The appearance of your driveway creates an impression about your home and way of life. An inviting driveway provides a focal point as passersby and visitors approach your home. Certainly an attractive driveway, one with "curb appeal", adds value to your home investment. So it is worthwhile to plan your driveway carefully. With Hot Mix Asphalt as your material and some attention to design and construction your drive will provide many years of lasting service and an excellent return on your investment.

What is Hot Mix Asphalt: It is an engineered mixture of aggregate, or stones and sand, with liquid asphalt cement, a petroleum product. Varying sizes of aggregates are heated, then mixed, in exact proportions, with asphalt cement that has been liquified at about 300 degree's. While the Mixture is still hot, it is delivered to your driveway and paved on top of a base or subgrade that has already been prepared. Soon after paving, the mixture cools and hardens, you will then be able to drive on it in 3-4 days.

What you Receive with Hot Mix Asphalt: You will recognize several benefits with Hot Mix Asphalt, Compared to other, more costly options. 

• It is strong and durable
• It is engineered to withstand freezing and thawing
• No need to worry about salting your driveway in the winter. Hot Mix Asphalt is unaffected by salt

About Quality Controls:  there are hot asphalt mixtures of various types. Some mixtures are smoother on top then others, some have a higher content of asphalt cement than others. A word of warning: If someone knocks on your front door and says, "We have a load of asphalt that was left over from paving nearby and we can pave your driveway at a bargain rate if you pay cash", don't take him up on it. Asphalt that is "left over" from another job will be too cool to make a good pavement at your house. Anyway, as with any other business transactions, you want to know whom you are dealing with before proceeding, so making a deal on the spot doesn't make any sense for you.

Full-depth Asphalt: The Best Option

Full-depth hot Mix Asphalt driveways are built entirely of Hot Mix from the soil subgrade up. Full-depth driveways keep water out of the pavement. So water never enters the pavement to swell when it freezes. Full-depth asphalt provides a better balance of strength and flexibility, plus durability, than any other material. For the improved soil stability, it is recommended that topsoil containing clay be removed or modified. A solid subgrade requires thorough compaction. Paving with Hot Mix follows. A 4-inch thickness my be adequate for a stable driveway under a wider range of climate and loads. As an option, some contractors use 6-8 inches of compacted aggregate, or gravel, as a base under 3 inches of Hot Mix.

Here is a cost saving tip: If you can arrange with some neighbors to have all or some of your driveways paved at the same time by the same contractor, savings will result for all owners because that gives a paving contractor economies of scale.

Placing an Overlay: Driveways of either asphalt or concrete can be overlaid with Hot Mix Asphalt, with excellent results. Usually for driveways, a surface courses of 1-1/2 to 2inches thick will suffice. Before paving, be sure the contractor patches any serious holes or cracks with Hot Mix and compacts it. Otherwise trouble spots may carry upward through your new pavement. 

Maintaining your Driveways: If designed and built correctly, a Hot Mix Asphalt drive way will give you ears of effective service. A high-grade asphalt emulsion sealer (sometimes called bituminous emulsified sealer) should be applied every 2 to 5 years, depending on your climate, wear pattern, and the like. driveways that are sealed regularly look better and last longer. Emulsion sealers consist of asphalt cement treated to mix with water. once applied, the water evaporates, the material hardens and the surface is waterproof. For Driveways on slopes, some sealer contains sharp sand that will provide added traction.

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