How is a Tar and Chip Driveway made?

Tar and chip driveways are very similar to blacktop or standard asphalt driveways. Both are usually installed on a compacted gravel base. The base is the foundation or strongest part of the driveway. Blacktop and/or tar and chip surfaces are actually flexible. They are the actual wear layer and prevent the erosion of the gravel base.

How is tar and chip different from blacktop?

A tar and chip driveway differs from a standard blacktop driveway in that it is made on site. The hot liquid asphalt and stone chips are actually applied simultaneously on the gravel base.

Blacktop, a mixture of asphalt, sand, and gravel,on the other hand, is usually mixed at an off site plant. It is delivered, much like ready mixed concrete, to your house and applied with a special spreader. If you are installing a brand new or reconstructed driveway, you will do well to have two layers of tar and chip done. That gives a nice thick coating and a surface that may last up to 12 to 15 years. If you have an existing blacktop driveway, you may get by with a one coat application.

Get the best-looking Tar and Chip Driveway around! Use my Asphalt/Blacktop/Tar & Chip Installation & Repair Checklist and learn what to ask your contractor. I offer a 100% Money Back Guarantee.

Advantages of Tar and Chip

Standard blacktop pavements require protection from the sun and air. The asphalt that bonds the sand and gravel together can become brittle. If you have a blacktop driveway you have probably had to seal it with a liquid coating. Tar and chip driveways do not require this periodic maintenance.

Tar and chip driveways are slightly rougher than a standard blacktop driveway. This characteristic comes from the fact that small, cubical shaped stone chips are dropped directly into the liquid asphalt. The surface, after it is compacted with a heavy roller, resembles a chunky chocolate chip or oatmeal cookie. The surface isn't smooth, yet it isn't sharp and abrasive. It is in between. This surface provides excellent traction in wet or snowy weather.

What Makes up the Paving Surface

Asphalt - Two Types

The liquid asphalt that is used to coat the driveway and act as the adhesive for the chips can come two ways. It can be a cutback asphalt which is specifically formulated for your region. These asphalts are sticky and release hydrocarbons into the air as they cure. Their use is sometimes curtailed when ozone production poses a smog problem.

An alternative asphalt is an emulsified mixture. This is similar to many blacktop sealers you buy in a 5 gallon pail. The asphalt is atomized into small tiny drops and coated with an emulsifying agent. Sometimes these emulsifiers are water based. As the water evaporates the asphalt is released so it can bond to the surface and to the stone chips. If you can arrange to have the old fashioned cutback asphalt, use it. That is what I used on my own driveway.

Loose Chips

If your driveway is fairly level you may wish to top the driveway with a layer of loose chips. It is extremely attractive. The look is just like that of a country lane or a roadway in a park. A 1/2 to 3/4 inch layer is all you need. The loose chips protect the asphalt from the damaging effects of the sun. In addition, should a crack develop in the driveway, the loose chips fill and disguise the imperfection.

Loose chips, however are not appreciated by young bicycle riders and basketball players. If these people live with you, you may wish to create a concrete or standard blacktop surface in these areas. Then extend the tar and chip surface from the play area to the street.

Who Does This Type of Work?

Tar and chip pavement surfaces are nothing new. In fact, there is a strong possibility that you have driven across hundreds of these roads. Many counties use this surface on secondary and rural roads. It is a cost efficient method of repaving and sealing an asphalt roadway.

Businesses and manufacturing plants often pave large parking areas with this material as well.

There is a good chance that a large paving contractor in your city or town does this work. If you are really fortunate, you may find a smaller company that does it as well.

If you have trouble locating a contractor in your town, there is one sure fire way to determine if this paving system is done in your area. If there are blacktop or asphalt driveways in your area, there is an asphalt plant. This is where blacktop is made. This is the same place where the tar and chip people must purchase the tar or asphalt cement. Find out where the plant is and call and speak to the general manager. Ask if he can put you in touch with the contractors who purchase the tar.

