Use A Sealcoat On Your Asphalt Driveway
Having an asphalt driveway can be a lot easier on your car since gravel or dirt can be really hard on it. You also have more of a risk of getting stuck in the winter or when it has rained. Getting an asphalt company to install a driveway for you will just make your life easier. You will have to do some maintenance on your driveway to make sure that it looks as good as possible and lasts as long as possible. One way to do that is to get it sealcoated.
Sealcoat
A sealcoat is a product that gets applied to your driveway when the asphalt is all dried and cured. It is invisible and doesn't end up visible when it dries. It gets into all the cracks, nooks, and crannies and fills them up. That's important with an asphalt driveway because of the way that the asphalt is formed. There are going to be a lot of crannies in between the aggregate, so a sealcoat filling those things up will make a more cohesive unit. Once the sealcoat is applied and dried, it will act as a layer of protection and help your driveway be better protected.
Freeze/Thaw
One of the things that a sealcoat is going to protect your driveway from is damage from the freeze/thaw cycles. When water freezes, it has a neat little trick it likes to do. Instead of contracting, like almost any other substance, it expands. Any cracks that the water gets into can end up being slightly expanded because the water pushes against its boundaries. Then, when the water thaws, it can flow further into any cracks, which means that when it freezes again, the water will have new places to go.
Petroleum Products
The bitumen that helps make up asphalt, which is the black stuff holding everything together, is a petroleum product. Because of that, it can be vulnerable to other petroleum products, like gasoline and oil. Even the best-maintained car is going occasionally drip one of those fluids, and that drip will eventually cause your driveway to break down. A sealcoat acts like a shield for your driveway, not letting any of those fluids through.
If you have spent the money on getting an asphalt driveway, you want to make sure that you are protecting it so that it looks as good as possible for as long as possible. A sealcoat can do that for you.
For more information, contact a local driveway sealcoating company.
