At PMCI, we handle both Commercial and Residential projects as well as corporate accounts. Our main concern is to provide excellent quality jobs at cost effective prices. This helps you give your business or home that new, refinished look again at the fraction of replacing the existing driveway or parking lot.

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Well that all depends… A properly constructed and maintained asphalt driveway will probably last 20 to 30 years. “Properly constructed” is a big factor here. Too often a driveway is the last thing on the list when constructing a new home. All to often if there have been overruns in construction costs the driveway will “pay the price”. As contractors it’s not unusual to hear a homebuilder say “we only have $XXX left for paving the drive. What can you do for that much?” Of course that amount is usually less than what is actually needed to do a proper job. Many times premature structural failures in driveways are caused by this scenario or in older homes perhaps the previous owner was only concerned about low price, not high quality, if they had the drive replaced. Unfortunately it’s often impossible to tell how well the driveway was constructed after the fact. One tip would be if a new home driveway was not guaranteed against any structural defects for at least 2 years, or if there are areas that look rough or that hold water. The second part of this is “properly maintained”. If asphalt pavements didn’t need maintenance your city street department would be out of a job as would thousands of pavement maintenance contractors. As we get to answers to some more common questions proper maintenance will become self-explanatory.

Why should I sealcoat my driveway?

Asphalt pavements are made up of stone (aggregate) fine stone or sand, and asphalt cement. The asphalt cement is what gives the pavement it’s black appearance and is the “glue” that holds everything together. Often I joking answer this question in person by asking “why do you paint the wood on your house?” It’s obvious of course; to preserve the wood and protect it from damage from the elements. The same is true of asphalt pavements. Have you noticed that new asphalt is jet black but soon begins to fade and in a year or two has turned gray? That’s oxidation. The effects of the sun and rain/snow oxidizing the asphalt cement in the pavement. Given enough time the pavement becomes brittle and has less resistance to the loads placed on it. This can lead to a multitude of problems. Asphalt is a petroleum product so any other petroleum derivatives that contact it will dissolve into the asphalt, weakening or dissolving the asphalt’s “glue like” properties. These substances commonly include motor oil, transmission/power steering/ or brake fluids, gasoline, and perhaps household solvents like some cleaners. It’s common to see asphalt damaged by concrete cleaning products used on a sidewalk but rinsed onto a driveway. And the other common products mentioned can come from anywhere; a leaking car, oiling the chain on the kid’s bikes, spills while servicing the lawnmower, the list is endless. A good quality sealcoating will protect the asphalt pavement from all these damaging factors while providing the curb appeal of a new-looking black appearance. It’s often overlooked that sealcoating not only seals the harmful elements out but seals the beneficial properties of the asphalt cement in. Many years of research has proven that proper maintenance including sealcoating can double the life of an asphalt pavement. (Sealcoating is not new by any means. The first sealcoating materials were developed in the 1930’s for Standard Oil to help protect the pavement in their service stations.) Because of the scope of this subject there is another article devoted to types of sealers, doing it yourself vs. hiring a contractor, etc. Also see our article on why sealcoating works and how it can save you money.

What about those cracks in my driveway?

Those need immediate attention. A host of problems leading to major failure can result from the small start of a few cracks left unattended. You may wonder why we address this apart from sealcoating. Sealcoating is for sealing an asphalt surface. It does nothing of value for cracks larger than a “hairline” or in layman’s terms the size of a pencil lead or larger. Actual cracks in the pavement require specialized crack sealant materials. Left alone cracks allow moisture to penetrate the asphalt surface. Water expands as it freezes, so moisture in the cracks does the greatest damage in the winter months. But before you breathe a sigh of relief because you live in a warm area, moisture penetration does great damage to pavement no matter what the temperature. It just does more damage faster in freezing conditions. “Homeowner grade” crack sealants are always cold applied and must dry. (Contractors use a superior method with hot-applied materials that set as soon as they cool). The main issue in sealing cracks is that they MUST be clean, dry, and have no vegetation present prior to any sealing. Homeowners should always shop for a sealant containing the highest possible amount of rubber. The rubber allows the sealant to expand and contract with the pavement. Cheaper crack “fillers” are hard when cured and as the pavement moves they will separate from the asphalt, and allow moisture to penetrate again.

What about these ugly stains?