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There are two national organizations that deal with asphalt information and technology. Both have excellent web sites, although much of the material is somewhat technical. The two organizations are:

• National Asphalt Pavement Association
  www.asphaltpavement.org/

• Asphalt Institute
  www.asphaltinstitute.org

The Asphalt Institute has a publication in particular that deal with tar and chip surfaces. Although it is technical in nature, it provides you with a good background of what the surface is, how it is made, the equipment used to install, etc. In other words, if you want to make sure your tar and chip driveway is going to be installed correctly, it may be worthwhile reading!

Get the best-looking Tar and Chip Driveway around! Use my Asphalt/Blacktop/Tar & Chip Installation & Repair Checklist and learn what to ask your contractor. I offer a 100% Money Back Guarantee.

The best publication is ES-12 Asphalt Surface Treatments - Construction Techniques. This one has it all. It is a must read. It costs $15.00.

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Weather & Tar and Chip Driveways

Weather conditions are very important when it comes to these surfaces and their installation. Hot, dry early summer weather almost always offers the best conditions. The liquid asphalt sticks best to warm dry surfaces. It also sticks to falling leaves and flower petals! This means that you don't want these things around when you are installing a tar and chip surface.

CLICK or TAP HERE for a FULL TRANSCRIPT of the above video.

Air and surface temperature are critical. It is important that once the hot liquid asphalt is sprayed that it does not chill or cool before the loose chips are scattered across the asphalt. In fact, in most applications, the chips are usually installed within 1 to 2 minutes. The faster the chips are installed, the better chance they have of sticking to the liquid asphalt cement.

If you have to use an emulsified asphalt, be careful of rain. If it rains before the emulsifying agent evaporates, your asphalt can wash away!

Leaves, Grass & Snow

If you have an obsessive compulsive behavioral disorder, tar and chip may not be for you! If you choose tar and chip and the beautiful loose chip covering, you will not be able to hose down your driveway. You'll blast away the chips! However, grass clippings, fallen leaves and paper can be easily removed with a standard air blower or a lawn mower. That is how I remove these items from my driveway.

Get the best-looking Tar and Chip Driveway around! Use my Asphalt/Blacktop/Tar & Chip Installation & Repair Checklist and learn what to ask your contractor. I offer a 100% Money Back Guarantee.

Snow removal is also a challenge. Hand shoveling is tough. You need to skim just above the chips. However, plowing is possible if you just set the blade up one inch. If you have no loose stones on your tar and chip surface, plowing is no different than a blacktop or concrete driveway.

Cost

The cost of a tar and chip driveway is almost always less expensive than standard blacktop. The cost rises if you choose an expensive colored stone. Maintenance is virtually non-existent. Remember, you don't have to deal with those messy sealers every other year. That saves time and money as well.

Do's and Don'ts of Tar and Chip Driveways

Do's . . .

Do use a contractor who has experience with this surface. Ask for references and go and visit the driveways.

With proper installation, your home tar and chip driveway can stand up to the weight of a fire engine. PHOTO CREDIT: Tim Carter

Do make sure that the contractor plans to spray a sufficient amount of liquid asphalt. One half gallon per square yard is the minimum amount that should be applied. Applying too much can also be a problem. The tar may bleed through the chips in hot weather!

Do make sure that the base or surface to be coated is sufficiently strong enough to handle the heaviest trucks! The tar and chip coating is NOT structural. It is merely a wear layer.

Do make sure that the chips you use are uniform in size as much as possible. Flat, thin chips are not too good. Cubical chips, similar in shape to rock salt are superb.

Do a good job of blending stone chips if you decide to use two different colors.

Click here to watch a video on Tar and Chip Driveways.

Don'ts . . .

Don't consider using loose chips if your driveway is steep. The loose chips may cause tires to spin. Steep drives can only be coated with embedded chips.

