The sun bears down harshly on anything under it and it is evident with how much it will make you sweat. The heat radiating from it has no troubles causing harm to people either through sun burns or even skin cancer. But did you know that your asphalt driveway can also suffer from the heat of the sun?
Preventing The Heat from Ruining Your Asphalt Driveway
One of the worst enemies of an asphalt driveway is the overbearing heat of the sun. This is especially true in warmer areas like Arizona or Texas where temperatures skyrocket to the point that you could cook an egg on the pavement. So how do you go about protecting your asphalt driveway from the heat of the sun? We’ve put together a series of solutions to the paving baking heat of the sun.
Use The Best Sealcoating
Sealcoating is one of your best options when it comes to dealing with the scorching heat. This is because sealcoating does two things to protect your asphalt driveway from the heat. It helps keep out the UV rays that will break down the chemicals in the asphalt that holds it together. It also makes sure to help retain the shape of the asphalt even when the heat reaches record highs.
Clear Solid Debris
Solid debris is a problem for your driveway in many ways. They can create cracks and generally damage the asphalt if you’re not careful about cleaning your driveway. However, there are specific things that can happen under the extreme heat.
Certain types of debris can act as conduits for the heat of the sun, like in the case of metallic objects like steel lawn chairs. This can cause your asphalt to sink and have weak points on it where the debris used to be. Another way is that the heat can cause organic debris to decompose on top of your asphalt’s sealant and erode it. To protect your asphalt driveway from the heat, make sure to remove these debris from it’s surface.
Know Your Asphalt’s Limits
Remember how the weight of some debris can cause your asphalt to deform? This is the same case for vehicles passing over or parked on your asphalt. The wheels of a heavy vehicle will press down and deform hot asphalt over time and thats what causes potholes. You do have a number of solutions for this, however.
You could avoid parking heavy vehicles on the driveway entirely. This prevents any weight from ruining your driveway. If that’s not a good solution for you or your general interests, then try to pave your driveway with sturdier or more asphalt. This increases the load limit of your asphalt and makes sure that it takes longer for the weight to damage it. You could also distribute the weight of the vehicle itself by using wood panels or something similar to prevent the weight from focusing on a single area.
Get A Professional Paving Contractor
Having a professional paving contractor work on your driveway is one of the best ways you can ensure that it stays in top condition. Not only will they be using the best materials that will be able to resist the heat of the sun, they can also give you the best advice when it comes to protecting your asphalt driveway.