January and February are usually the months when Maryland is most likely to catch some snow or ice. It can be a happy occasion for some, and a nuisance to others. Whichever side you fall on, you definitely don’t want to fall on your behind on a slippery asphalt driveway. Here’s how to prepare asphalt driveways for ice.

Asphalt Driveway Winter Maintenance

Repairs

Unless you are right on the heels of a snowstorm, you might have time for someasphalt repairs before it hits. Ideally, your asphalt driveway should be in its best condition before winter hits. The better off your driveway is, the longer it will last, thelower your costs will be, and the better your curb appeal will look.

General repairs include filling small cracks in the driveway. If the surface is worn out overall, professional resurfacing will preserve the base and make it look as good as new.

Sealcoating

Sealcoating is a great way to preserve your asphalt driveway. You only need to sealcoat your driveway once every few yearsafter it cures, which could take up to a year after its installation. The asphalt might harden enough for use after a couple of days or less, but it will take longer for it to fully harden and gain its full strength.

Preparing Asphalt Driveways for Ice and Snow

How Deicers Work

Deicers do not melt snow. Instead, they lower the freezing point of the water that comes into contact with them. This explanation is the shortest and simplest one you can get. Other products do neither, but add friction underfoot that combats the slipperiness of ice.

Choosing a Deicer

Popular options include road salt, calcium chloride, potassium chloride, and magnesium chloride. Salt should not be hazardous to your sealed asphalt driveway despite online concerns that it will cause unsightly damage. Other products that just add grit would be sand, wood ash, non-clumping kitty litter, and coffee grounds.

Receive Asphalt Paving Services with Tri-State Paving

Call Tri-State Paving. We’re a seasoned asphalt pavement company based in Maryland and have the experience and knowledge to help you with asphalt, concrete, and hardscaping projects.

We refuse to sell hot air to our customers and that’s why we have been around for over 4 decades. We listen, inform, educate then decide what is best for our customers project and budget. If any problems arise during construction we keep our customers updated and respond to make the imperfect perfect.

Our area numbers are:

West Chester: 610.563.9456

Oxford: 610.932.3566

Delaware: 302.757.4100

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Tags: asphalt winter care, deicers, prevent icy driveway

This entry was posted on Thursday, January 2nd, 2025 at 11:02 pm and is filed under Asphalt Paving. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.