Don't drive on a new tar and chip surface for a minimum of 24 hours. The surface is tender, just like fresh blacktop. Avoid spinning tires or turning wheels in place for at least two weeks.

Don't allow a cutback asphalt to be applied to a damp or wet blacktop or gravel base. These surfaces MUST be dry! Emulsified asphalts can be applied to a damp surface.

Don't apply an emulsified asphalt if rain is in the forecast.

Don't apply asphalt if the air temperature is less than 50 degrees F. The temperature should be rising though the process. The surface temperature of the gravel or blacktop to be coated should be at least 70 degrees F.

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Tips on Patching Blacktop and Asphalt

©2017 Tim Carter

Square Edges: The sides of the hole to be patched must be vertical. Don't expect to pour cold patch materials in a depression or sunken area of blacktop and expect it to last. The crisp vertical faces of a hole act as retaining walls for the patching products.

Remove Loose Debris: Once you have created clean edges on the hole, remove loose debris from the bottom of the pothole. If the pothole is deeper than 2 inches, then use this coarse blacktop and other crushed stone as fill.

Compact Base: Use a steel tamping plate, a 4x4 or other tools to really compact the stone base. Avoid using rounded gravel as a base. Always use crushed, angular stone.

Correct Thickness: The ideal depth of asphalt patching material is between 1.5 and 2 inches. If you install it greater than 2 inches in depth, it can take much longer for the high performance adhesives to fully cure!

Compact Patch - Do NOT Seal!: After the patching material is in place and about 3/8 of an inch above the surrounding pavement, use a steel tamper to firmly compact the cold patch material. Check it for low spots with a straight edge. Do not under any circumstances cover the patch with asphalt sealer. Wait a minimum of 30 days. The patch needs to be exposed to the air so it can cure.

Do you need to patch your asphalt? Save time and money by using my Asphalt/Blacktop/Tar & Chip Installation & Repair Checklist. I offer a 100% Money Back Guarantee.

Crack and Edge Sealers: Once the patch has cured, you can use a high performance crack filler to seal the edge between the old blacktop and the new patch. Use a 1/2 inch wide disposable paint brush to spread the crack filler so it bridges the crack evenly.

Filling Cracks: Most crack fillers will settle slightly as the water in them evaporates. You can fill a crack level and let it dry and then refill, or you can experiment and see if you can carefully overfill the crack leaving a slight hump to see if the material dries level. Deep cracks may need to be filled with coarse, dry sand before you add the liquid crack filler!

Companion Articles:   High Performance Asphalt Repair Products, Asphalt (Blacktop) Patching Material, Asphalt Patching

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High Performance Asphalt Patching Products

If you want some really good products to patch your blacktop driveways, you need not go too far. If you are lucky, you might have an old fashioned building supply store near you. This is a place that commonly sells, brick, mortar, cement, reinforcing steel, drainage pipe, and similar building products, etc. We have at least 3 or 4 of these still left in my hometown.

Often these places sell cold patch blacktop. Years ago, the cold patch products were just formulated to act as a temporary patch until a contractor could come along and install hot mix asphalt. Well, as with many things, improvements in adhesives and glues have found their way into cold patch asphalt. If you can find one of the products listed below, you can install a permanent blacktop patch if you follow the instructions on the bag. I have done it numerous times and many of the patches look as good as new.

The building supply stores will also sell blacktop or asphalt crack sealing compounds. These products are often an emulsion of asphalt and synthetic rubbers. The more rubber that is in the mix, the better the crack filler will perform. As you might expect, products with more rubber cost more. Look for the most expensive crack filler and purchase it. Follow directions to the letter. Most require that the crack edges are clean and dry. This means you will often have to wash them out with a hose on one day and then fill them the next day after the cracks have dried out.

Call the manufacturers below to find out where in your area you can find them. They might be available at a large home center, but don't count on it!

Do you need to patch your asphalt? Save time and money by using my Asphalt/Blacktop/Tar & Chip Installation & Repair Checklist. I offer a 100% Money Back Guarantee.

