Pavement Care & Maintenance
Country Roads Paving offers many types of maintenance for roads, driveways, and parking lots including:
• Saw cut and asphalt removal
• Asphalt milling (full depth paving)
• Base work
• Asphalt overlays for driveways, roads, & parking lots
• Pothole patching
• Parking Lot Striping
Get an estimate for work in North Texas, or read on to find out more on maintenance and frequently asked questions!
• Saw cut and asphalt removal
• Asphalt milling (full depth paving)
• Base work
• Asphalt overlays for driveways, roads, & parking lots
• Pothole patching
• Parking Lot Striping
Get an estimate for work in North Texas, or read on to find out more on maintenance and frequently asked questions!
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Driveway MaintenanceHere's a list of driveway types and a summary of the maintenance suggested to keep expenses low, and your drive smooth. This is followed by a driveway Q&A:
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Newer Asphalt Driveway Maintenance in North Dallas, TX Area
Asphalt driveways do need some upkeep to get a very long useful life out of the driveway. The thing is, Texas is a rough and tumble place. Our pavement takes a beating. The first line of defense in avoiding additional expenses is regular maintenance. This starts with seal coating every few years, followed by rubber crack filling, pothole patching, and eventually hot mix asphalt overlays. With extreme wear, road reconstruction or other materials may be necessary. Reconstructing a road is really what you want to avoid because the cost is far more than one would expect.
Recommendation: Any driveway or road paved with hot mix asphalt should be seal coated every 3 or so years. Cracks should be filled with hot rubber.
Recommendation: Any driveway or road paved with hot mix asphalt should be seal coated every 3 or so years. Cracks should be filled with hot rubber.
Concrete Driveway Repair in North Dallas, TX Area
Concrete driveways begin with cracks and eventually missing or cracked out areas. Patching this concrete is possible in many cases, and sections can be cut out and replaced. There are some cases where removing the existing drive is needed to repair severe damage. Worn concrete CAN be overlaid with Asphalt in many cases as well, avoiding expensive repair.
Recommendation: In order to maintain a concrete driveway, just get some flexible concrete crack fill, clean the cracks of debris, and fill them. You can do this yourself up until it gets unreasonable to do so.
Recommendation: In order to maintain a concrete driveway, just get some flexible concrete crack fill, clean the cracks of debris, and fill them. You can do this yourself up until it gets unreasonable to do so.
Asphalt Driveway or Parking Lot With Potholes / Worn Areas in North Dallas, TX Area
If your asphalt road has potholes or standing water, you should address them when they get surface cracks to avoid the asphalt from cracking and shifting. Filling the cracks with rubber and seal coating the top layer should work, but if the areas have developed further and haven't been addressed, they should be filled with hot mix asphalt. When this gets bad enough, you'll probably want to overlay the road with a new layer of asphalt pavement. Once a number of potholes develop, the cost to fix probably won't down as more significant damage presents itself.
Recommendation: Seal coat & use hot rubber in cracks. Then, have a paving company fill the potholes with hot mix asphalt. Consider an overlay of the entire drive so cracks are sealed and there is no standing water.
Recommendation: Seal coat & use hot rubber in cracks. Then, have a paving company fill the potholes with hot mix asphalt. Consider an overlay of the entire drive so cracks are sealed and there is no standing water.
Gravel Driveway with Potholes in North Dallas, TX Area
Damaged gravel roads can be graded and fresh material can be added to them to lift, and freshen up the drive. Gravel driveways can be topped with recycled asphalt, chip seal, or hot mix asphalt which will reduce the amount of grading required over time. To keep costs low, however, adding a few loads of gravel and grading can usually give you a long stretch without any other maintenance.
Recommendation: Address any water flow issues, grade road, and consider adding a fresh layer of gravel on top.
Recommendation: Address any water flow issues, grade road, and consider adding a fresh layer of gravel on top.
