Is your asphalt driveway in desperate need of repair? Well, the only way to truly rehabilitate your parking pad is to hire a professional asphalt contractor to come in, assess the situation, and repair the problem.

While you can attempt small do-it-yourself asphalt patching jobs on your own, these will be little more than temporary solutions. In the end, the only way to truly repair your driveway is to have an asphalt professional, like PTG Enterprises, handle the project.

Here at PTG Enterprises, we adhere to the following Asphalt Driveway Repair Process:

1. Pre-Construction

The purpose of a pre-construction meeting is to clearly communicate expectation levels and set a time to allow a question and answer session. A successful pre-construction meeting results in everyone leaving with a clear understanding of what’s going to happen and when it’s happening. Most of the time, this information is discussed at the time of estimate.

2. Traffic Controls

Usually this consists of cones and caution tape. We will place cones around construction vehicles and at both ends of the work zone. Maintaining the safety on a work zone is of the utmost importance. Once the driveway repairs have been completed, caution tape will be placed across the entrance to allow the asphalt time to cure.

3. Base Patching – (IF NEEDED)

As described in several places through-out this website, most patching is conducted the same way. The damaged asphalt is excavated, in this case to the sub-grade stone, and all damaged asphalt is removed from site and disposed of at a recycling plant. Assuming the sub-grade is stable, (see “Undercutting” if not), new asphalt is installed within the excavated area and compacted within industry standards. With base patching, the finished grade of the patch is even with either the old existing pavement that is about to be overlaid or even with the milled out elevation of the parking lot. In both cases, base patching is designed to repair isolated damaged areas prior to an overlay.

4. Undercutting / Stone Replacement – (IF NEEDED)

Soft spot or unstable soil is usually easy to see and evaluate. A simple on-site test is a proof roll. For this you take a fully loaded dump truck (approx. 50,000 pounds) and drive it over the area. In smaller areas, a bobcat will work. If the truck / bobcat cause deflections or makes deep wheel rut impressions in the sub-grade, you have a soft spot. The area is excavated as needed until a stable soil is reached and all debris is removed from site. New stone is then reinstalled in lifts, building the area back up to pre-construction elevations. The area is then capped with base course asphalt if overlay is to follow or base and surface course asphalt if it is to be a finished patch.

5. Asphalt Installation

The paving machine, paired with an experienced operator and a trained crew, will make paving look easy – it’s not. Assuming fabric was not in the scope of work, than the paving team will have a man designated to either spray or spot apply tack coat material. Another ground personnel will be responsible for controlling the movement of trucks. It’s crucially important that the trucks stay in order and the next one up is always ready to go. The hotter the asphalt, the easier it is to work with, hence the longer a truck sits, the cooler the asphalt gets. The asphalt is dumped from the truck to the paver where two men control each side. One man is responsible to make sure the joint lines up with the previous paving pull and the other side is responsible for determining thickness, grade, pitch and fall. Accompanying the paver are usually two ground personnel known as “Lute men”. They take direction from the paving foreman and will spread / rake high and low spots out of areas that were just paved but need minor adjustments. Finally, there is the roller man. He is responsible for the compaction of the freshly laid asphalt. Usually this person will work the roller and also plate tampers and hand tampers in the tight areas where pavers cannot go.

If you have any questions or wish to schedule a pre-construction meeting, please contact PTG Enterprises aka My Pavement Guy today by calling 410-636-8777 or click here today!

I started my career in 1996 working on driveways. I learned how to work with homeowners and how to successfully manage driveway projects. Since then I have completed more than 2,000 driveway projects. Although the majority of my work today is parking lot or roadway oriented, I have never lost touch with my roots and have maintained and kept my Home Improvement License current, ( MHIC # 51204 ). I know driveways and understand driveway issues. I have crews that specialize in driveway installations and repairs. They are also committed to my ideals that “Attention to Detail” is the key to a successful driveway project.

Give me the opportunity to impress you. I can be your one stop ‘Pavement Guy,’ for any pavement project regardless of size or scope.

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