• EZ Street
  EZ Street Company
  1786 NW 82nd Ave.
  Miami, FL 33126
  800-734-1476

• High Performance Cold Patch
  Hy Grade Corp.
  3993 E. 93rd Street
  Cleveland, OH 44105
  800-341-7751

• PLM 1010 High Performance Cold Mix
  PLM Corporation
  7424 Bessemer Ave.
  Cleveland, OH 44127
  216-771-8555

• QPR - 2000
  QPR, Div. Lafarge North America, Inc
  12735 Morris Road Extension
  Alpharetta, GA 30004
  800-388-4388

Companion Articles:   Tips on Patching Blacktop and Asphalt, Asphalt (Blacktop) Patching Material, Asphalt Patching

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©2017 Tim Carter

Black Rubber

Several years ago, the highway maintenance crew in my village worked on my street. The first thing they did was to use compressed air to blow out debris from the cracks in the roadway and along the curb. Several hours later, a large dump truck arrived with a strange trailer. The trailer contained a tank filled with a high performance crack filler. This tank was heated by a propane burner. The material in the tank was an asphalt solution that contained some new synthetic rubbers. The maintenance person who walked with the trailer had a wand that was suspended from a boom. As he squeezed a trigger, hot material would flow from the wand tip. A second person had a V shaped squeegee that pushed the material down into the crack and it also spread it onto each side of the crack.

The material has done a fine job of filling the cracks. You can get very similar materials that do not require heating. The best crack fillers have lots of rubber in the mixture and typically cost twice as much per gallon as the inferior or low- tech crack fillers.

The crack fillers pour right from a bottle or jug. I have determined that the trick to getting them to stick is to make sure that the cracks are clean, dust free, and dry. If you have the patience to make this happen, you can get long term crack repairs.

Do you need to patch your asphalt? Save time and money by using my Asphalt/Blacktop/Tar & Chip Installation & Repair Checklist. I offer a 100% Money Back Guarantee.

Patching Potholes

I have seen many a friend and relative fail miserably at trying to patch low spots or depressions in their blacktop driveways. In the past they could blame their failure on the material they were using. They can't do that any longer.

You can now purchase pothole patching compounds that are in a bag and will produce permanent repairs if you follow several easy steps. It is important to buy the right materials. I list several high performance products later in this bulletin. Do your best to find one of these great products if you want to only patch your potholes once.

Oh yes, the other reason that pothole repairs fail is because the material was not installed right. I'll bet you have seen holes or low spots develop in your driveway where the actual asphalt simply sinks. You can't see down to the gravel base as the asphalt stretched over the hollow spot.

To repair holes like this by simply dumping in some cold patch is asking for trouble. As the cold patch material nears the edge of the depression, it thins out to nothing. To repair a depression like this you must crack the surface of the asphalt and create vertical edges in the existing blacktop that are at least 1.5 inches high. You can see that when the patching material is installed this way, its minimum thickness at any point would be 1.5 inches, not the thickness of a solitary asphalt coated stone from the patching mix!

In a Rush

Are you an impatient weekend warrior who has decided to fix the driveway holes, cracks, and seal it in one weekend? Well, forget about it! If you have to do all of these things to a driveway, it is going to take a minimum of four weekends. You should patch the holes on the first weekend. As soon as you expose the patching material to the air, you begin the 30 day countdown that is required to allow the material to fully cure and get hard. If you cover the patch with driveway sealer, you block air from getting to the patch. The patch will then be spongy for a long period of time. Spend the second weekend cleaning cracks and getting them to dry. Apply the crack filler and let it set for one week. Check to see if you need to fill deep cracks twice. After 30 days, apply your sealer!