Chip Seal or Tar & Chip Repair in North Dallas, TX Area
Chip seal driveways and roads wear because of water, underlying soil conditions, weight, and twisting as with any other road. Maintaining a chip seal road should start with addressing water flow issues, filling potholes with hot mix asphalt and compacting it into the potholes, and possibly putting an additional layer of chip seal on top (or pave with hot mix asphalt).
Recommendation: Have a paving company take a look at it. Filling potholes with hot mix asphalt should do the trick until damage is severe, at which point an overlay of hot mix or another layer of chip seal will have to be considered.
Recommendation: Have a paving company take a look at it. Filling potholes with hot mix asphalt should do the trick until damage is severe, at which point an overlay of hot mix or another layer of chip seal will have to be considered.
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Road and Driveway Maintenance Q&AHere we'll answer some frequently asked questions regarding paving repair and maintenance:
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Why do I have to maintain my driveway?
Like any other home or commercial property, maintenance extends the useful life of components. With roads and driveways, underlying soil shifts and cracks (especially here in Texas), and heavy vehicles traverse putting pressure on the road in both wet and dry conditions. On a new asphalt driveway seal coating seals small cracks and fissures. On older driveways cracks extend further and water can get underneith. Cracks tend to end up with potholes and potholes erode until the base of the road is exposed. Avoiding that should be the key. Filling potholes, and cracks should extend the road. Concrete roads should have any cracks filled with a flexible concrete crack filler. Gravel roads should have new gravel and grading every few years to avoid standing water and improper drainage. The key here is to avoid larger expenses by periodically addressing smaller ones.
Like any other home or commercial property, maintenance extends the useful life of components. With roads and driveways, underlying soil shifts and cracks (especially here in Texas), and heavy vehicles traverse putting pressure on the road in both wet and dry conditions. On a new asphalt driveway seal coating seals small cracks and fissures. On older driveways cracks extend further and water can get underneith. Cracks tend to end up with potholes and potholes erode until the base of the road is exposed. Avoiding that should be the key. Filling potholes, and cracks should extend the road. Concrete roads should have any cracks filled with a flexible concrete crack filler. Gravel roads should have new gravel and grading every few years to avoid standing water and improper drainage. The key here is to avoid larger expenses by periodically addressing smaller ones.
How to maintain a driveway?
When you have road work done, check with your contractor to determine what plan should be in place in the future. Then, when it is time, call a few companies to get paving price quotes. The maintenance solution in your case will become clear and you can proceed with one of the fair quotes. We recommend getting two to three quotes anytime you pave so you have similarity in the recommendations.
When you have road work done, check with your contractor to determine what plan should be in place in the future. Then, when it is time, call a few companies to get paving price quotes. The maintenance solution in your case will become clear and you can proceed with one of the fair quotes. We recommend getting two to three quotes anytime you pave so you have similarity in the recommendations.
What is the weight limit on a new road or driveway?
This is a very deep topic, and could be best explained like this - a road is only as good as it is. The top layer, the base, and the sub-base combine to create the strength of the road. Moisture content matters, too. A wet sub-base will not stay in place like a dry one when it comes to weight. New pavement is more susceptible to damage, particularly surface blemishes. The one thing that we can say is that heavy traffic such as overloaded trash trucks will cause damage to any pavement over time, mostly because the underlying soil is subject to shifting. If you have a brand new hot mix asphalt drive, driving straight on it will not cause too much of a problem as long as it's been 24 hours or so after paving and compaction. Twisting on it, or driving off edges could create blemishes, and heavy traffic driving on edges can crack newly cured asphalt up to a few weeks after paving. If we are paving your road, we'll make our recommendations to you in person so you'll know where you stand on your particular paving project.
This is a very deep topic, and could be best explained like this - a road is only as good as it is. The top layer, the base, and the sub-base combine to create the strength of the road. Moisture content matters, too. A wet sub-base will not stay in place like a dry one when it comes to weight. New pavement is more susceptible to damage, particularly surface blemishes. The one thing that we can say is that heavy traffic such as overloaded trash trucks will cause damage to any pavement over time, mostly because the underlying soil is subject to shifting. If you have a brand new hot mix asphalt drive, driving straight on it will not cause too much of a problem as long as it's been 24 hours or so after paving and compaction. Twisting on it, or driving off edges could create blemishes, and heavy traffic driving on edges can crack newly cured asphalt up to a few weeks after paving. If we are paving your road, we'll make our recommendations to you in person so you'll know where you stand on your particular paving project.
