CARE TIPS

Bell City Paving Inc. has provided some guidelines below for you to follow in order for you to get the most out of your investment and so it will last for many years to come.

Driveway Care Tips

HOW TO TAKE CARE OF YOUR ASPHALT SURFACE
Congratulations on your newly constructed driveway or parking lot! You have decided asphalt is the product which will meet your needs for the long term, and you have made a wise choice. The properties of modern asphalt mix-designs are:

Durability
Flexibility
Fatigue resistance
Skid resistance

When you chose asphalt over concrete you chose a less rigid and more economical product featuring a quicker turnaround in installation. While neither product can do everything, both are the most common and effective roadway solutions on the planet. The inherent limitations can be simplified by saying that under sufficient stress concrete will crack, while asphalt under stress can scuff, or push.
You will enjoy the benefits of your new parking surface for many years with very little maintenance, then when it comes time to perform repairs you will discover how asphalt is eminently repairable. To get the most out of your investment, please follow these guidelines:

** NEW DRIVEWAYS ** Can be walked on but vehicles should stay off for a 7 days and even longer in the hot summer months. After you start parking on it try to vary parking locations (especially in summer);
** NEW PARKING LOTS ** Stay off the new surface for 24 hours,
New driveways tend to get soft with warm weather. Avoid sharp objects on the driveway. This includes barbeques, lawn chairs, flower pots, etc. You can prevent this by putting some plywood or another sturdy, flat surface underneath the sharper objects like barbeque legs, chair legs, kick stands, trailer landing gear, and even tires of boat trailers, R. V’s etc. Pickup trucks with aggressive lugs can also cause damage if parked on a driveway at the early stages of the curing process or for long periods of time.
New driveways tend to get soft with warm weather. Avoid excessive twisting of the wheels and hard turns. Do not turn your steering wheel unless the car is in motion i.e., no dry turns; please see picture below, result of dry steering.
Parking on a very steep grade during a hot summer day may result in scuffing/pushing;
Do not park excessively close to an unsupported edge of paving;
Do not drive over an unsupported edge;
Do not change your cars engine oil on asphalt;
Use detergents judiciously, although most of these have no effect on asphalt any product containing petroleum, or mineral oil, etc. can marry the bitumen and soften your driveway;
Power wash judiciously, using a fanned tip. Although power washing can seldom harm asphalt surfaces it can blow out areas which show travelling.
Avoid the use of driveway sealers, as it creates cracks on the surface of the driveway, see picture below of a driveway that has used driveway sealer.
Any grass touching the edge of the asphalt should be cut back to prevent the roots from getting too close to the driveway. Also, any soil should be kept back from the sides of the driveway, see picture below.
Any water spouts or eaves troughs near the driveway should flow over the driveway and not on the side of the driveway.
Enjoy this new extension of your home or business! Asphalt will withstand snowplows, and salting. Asphalt loves road hockey, and hoops as well!
Driveways exposed to direct sunlight for longer periods of time tend to stay soft longer.

It takes over two summers for the asphalt to really get hard so do not be alarmed if tire marks and other surface blemishes don't go away as quickly. That shouldn't prevent you from parking normally on your driveway. Just take good care of it in the beginning and your driveway should have a longer life.

Bell City Paving Inc. guarantees all asphalt work performed by us with a 1-year warranty ( Written warranties are provided on the back of each quote )

The result of dry steering

Keep grass away from edge of pavement.

The After affect of Driveway sealing