Companion Articles:   Tips on Patching Blacktop and Asphalt, High Performance Asphalt Repair Products, Asphalt Patching

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Blacktop Sealer Manufacturers & Associations

When you decide which blacktop sealer will perform best for you, who should you buy it from? Good question! Because the raw materials that are used to make a (meaning any type) blacktop sealer are readily available, just about anybody can get into the sealer business. However, as with any industry, there are a select group of manufacturers committed to producing high quality blacktop sealers. These manufacturers belong to an association called the Pavement Coating Technology Center. This association is headquartered at the University of Nevada in Reno. They have developed highly detailed specifications for applying driveway sealers. These specifications are primarily intended for commercial applications. However, these specifications can, and should be, used for residential applications. Go to their web site and read the specs!

Also, check out the web sites of the following two associations. They both have great information on the installation and maintenance of asphalt driveways.

• National Asphalt Pavement Association (www.asphaltpavement.org/)
• Asphalt Institute (www.asphaltinstitute.org)

Following is a list of manufacturers who are current members of the Pavement Coating Technology Center. They are committed to manufacturing high quality sealers. Look for products that are made by these companies. Study the labels and decide which product will work best for you. Call the manufacturers closest to your city to see who carries their products. Think of it, your investment in several phone calls may produce fantastic results. The manufacturers will gladly send you excellent product literature and tell you the locations of the closest retail outlets.

UPDATE: June 2003

I just got back from the Sears Editors conference and they proved that as of this writing, they sell the best driveway sealer on the market. The test samples they brought in were unbelievable. If you could have seen how quickly some of the top name brands wore away compared to the one Sears sells, you would be astonished. Buy Sears top-of-the-line sealer. I am 99.99% sure the product is made by the first company in the list below. You may be able to determine this by looking on the label of the Sears product.

Akzo Nobel Surface Chemistry
Bonsal American
Chemway Products, Inc.
Coopers Creek Chemicals Corp.
Corsicana Technologies, Inc.
Dalton Enterprises, Inc.
Gem Seal, Inc.
Kentucky-Tennessee Clay Co.
Koppers, Inc.
Reilly Industries, Inc.
S.T.A.R., Inc.
Surface Coatings Company
Tangent Rail Products
Unimin Corporation
Vance Brothers, Inc.
Velvetop Products

Associate Members

Good Seal Products Corp.
Great Lakes Coatings
Hercules Sealcoat Mfg. Inc.
McConnell & Associates Corp.
Pavement Coatings, Inc.
Paving Maintenance Coatings. Inc.
Sasco Pavement Coatings, Inc.
Star Seal of Florida
Star Seal of New York
Star Seal of Ohio, Inc.

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This blacktop driveway is twenty years old. It’s in very good condition. Photo credit: Tim Carter

Different Sealers

There are three basic types of blacktop or asphalt sealers: simple emulsified asphalt; refined coal tar sealers; and 100 percent man-made acrylic polymer sealers.

The simple asphalt emulsion sealers offer the lowest levels of protection. In essence, they simply contain the same asphalt that was used to bind the sand and gravel together in the first place. This asphalt coating will oxidize and get brittle just like the asphalt you are trying to protect!

The next best sealer to use is manufactured using refined coal tar. Refined coal tar offers two distinct advantages: it is not dissolved easily by gasoline; and oil and UV rays do not readily make it brittle.

Asphalt is easily dissolved by gasoline and oil drippings from your car. Because of this, you should consider using refined coal tar products.

There is a wide variety of refined coal tar products. Some of them have additional additives such as rubber and rubber-like polymers which make them more elastic. These sealers often contain fine sand and clays. The sand makes the sealers more durable. The clays make the sealers easier to apply.

The best and most expensive sealers you can buy are those that contain almost 100 percent man-made ingredients. These are the acrylic sealers. If you have ever played tennis on a blacktop court that has the distinctive green and red sealers, you have walked on these acrylic sealers.

The acrylics in these sealers are unaffected by sunlight and air. They stay flexible for many years. I know of a house only one mile from mine that has used the red colored sealer with great success. The driveway sealer they use often lasts for six to eight years before requiring another coat.