Be careful. One way to prevent stains is to sealcoat the pavement in the first place, but depending on the type of stain the cure can be more damaging than the illness. Be careful to read the label of any “driveway cleaning” product. Many contain solvents. ANY solvent will damage the asphalt pavement and should be avoided, even if the product says it’s for driveways. Often for oily stains the best approach is a biodegradable cleaner (like Simple Green or similar), if those are not readily available plain dishwashing soap will do. Mix a soapy water solution, apply to the stain and let stand for a few minutes, then get a good scrub brush and apply a liberal amount of “elbow grease” and rinse thoroughly. Take note if the scrub brush begins to loosen stones in the asphalt. If this happens, stop and rinse. That is an indication that whatever stained the drive has already weakened the asphalt and you could cause more damage trying to remove it. Contractors have a variety of products made for priming stains before applying sealcoating, however these may not be available to home owners and depending on the type of stain, sealcoating may not adhere to the stained areas. This is a situation where you might want to do a test area if you were sealing yourself to see if the sealer would adhere (apply according to directions, wait 2-3 days, then scuff at the sealer with your shoe or a stiff brush. If it loosens from the stain you may need professional help.

We hope this gives you some basic answers to the questions many people have. For further information on these individual subjects please consult our other articles.

We install and repair asphalt or blacktop for residential driaveways, business parking lots and athletic courts. In addition, we offer attractive and functional parking lot layout and striping.  PMCI has built it’s reputation on fair pricing, reliable service and a willingness to work closely to our customers to ensure that their paving projects are completed successfully.  By keeping our operation realitively small we can pass on our low overhead costs to our customers.

View the Infrared Repair Process

What Won’t Infrared Patching Do?

Infrared patching’s one limitation is that it will not fix a base problem. If an area of asphalt is deteriorating due to a weakened or insufficient base (the gravel underneath the asphalt) we can’t fix it with Infrared alone. The asphalt on top can be fixed, but the problem will likely return in the future if the root of the problem (the base in some cases) is not addressed. If you are concerned about what is causing a pavement problem, we’d be happy to look at it and let you know if Infrared would be an appropriate solution.

We will not only plow your snow, but we can completely remove it from the lot if desired. When it comes to larger areas of snow, you will certainly end up in the doctors office if you try to shovel, or even snow blow it all yourself. Leave it to the snow removal professionals to make your job easier!

Here is some helpful information about the snow plowing and removal process:

Plan ahead of time: Rather than waiting until the morning of a big storm, call ahead! As soon as the weather channel mentions snow, you should be planning for the snow’s removal. If you own a business, you do not want to miss any morning customers because of your snow filled parking lot. Apartment and condo complexes also do not want to gain a bad name with their tenants who are trying to get to work in the morning and instead are stuck in the snow. You do not want to make people wait for a parking lot to be plowed. Make your plans ahead of time and get that snow removed as soon as possible!

Benefits of professional snow removal: When snow removal is done properly, the snow around the area that is plowed should look impressively clean and properly edged. The look that you will get from a professional snow removal service is entirely different than what you will get from a shovel and a snow blower. You will also save yourself the time and energy of having to get rid of the snow on your own. If you hire those who are properly trained in snow removal, you will get a much more pleasing result, a faster result and much happier customers that use your snow free parking areas.

Setting up a snow removal plan: You should decide before the snow season starts how you are going to get rid of the snow in your parking lot. You will want to contact a reliable and well-trained professional snow plowing and removal company to help you. Once you have chosen a snow removal company, you will need to decide on a service. You can set up an on-going service where your snow remover will show up whenever it snows, or you can decide to call in on an as-needed basis. The price will range according to the snow removal service you choose.

Just remember, having a plan for your snow removal before it starts snowing, or even before the winter begins, will be a weight lifted off your shoulders. Your customers and tenants will thank you for their snow free parking lots, too!

Pavers are a natural way to bring beauty and texture to your home or commercial space. With a quality selection of shapes and colors, pavers can really help keep the value of any property.

Stamped Concrete is a very efficient way to produce a “real-feel” texture to your hardscape. We have a wide variety of sophisticated shapes and patterns that mimic stone down to every crack. We also create your hardscape with just the right color to better enhance the appeal of the pattern and their textures.

PMCI  provides top quality construction services for underground utilities, outside plant communications, environmental remediation, directional boring, and the sale of construction and landscaping materials.

Property Paving, Inc. purchases all of its’ sealers and protectants from “SealMaster”, a nationally recognized leader in the industry.