When resurfacing is the right call
Resurfacing puts a new layer of asphalt on top of the old one. It works when the trouble is on the surface: the driveway has gone gray and rough, it is crossed with cracks, small stones are coming loose, but it is not sinking, rutting or breaking into chunks. Underneath, the base is still doing its job. In that case there is no need to pay for tear-out and a new base; a new top layer gives you a fresh driveway for a good deal less. If parts of the driveway have dropped or turned soft, those parts need to be cut out and rebuilt first, and if most of it has, a new driveway is the better money.
How an asphalt overlay goes down
- Repair the weak spots. Any soft or sunken areas are cut out, the base is rebuilt and patched, so the overlay sits on solid ground everywhere.
- Grind the edges. Where the driveway meets the garage slab, a sidewalk or the street, we grind a strip of the old asphalt down so the new layer ends flush instead of leaving a lip.
- Clean and seal cracks. The surface is cleaned and wider cracks are filled so they do not show through quickly.
- Tack coat. A thin layer of liquid asphalt goes down to glue the new layer to the old one.
- Lay and roll. About an inch and a half to two inches of hot-mix is spread and compacted.
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Asphalt resurfacing and the height problem
Every overlay raises the driveway. Two inches does not sound like much until the garage door no longer seals at the bottom, rainwater runs toward the house instead of away, or the new edge sits proud of the sidewalk and catches mower wheels. Grinding the transitions solves most of this, and on flat Baton Rouge lots we check the fall again so the overlay still sheds water. Driveways that have already been overlaid once or twice may be too high to take another, and then the old layers have to come off.
Overlay or full replacement
An overlay costs less than a full replacement because the old pavement stays as part of the structure. It only lasts as long as the base under it, though, and existing cracks can slowly reflect up through the new surface. We will tell you which way we would go on your driveway and why, and price both if it is close. The asphalt driveway cost guide shows the line items side by side, and asphalt repair covers the patch work that often comes first.