Yes, these acrylic sealers cost almost twice as much as refined coal tar sealers, however they may be a better value for you. I would check it out if I were you. Also, these acrylic sealers are available in black, so your driveway doesn't have to look like a tennis court!

Need help with sealing your driveway? CLICK or TAP HERE to get FREE QUOTES from local companies specializing in driveway sealing.

Tips on Sealing Old and New Blacktop Driveways

This is what blacktop looks like just after it's sealed. It looks like glossy black paint. Copyright 2018 Tim Carter

New Blacktop Driveways

New blacktop should usually be sealed within its first year. Depending upon the time of year it was installed, your climate, daytime temperatures, etc. the earliest you can seal your driveway is 90 days after installation. Your driveway should be exposed for at least 90 days where the daytime temperature is 70F or greater. This allows the lightest weight oils in the asphalt to evaporate, which in turn allows the blacktop to harden. This is very important!! If you do not let these oils evaporate, your blacktop may remain soft for a long time. Things such as bike kickstands, heavy metal objects, etc. will dent your new blacktop.

If you have anything that leaks oil, use cardboard to protect the new blacktop to keep it oil-free until such time as you can seal it.

When it is time to seal your new blacktop, follow the pointers in the following section.

Existing Driveways

Sealing a driveway is not much different than painting the walls or ceiling in your house. If you have ever painted a room correctly, you know that you must wash the surfaces to be painted, patch any holes in the plaster, caulk all cracks, and apply the paint in a uniform thickness (not too thin and not too thick). Driveways are just the same.

Important Tips for a First Class Sealing Job

• Remove all mud, vegetation, loose particles of sand and gravel, etc. WASH the entire surface to be sealed with water, brush dirty spots, rinse, and remove standing puddles of water.
• Patch any depressions with whatever patching compound is required. Deep holes will require cold blacktop patch. Shallow depressions (where the blacktop has slightly eroded) can be patched with various smooth asphalt patching compounds that often have the consistency of cake icing. Be sure to follow directions, as some of these compounds might need to dry for several days before they are sealed!
• Patch any cracks 1/8 inch or larger. Deep cracks should be filled with coarse sand to within 1/2 inch of the surface. Wide cracks up to 1 inch width may require special acrylic crack fillers that remain more flexible.
• Remove caked up oil drippings. Clean oil spots with special oil cleaners available from the sealer companies. Tough spots should have a special oil primer applied so the sealer sticks to the oil stained area.
• Just before (and during) sealing, fog the blacktop with enough water to dampen the surface.This water helps the sealer to bond to the older blacktop.

Only seal your driveway AFTER the old sealer has worn away. Even if you use just an emulsified asphalt sealer from a quality manufacturer, this coating should last two to three years. Applying sealer every year is a mistake. It is simply overkill and a waste of money. Good luck on your sealing project!

Asphalt Concrete

Blacktop and concrete have some very similar properties. They both are a combination of ingredients. Concrete consists of gravel, sand and cement, cement being the material that holds the sand and gravel together. Blacktop consists of gravel, sand and asphalt. Asphalt, which occurs naturally and is a residual product of the crude oil refining process, is the glue that holds together the gravel and sand found in blacktop.

Sunlight and air (non-polluted) does not harm concrete. In fact, the carbon dioxide in air actually makes concrete stronger with age (especially in its first year!) Blacktop, however, is harmed by exposure to sunlight and air. This is the primary reason blacktop should be sealed on a regular basis.

Cracks in Blacktop

Many people do not realize that blacktop is marketed as a flexible pavement. It can actually stretch to some degree. This flexibility is derived from the asphalt which holds together the sand and gravel. Asphalt, when used in blacktop, is actually called asphalt cement. It is an unusual material because its viscosity (ability to flow like a liquid) actually changes with temperature. When cold, the asphalt cement can get hard. When hot the asphalt behaves like a thick maple syrup. This quality allows the finished product, blacktop, to stretch in certain situations. I have witnessed this phenomena at numerous bus stops in my city. The pavement at bus stops is often rutted right where the bus picks up passengers. This rutting is caused by the pressure of the bus tires on the pavement each time the bus brakes. The asphalt pavement is actually pushed or bulldozed ever so slightly each time the bus stops in hot weather.

