Before paving any Minnesota asphalt driveway, the area to be paved needs careful preparation. The quality and life of your driveway depends largely on how well the underlying base is prepared. At Richfield Blacktop, our more than half a century of experience in creating driveways for discerning Minneapolis St. Paul area homeowners has taught us that preparation is the key to a beautiful blacktop driveway that holds up over many years of trouble free service. Here are some of the steps in preparing to pave a replacement blacktop driveway:
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Preparations for Paving a New Asphalt Driveway in Minneapolis St. Paul, MN
Asphalt Preparation Steps
- Removal of Old Paving – Using skid steer loaders, our crews essentially peel off the old blacktop or concrete paving on your driveway. The old material is loaded into dump trucks and hauled away for recycling. Care is taken not to damage surrounding plantings and other features.
- Preparing the Sub-Base – This step depends largely on the soil type where your driveway is located and the sub-base options you have chosen. If you live in an area that has well-drained sandy or rocky soil or your existing driveway has an adequate sub-base, this job is simple. The existing base may be simply regarded and carefully compacted, with special attention given to drainage. In areas with loamy soil or wet clay soils, it may require removing old sub-base materials and replacing them with new Class 5 sub-base material. In some cases, Geotechnical fabric may be installed underneath the sub-base material to keep wet soil from infiltrating into the sub-base. This will extend the life of your driveway in problem soils.
- Grading the Sub-Base – Proper drainage is very important to the life of your driveway and to keep water moving away from your home and other features of your property. Richfield Blacktop takes pride in its handling of difficult drainage issues. Grading also levels and smooths the sub-base to help produce an even, beautiful driveway.
- Compacting the Sub-Base – For a durable, smooth driveway, a properly compacted sub-base is essential. If the sub-base is not well compacted and uniformly dense, the pavement may sag and develop low spots that don’t drain properly. A poorly compacted sub-base also leads to cracks and other problems. Richfield Blacktop uses vibratory roller compactors, along with vibratory plate compactors to produce the proper level of compaction. This process takes time, and depends on the strong skills and experience of the operators. You’ll see the equipment make many passes over the sub-base, until everything is exactly right. Skimping on compaction is not an option.
- Other Preparations for Paving – If you’ve chosen Permaloc Aluminum AsphaltEdge as an option, this will be installed before paving to provide a full-thickness, even pavement edge that is protected from future damage. Finally, every aspect of the sub-base preparation, grading, and compacting will be double-checked.
Richfield Blacktop – Minnesota Most Trusted Asphalt Driveway Company
At Richfield Blacktop, we know that the design and preparations of every driveway are crucial elements in creating the smooth black carpet of pavement you expect and deserve for your home. Our many customers over the years, tell us they appreciate the care we take with every aspect of the job. We welcome our customers to watch our crews as they take the steps needed to create a new driveway. Contact us soon to schedule a free, no-obligation consultation and estimate for your driveway. Let us show you why we’re the Twin Cites Paver of Choice.