Fall Maintenance
Fall is upon us which means winter is not far behind. As the seasons change, your property pavement may require specific repairs and preparations. No two properties are alike, so you should take into consideration the types of materials used in your pavement surfaces, the type of volume of wear and tear your property experiences, and the climate where your business is located.
Spring and the fall are considered to be the optimal time for crack repair. In hot temperatures, your pavement expands and closes the cracks, and in cold temperatures the pavement contracts and cracks open to the widest point. In the fall months, pavement cracks tend to only be open midway due to the moderate temperatures. Crack sealing is a critical form of asphalt maintenance and is done to preserve extend the life of your existing pavement.
Crack sealing uses specialized materials to bond to the walls of the crack, preventing intrusion of water and incompressible materials into the crack and moving with the pavement as it expands and contracts. Crack sealant is specifically engineered to use specialized materials that allow it to remain flexible enough at low temperatures so it doesn’t split or crack open, and it also remains stable enough at higher temps so it doesn’t track or bleed out onto the pavement surface.
If you choose to not take action and your cracks are left untreated before winter, they could turn into potholes throughout the harsh winter months. This occurs when moisture works its way into those cracks and saturate the subgrade layer of your asphalt when that moisture freezes the area expands. This then pushes the pavement surface up, weakening it and then once spring arrives and the temperatures increase and the frozen material contracts leaving space under the pavement surface. The weakened surface is now left unsupported, and as vehicles start driving over that weakened surface a pothole is now present. The pothole will need to be fully prepared or it will only continue to expand.
If you are unsure about the condition of your parking lot or pavement surface call D.E. Gemmill today. There is still time to get your pavement maintenance completed before the winter months ahead.