When asphalt is exposed to air it begins to lose this quality. The lightweight oils in asphalt actually evaporate and the asphalt oxidizes. When this happens, the asphalt becomes brittle. Brittle asphalt is much more susceptible to cracking than fresh, flexible asphalt.

Cracks in blacktop frustrate many homeowners. A new crack-free driveway, as we discussed earlier, is gorgeous. There are two primary causes of cracks in blacktop: shrinkage and structural. Shrinkage cracks happen naturally because the blacktop loses volume (evaporating lightweight oils) early in its life. Structural cracks develop when the blacktop base is undersized and unable to handle the concentrated loads placed upon it. Remember, most residential blacktops are low-strength. They derive their strength from the gravel base beneath the blacktop. A structural crack will occur when the base gives more than the blacktop can stretch.

This is what blacktop looks like just after it's sealed. It looks like glossy black paint. Copyright 2018 Tim Carter

This is where sealers enter the picture. Assuming that your driveway has an adequate base, you need to do two things after it is installed: slow down the loss of the lightweight oils after the new blacktop has cured; and protect the asphalt from the damaging effects of the ultraviolet (UV) rays in sunlight.

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This is a blacktop driveway near my last home. it's in great shape and you know it's got a solid gravel base under it. Copyright 2017 Tim Carter

How do you get a smooth finished driveway surface?

There are different types of mixes of asphalt paving materials. The type and quality of asphalt cement and the size of the aggregate (rocks) account for the differences. The smaller the aggregate, the weaker the finished product will be. Most people want a very smooth finished surface. This requires the mixture to have smaller aggregate. If this is what you want, your installer may have to install two layers of paving material. The first layer will be slightly thicker and have slightly larger rocks. The finish layer will be thinner (1 to 1 1/4 inches) and have smaller stones and coarse sand. Always make sure that a tack coat of asphalt is used between layers. This acts as a glue to bond the layers together. A tack coat is not necessary if the second layer is applied shortly after the first layer.

If you are repaving an existing driveway, beware of reflection cracks! Reflection cracks are cracks that develop in the new pavement directly above existing cracks in the old pavement. This is a big problem if you install asphalt paving over concrete. The latest technology suggests that a few days after the blacktop is installed, you should consider saw cutting slots in the new blacktop directly above the existing cracks. These sawcuts will be straight and can be filled with a flexible crack sealer.

If repaving, absolutely make sure that all dust and dirt is removed from the old surface. Remove all vegetation from cracks and the edge of the driveway as well. Be sure to fill any low spots with patching material prior to applying the finish layer of blacktop.

Get the best-looking asphalt driveway around! Learn what to ask your contractor in my Asphalt/Blacktop/Tar & Chip Installation & Repair Checklist. I offer a 100% Money Back Guarantee.

Sealing & Maintenance

Many associations recommend that you seal your new driveway one year after it is installed. Be sure to use a high quality commercial bituminous water emulsion sealer. If your drive is on a hill, consider using a sealer which contains sand.

How often should you seal a driveway?

Do not seal your driveway every year! Sealers are coatings, just like paint. You can easily apply too much and the coatings will begin to crack and peel. Only reseal the driveway after you can clearly see that the old sealer is wearing. When the color of the aggregate (rocks) begins to show, it is time to reseal. Because the sealer will wear off faster in areas where there is foot and car traffic, apply sealer to the non-traffic areas a little thinner. Otherwise, you will begin to get a buildup of sealer which may begin to crack and peel.

CLICK or TAP HERE to get FREE QUOTES from local companies that can seal your blacktop driveway.

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