asphalt driveway

I have an asphalt driveway that is about 13 years old. The person who owned the house before me never sealed the driveway like you should. I have a lot of big cracks and want to have another layer of asphalt installed over the old drive. What should I look for in a contractor to do this? How thick should the new layer be? How should the contractor prepare the old driveway to insure that the new layer will hold up? I live in the mid Atlantic so the winters are not overly harsh.

 

Hi,

Check this interesting article about "How to seal and repair driveways"

http://www.lowes.com/lkn?action=howT...c=howToLibrary

Good luck!

 

A contractor should chop out any areas that are extremely cracked in order to see if the stone base is ok or not. Spray or remove any grass or weeds growing in the cracks. The top coat should be about 2" before its rolled. I would get multiple estimates. I just spec'd out the driveway here and one place wanted $1500 to just topcoat. The other place wants $1800 but that includes chopping out an area considered extemely cracked thats 10'x20', putting all new stone in and a base and topcoating the whole driveway. Also, make sure you get a written estimate. First place gave a crappy estimate on company letterhead and the second place typed it all out on a computer with every detail and includes a drawing with all measurements.