Driveways as they age will eventually become more succeptable to cracking, the most important thing you can do in maintaining your pavement is to have those areas properly cleaned and cracksealed. Here is

The following are the five main types of asphalt cracks you may have on your driveway: 

Transverse Cracking

Cracks that occur perpendicular to the direction of your driveway. Transverse cracks generally are caused by changes in temperature and asphalt shrinkage at low temperatures. This type of crack can be effectively crack sealed.

Block cracking

Block cracking begins as the asphalt in driveway ages.The asphalt hardens over time becoming more brittle. As the base material shifts or settles cracks develop.  This type of crack can be effectively crack sealed.    

Fatigue cracking

Fatigue cracking, or “gatoring” as it’s called because the surface resembles the scaled back of an alligator, is usually due to problems in the base material in the driveway.  It is usually considered to be failed asphalt and cracksealing is not repairing as much as delaying the replacement or repaving of that area.

Edge cracking

Edge cracks are parallel cracks running along the edges of the driveway, and are usually caused by erosion of the base material at the shoulders of the drive.  Cracksealing is more of a temporary solution for edge cracks and generally cannot be a long term repair for  this type of crack since the problem stems from lack of material to support to the edge itself.

Spider cracking 

Spider cracking are small surface cracks in the surface of your driveway, usually results from too much sealer being applied.  If a driveway is too coated too thick, or too often. Spider cracks can develop in the sealer itself. These are surface cracks in the sealer and are do to the asphalt settling over time.   It is better to avoid this situation alltogher by only applying thin coats of sealer and letting the sealer wear before reapplication.

Types of Crack Sealers

Cold pour sealants

Cold pour sealants are those that do not require any heating. Cold pour sealers are usually made from acrylic compounds or emulsified asphalt, and come in tubes and sometimes plastic pails. We have tried many different cold pour sealers in the past as they are much easier to apply and less equipment is needed in the application process. We no longer use them.  We have found that all the cold pour sealants do not have the temperature range needed to maintain a water tight seal throughout a winter in New England.

Hot pour sealants

Hot rubber sealants must be heated in preparation for application. .The characteristics of the rubber are measured by the elongation point and its flexibility to shift at low temperatures.  The hot pour sealant is heated to a temperature of at least 350 degrees Fahrenheit in a melter using a heat transfer oil.  Once at the proper temperature the oil is then applied to the pavement surface either pumped by a applicator hose with a wand, or by using a pour pot. We use both application metheods as they each have their own benefits.

Our proceedure for cracksealing driveways

The proceedure for cracksealing is similar to sealing, (usually it is better to seal and crackseal at the same time) 

First and most important is to thouroughly clean and prep the driveway surface.

1. Use steel bristle brooms and back-pack blowers to get the dust out of all the pores in asphalt in the areas to be sealed.
2. Remove all grass, sand and debris from all the cracks. Clean all cracks down to at least one half the width of the crack.
3. Remove any mulch, dirt or other material near the edges of the driveway and thoroughly those scrub areas.

Crackseal all cracks in the driveway and the road seam.

1. Now that the pavement and the cracks are clean,  use a hot rubber pour cracksealant to repair  those areas.
2. Use a  cracksealant melter/applicator.  Heat the material up to between 350 to 375 degrees Farenheit.
3. Pump the melted rubber into the crack, the force of the pump helps the rubber get more material inside the crack and provide a better seal.
4. Apply a coating of black silica sand to all cracksealed areas.  This step provides a barrier between the rubber and your vehicles tires, since the rubber can still be somewhat some and tacky after it cools.
5. Block off driveway for ten to fifteen minutes to allow the rubber to cool and then open up for use.