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Care Info for your New Driveway
Congratulations on your new blacktop driveway! We are
pleased that you have chosen us as your paving contractor and confident
this driveway manual will answer all of your questions for a longer
lasting driveway. Since the liquid asphalt in blacktop needs time to
harden and cure, usually 6-12 months, your driveway will remain soft and
pliable until then. You may walk on your new driveway immediately, but
keep automobile traffic off it for at least 3 full days and longer in
hotter temperatures. Even after the blacktop has cured, do not expect it
to be as hard as concrete.
Your new blacktop will soften and harden as temperatures rise and fall.
Watering down your driveway with a hose on hot days will cool and
temporarily harden the blacktop. This is helpful but not mandatory. If
soap suds should appear do not be alarmed. This is a reaction between
the diesel fuel found in blacktop and a high chlorine content found in
some city water. Although every effort is made to avoid puddles in your
driveway, some small ones are inevitable depending on the natural slope
and drainage of your ground. Blacktop is scarred by automobiles starting
out too fast, pulling in too quickly and just plain driving too fast.
During the first 6-12 months while your driveway is curing don't park in
the same spot every time. Do not turn your steering wheel back and forth
when your car is not moving. Avoid using jack stands or car ramps unless
a piece of plywood is placed under them to help distribute the weight.
Excessive weight from large heavy vehicles can depress your new blacktop.
Keep oil trucks, concrete trucks, and any other heavy trucks off your
new driveway. When storing campers for long periods of time, place a
piece of plywood under the tongue jack. Also put them under the tires.
Bicycle and Motorcycle kickstands exert weight on concentrated areas and
will create holes and depressions in your new driveway. Especially watch
out for those pointy high heels during the warm months when your
driveway is new. The edges are the weakest part of your driveway due to
the lack of side support. Avoid driving on the edges since they will
crack and crumble in time. We suggest building up the sides of your
driveway with topsoil. This will support the edges and enhance the
appearance after grass is grown. Your driveway may look smoother in some
areas than others because of the makeup of blacktop. Blacktop has
various sizes of stone, sand, liquid asphalt, and other ingredients
which cause a varied texture of the surface. Also, blacktop areas that
have been raked and spread with hand tools may appear different in
texture from those spread by machine.
Avoid gasoline, oil, anti-freeze, power steering and transmission fluid
spills and leaks. These will dilute the liquid asphalt in your blacktop.
Any hole left by these spills should be filled with cold patch. Any
hairline cracks that may have developed over the winter due to the
concentration and expansion of the ground should be filled with crack
filler. These products can be purchased from your local building supply
store.
To preserve your new driveway, it is advisable to seal coat it after it
has been paved. Sealing too soon, however, may cause damage to your new
driveway. The best time to seal is 3-12 months after is has been paved,
and every 2-3 years thereafter. Because blacktop is naturally porous,
water can seep into and through the paving. This not only causes
deterioration, but results in ridges and upheaval due to frost and
freezing. Blacktop is also softened and broken up by gasoline, lube
grease, road salts and anti-freeze which drips from cars. Sealer
protects blacktop with a coating that is impervious to these harmful
elements. Unprotected driveways remain porous, dry out, become rough,
and lose their life rapidly.
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© B & J Blacktop Paving P.O.
Box 854 Plainfield, In 46168 1-800-303-5613