Winter Weather Can Damage Your Driveway, and How to Prevent It

Spring is here, and you may be noticing all of the damage that winter has done to your once beautiful asphalt driveway. Many people do not realize how much damage the winter can do to your driveway, but hiring a driveway sealing company this spring can help you prevent next winter’s damage. Here are four ways that winter can ruin your driveway.

Freezing and Thawing

Constant temperature fluctuations in colder climates can impact the structure of your asphalt as well as the ground underneath. Cracks can appear in the surface of your driveway, allowing moisture to get in and loosen the aggregate (small stones) that makes up asphalt. A driveway sealing company can help seal the aggregate together.

Deicers

Certain types of deicing agents like salt or magnesium acetate can increase the risk of damage to the surface of your asphalt. It’s important to talk to your driveway sealing company to determine what types of deicers you should use, and which types you should avoid to maintain the health of your driveway.

Plows

This type of damage is the most common. Plows scrape along the pavements and can scrape the sealcoat put down by your driveway sealing company, exposing the aggregate underneath. This allows water to get into your driveway and loosen the aggregate. This type of damage is usually minor, but you should still be careful.

Snow Melt
As previously mentioned, water getting into your asphalt can cause some serious damage. It loosens the aggregate and can cause holes in your driveway. Unlike other types of pavement, asphalt can easily absorb the heat of the sun, which means that snow and ice melt faster on the surface. However, melting snow can cause a lot of water run-off which can pool and even cause flooding conditions if there was enough snow.

Prevention
Hiring a driveway sealing company like Asphalt Driveway Co. can help you prevent much of the damage that is caused by winter conditions. It can also save you the headache of having to get your driveway repaired or even completely replaced. Although a sealcoat does not affect the structure of your driveway, it does make ice and snow easier to remove and keeps your driveway looking nice and new for longer. A properly installed, high quality asphalt driveway combined with a good sealcoat means you’ll be enjoying your asphalt driveway for a very long time.