Asphalt resurfacing sounds like an expensive and costly way to get an old, weathered parking lot or driveway back in better shape. Grinding down old, broken rubble, preparing the subsurface for new asphalt, and then laying down fresh new blacktop seems a great way to keep your lot or driveway off limits for days or even weeks. Sure, the end result is that your new pavement will like black and glossy once again, but is it worth the time and money?
The truth, believe it or not, may shock you. As an alternative to going back to square one and providing brand-new pavement from scratch, asphalt resurfacing turns out to be not only less expensive but less disruptive to your place of business and also less disruptive to the environment. Here’s everything you should consider about resurfacing your asphalt instead of just replacing it.
Resurfacing Works Just as Well as New Pavement
Nothing lasts forever – not even asphalt pavement. No matter how well you maintain it, your lot or driveway will eventually break down; you’ll get cracks, and even patching those cracks regularly won’t stop the pavement from slowly but surely deteriorating over time. In other words, even if it’s years later, you’ll need that original pavement replaced.
There’s no need to pull everything up and start from bare dirt, though. Typically, only the top layers of asphalt will be in need of replacement. A solid foundation under that top layer can last for decades, so simply resurfacing that top layer is more than enough, as long as that bottom layer is in good shape. If your bottom layer is still sturdy, it costs a lot less — and takes a lot less time — for asphalt resurfacing than replacing the whole thing. There’s functionally no difference between a resurfaced top layer and fully-replaced asphalt.
Asphalt Resurfacing Lets You Recycle
Asphalt is a remarkable pavement material indeed. Because of its unique characteristics, especially the ability for old, used asphalt that has already been laid to be torn up and re-used in a mix with fresh, new pavement materials, it’s very common to recycle older, crumbled pavement into new surfaces. It’s this reusability that makes asphalt an environmentally conscious building material. In a state like New Jersey, where infrastructure is so important to so many commercial and retail establishments, preserving that infrastructure through recycling is a necessity.
At the same time, asphalt resurfacing that makes use of recycled pavement has more than just positive environmental impacts. Not having to create brand-new aggregate material means that fewer brand-new raw materials are being used, and that creates a cost difference between an asphalt resurfacing and a completely fresh paving job. Cutting expenses without sacrificing quality is a major game-changer, makes your maintenance budget go farther, and helps contribute to the overall success your property in ways that can’t be discounted!