Can I fill potholes with asphalt myself?
This question is an interesting one. You can, but perhaps shouldn't. Hot mix asphalt is generally used to fill potholes, but it is delivered hot and has to be put down quickly. If you have experience with this sort of thing, you could try to do it yourself, but it is not recommended. Filling potholes with gravel will not hold up. There is a product called 'Cold Patch Asphalt' that has had DIY success. Sold in bags, you tamp it into potholes and it should give you a few extra years of light use on the driveway. Cold patch asphalt will not hold up to speeding traffic well, so we recommend that if you want to do this, stick to personal driveways, where cars are not going over a few miles per hour. There is a cold patch concrete as well, for cases where a pothole on a concrete driveway could be fixed.
This question is an interesting one. You can, but perhaps shouldn't. Hot mix asphalt is generally used to fill potholes, but it is delivered hot and has to be put down quickly. If you have experience with this sort of thing, you could try to do it yourself, but it is not recommended. Filling potholes with gravel will not hold up. There is a product called 'Cold Patch Asphalt' that has had DIY success. Sold in bags, you tamp it into potholes and it should give you a few extra years of light use on the driveway. Cold patch asphalt will not hold up to speeding traffic well, so we recommend that if you want to do this, stick to personal driveways, where cars are not going over a few miles per hour. There is a cold patch concrete as well, for cases where a pothole on a concrete driveway could be fixed.
Can I seal coat my own driveway?
Yes. You can purchase supplies and seal coat it yourself. Expect it to be hard work, but you can do it. You will want to wear clothes and shoes you can throw away. We do recommend you find out what it would cost to professionally have it done because the money required to have it done by others may just surprise you. Professionals get bulk materials and because they've got a 'system' can do a faster and better job for close to the same amount you may spend to get all the materials yourself. Otherwise, it's more important that asphalt be sealed regularly to worry too much about if it looks perfect, so go for it if you're up for a challenge! Just remember, you may make more of a difference fixing up another part of your house than worrying about the driveway - especially if it won't get done anytime soon. One reminder - don't seal a driveway in low temperatures! Seal coat does require an ambient temperature to work correctly.
Yes. You can purchase supplies and seal coat it yourself. Expect it to be hard work, but you can do it. You will want to wear clothes and shoes you can throw away. We do recommend you find out what it would cost to professionally have it done because the money required to have it done by others may just surprise you. Professionals get bulk materials and because they've got a 'system' can do a faster and better job for close to the same amount you may spend to get all the materials yourself. Otherwise, it's more important that asphalt be sealed regularly to worry too much about if it looks perfect, so go for it if you're up for a challenge! Just remember, you may make more of a difference fixing up another part of your house than worrying about the driveway - especially if it won't get done anytime soon. One reminder - don't seal a driveway in low temperatures! Seal coat does require an ambient temperature to work correctly.
I have a really bad gravel road, should I put bricks in the big potholes?
I personally dislike using brick in a worn driveway. It makes a mess of the job for others who may come out to grade your gravel, etc. in the future, plus it really doesn't work that well. It will work in a way, but it's not recommended by us, frankly, because it's annoying to work with after the fact. If you have holes bad enough that you're considering putting bricks in the potholes, just give a paving company a call and really consider grading and fresh material.
Putting in some fresh gravel is a much better solution!
I personally dislike using brick in a worn driveway. It makes a mess of the job for others who may come out to grade your gravel, etc. in the future, plus it really doesn't work that well. It will work in a way, but it's not recommended by us, frankly, because it's annoying to work with after the fact. If you have holes bad enough that you're considering putting bricks in the potholes, just give a paving company a call and really consider grading and fresh material.
Putting in some fresh gravel is a much better solution!
