Many asphalt companies offer both residential and commercial asphalt paving services. Residential asphalt paving is usually paving a drive or a private road leading to a house. For homeowners with dirt drives, the drive needs preparing before asphalt paving in Atlanta, GA.
Getting a Drive Ready for Asphalt
To prepare a drive, remove the top of it to get rid of grass and roots and to level it. Although homeowners can take care of this task, it may be better to hire someone with a compact bulldozer to come in to quickly handle the job. The bulldozer can dig down about two to four inches and dig up, then level the entire drive.
Create Drainage
If the drive area drains slowly, homeowners can make sure to do two things. They can install drain tiles to speed up drainage and make sure the drive has a slope to help drain water. Water can damage asphalt, so it is important to fix the drainage issues before asphalt paving in Atlanta, GA.
Use Gravel as the Underlay
Asphalt should never go on top of dirt or grass, so when it is level, gravel should go onto the drive. Many companies that bring gravel to a house will also lay it to ensure it is level and thick enough to place asphalt on it.
After the asphalt goes down, foot traffic is okay but give the drive at least three days to get harder. Until then, keep all vehicles off it. If the weather is hot, it may take longer than three days before parking vehicles on the drive.
