Ho me I mp rovement
Driveway Options and Maintenance
Text by Karl H. Kazaks Springtime is the season commonly associated with cleaning, upkeep and repair of your house and yard. As you stand outside appraising the lawn or seeing where the house exterior needs to be painted or pressure washed, note that there’s a vital feature of your landscape which deserves its own attention and maintenance: the driveway. In the New River Valley, most driveways are asphalt. While concrete is a strong material and good for driveways in some circumstances, given our colder climate, asphalt tends to be a preferred choice. Not only is asphalt less costly to install, in many cases the surface of asphalt will be warmer than concrete 18
NRV MAGAZINE
in the same location due to its dark coloration, helping to melt ice and snow. But asphalt also requires maintenance. “If you don’t maintain an asphalt driveway,” says Donnie Tignor of Donnie’s Driveway Sealing & Paving in Christiansburg, “it’ll last 10 to 15 years. If you do maintain it, it could last 25 or more years.” Tignor, who has been in the asphalt and paving business for 30 years, recommends sealcoating an asphalt driveway the year after it has been installed and every three years thereafter. Think about sealcoating asphalt as you would staining wood siding or a wood deck. It is a protective coating which
minimizes the harsh effects of being outside. Sealcoating can protect against the erosive effects of water. By filling small cracks before they become big cracks, sealcoating helps shed water, preventing it from seeping through the asphalt to the base beneath it. It also acts as a protective shield to the corrosive effects of sunlight. Sunlight can dry out asphalt, and UV rays can also erode the top layer of a driveway. Just like some people regularly moisturize their skin, you might want to consider sealcoating to keep your asphalt driveway from drying out. If you’ve neglected the care of your asphalt driveway for a while – and
March/Apri l 2020
