If you have ever driven on the road or parked in a parking lot, you know that asphalt gets cracks. Highways, roads and pavement in front of factories, businesses, and offices all face the problem of getting cracks in their asphalt. Winter temperatures are major contributors to asphalt cracking, but why, and how can we keep the asphalt from cracking?
During the winter time, asphalt cracks due to an excess of water vapor in the air as well as snowfall, and rain. Water is among the top elements that can cause severe damage to asphalt pavement. When the asphalt comes in contact with water or moisture, the damage to the asphalt increases and the durability and strength starts to decrease. The moisture in the asphalt destroys the bonding of the material that is used in the making of asphalt pavement. When the moisture in winter starts weakening the bonding of the asphalt material, the deterioration and damage start to show.
There can be extensive damage that moisture or water in winter, can cause to asphalt pavements. It could lead to cracking, bleeding, rutting, stripping or other types of failures.
When maintaining your asphalt pavement, it is essential to consider the small cracks seriously. While repairing every small crack may seem tedious, repairing small cracks is easy and inexpensive while fixing large cracks is costly and takes time. Therefore, when you see that cracks are starting to appear on the pavement, call for professional help and fix it as soon as possible.
In winter, asphalt also faces more moisture and snow, so when a crack appears in asphalt, it allows water from the surrounding area to absorb deep in the surface, and cause severe damage to the base of the asphalt. So, whenever there is rain or snowfall, the same process of absorption happens, which ultimately damages and weakens the base, produces cracks, and increases the deterioration rate. Sometimes the damage does not show up easily but is still causing serious harm beneath the surface. When the deterioration becomes severe, the cost of fixing the problem increases. If you do not give your attention to these asphalt cracks, water can settle in the cracks for long periods of time leading to even more damage.
It is necessary to apply regular maintenance to asphalt pavement in Orlando, especially before winter, so as to minimize the level of damage and to protect the asphalt. A few ways to fix these small cracks are crack filling, asphalt patching, pavement repairs, and sealcoating.
Preventing Cracks In Your Parking Lot
One great way to prevent cracks is taking preventative steps like sealcoating. If you are thinking of sealcoating, then choose the sealants according to the current condition of your pavement. If you are applying sealants in winter, then use a more flexible one, but, if you are applying a sealant in the hot season, then extra flexibility is not necessary. If you did not use flexible sealant in the winter than the asphalt will crack in a short period of time and it will ruin the purpose and cost you spent on sealcoating.
To protect your asphalt from future damage due to water absorption, maintain your pavement cracks and asphalt in time. For this, you have to fix all the cracks first and then go for asphalt repairing. There are several methods to fill up the cracks so you can choose between them. One is the use of melt-in materials and other is the caulk- tube filler products. Filling cracks can vary in days, depending on the size and number of cracks in the pavement. It is always recommended to repair asphalt quickly because it will stay maintained longer than the quick crack fixing.
Crack fixing and asphalt repairing is a professional job, so hire experts like us to handle the work. A qualified Orlando parking lot maintenance company will provide you with a list of all required materials. Buying the right materials and having the appropriate tools for working is necessary. Moreover, weather identification is also necessary, so before starting the maintenance work; you should check the daily forecast. If you hire the labor and begin the work in the rainy season, it will be a foolish mistake. Determine when there will be enough sun and schedule our Orlando asphalt maintenance accordingly. Before going for crack fixing, clean all the dirt and leaves spread all around the asphalt by using a leaf blower or rake. Do not go for shortcuts. Give us call today or contact us here if you need help with any crack repairs or resurfacing for your driveways, parking lots, or roads.
