation. The asphalt will begin to stress crack in an “alligator scale” like formation because it doesn’t have a strong base to handle the weight on it.

Potholes are created due to water seeping into the asphalt. In warm climates, this moisture will weaken the asphalt and eventually will break through as heavy vehicles drive over it. In colder climates, the water in the asphalt will freeze and cause expansion and contraction once it warms up. This is why more potholes are created in the springtime.

Depressions or dips in asphalt are created by a weak base and the asphalt sinks into it.

Buckling can be caused by a loose base foundation or excessive heat has caused too much expansion.

You need to address any damage quickly if you have one or more of the aforementioned issues. Schedule an appointment with Lovell Construction Group, LLC. We will go out to your site and evaluate what the problem is and what caused the problem. Once the damage has been evaluated, we will let you know the next step to repairing it. It may require a simple patch or something more complex as in the case of a pothole. To fix a pothole we will remove any damaged asphalt, clean the area of debris, add more material to the base if needed, pour asphalt, level the patched area, and apply a seal coat. Learn more about seal coats here.