By admin Asphalt Driveway • • • 0 Comments

Why You Should See Your Concrete Driveway as the Investment it Really Is

When people think about making investments to their home that will ultimately improve the resale value, their mind usually goes directly for a few specific types of projects.

Naturally, you’ll want to make sure areas like the kitchen and bathroom are updated with modern designs and fixtures. You’ll also want to pay attention to critical systems like the roof or HVAC. But one area that most people don’t consider is also among the most crucial: the driveway.

That’s right – having a concrete driveway installed is absolutely an investment, and it should be treated as such. This is true for a number of different reasons, all of which are worth a closer look.

The Longevity Factor

For most people, the number one reason why a concrete driveway should be seen as an investment has to do with just how long-lasting it truly is. Concrete is an inherently durable material, which is why it is used so much throughout our daily lives.

The key takeaway is that so long as it is properly maintained, that driveway could last three or more decades without showing any obvious signs of distress. This means that you make sure that water needs to drain away from the driveway and not onto it whenever possible, for example. You’ll also want to take care to clean up any spills or stains as soon after they develop as possible.

Concrete is adept at standing up to the heaviest cars and trucks out there – which is great for the resale value of a home or even a commercial property.

No Fuss, No Muss

Along the same lines, concrete is also known for being notoriously easy to maintain. This is true to the point where most people go for years without thinking too much about their driveway at all.

If you were working with a material like asphalt, for example, you’d need to reseal it once a year or so. This is especially true if you live in an area of the country that gets all four seasons. You can get away with skipping a year, but if you do it too much you’ll be dealing with major issues after just five years.

With concrete, you should always seal it for maximum longevity, but beyond that, you don’t have to worry about much at all. Even cleaning concrete is comparatively simple. In most situations all you need is a broom, and the occasional session with the pressure washer will get up anything particularly “tough” from the surface.

Because of benefits like those outlined above, not only will you likely be able to sell a home faster with a concrete driveway, but you’ll likely command a higher asking price, too. This is because prospective buyers know that they don’t have to pull out an asphalt driveway (or worse, gravel) and replace it with a concrete one of their own.

In the end, your concrete driveway is absolutely an investment – and it’s one that deserves to be protected. Whether you’re not even thinking of selling your home or are preparing for a big move, it’s an element that you need to be proactive about taking care of. Concrete is a big part of the curb appeal of any space and if you do put a little work in now, it represents effort that will continue to pay dividends for years to come.

If you’d like to find out more information about why your concrete driveway is an investment in every sense of the term, or if you’d just like to discuss your own needs with a team of professionals in a bit more detail, please don’t delay – contact us today.

By admin Asphalt Driveway • • • 0 Comments

How to Maintain Your Home’s Concrete Driveway

Concrete driveways are aesthetic, durable, and add value to the home. Even so, they’ll need occasional care and maintenance to prolong their lifespan. As a homeowner, there are some simple yet very effective things you can do to keep your driveway in good shape long-term.

Regular Cleaning and Maintenance

Sweep the driveway regularly. Doing so removes dust, debris, and small pebbles that could damage the concrete over time. It’s also a good idea to keep the grass near the driveway cut short. If weeds are allowed to grow too close to the driveway, their roots could cause damage. Furthermore, as you mow and sweep, be on the lookout for small cracks. These will get worse if not fixed right away. A cement-based product with polymer modifiers is ideal for small surface cracks while a sealant is best for large cracks.

Chemical Removal and Power Washing

Chemicals can wreak havoc on your concrete driveway. Avoid using de-salting and de-icing products in the winter as they can cause deep cracks in your concrete driveway. If oil or gas spills onto the driveway, clean it up immediately. In some cases, a garden hose might be sufficient. On the other hand, if grime has built up on your driveway over time, you may need to power wash the driveway to remove unwanted substances. Experts recommend power-washing the driveway no more than once a year because a powerful power washer can damage weak areas.

Resealing and Refinishing

Resealing the driveway at least once every three years is a must. In fact, you may want to reseal the driveway every year if you live in an area that gets a lot of rain. Water wears down the calcium hydroxide in the concrete, creating small holes called pores. These pores allow chemicals and other harmful substances to cause structural damage that can be difficult if not impossible to reverse. Painting the driveway is not a substitute for resealing it, because paint only covers the very top layer of concrete. It doesn’t hold up in inclement weather and will likely fade in a year or two. If you want to change your driveway’s appearance or give it a touch of color or style, have a professional concrete company resurface the driveway and request that coloring be added to the overlay coating to improve your home’s curb appeal.

A well-maintained concrete driveway can last for up to thirty years. While it takes time to keep a driveway clean and in good condition, the end result is more than worth the effort as you’ll have a beautiful, reliable driveway that will serve you well in all types of weather. At the same time, you don’t need to go it alone. If you’re too busy to repair cracks, or you suspect that your driveway may need to be refinished or even replaced, Superior Aggregates Inc. is here to meet your needs. We offer residential concrete driveway installation and crack repair to home and business owners in and around the Lafayette, CO area. Our team not only takes pride in using the best tools and materials but also offers custom advice to help you keep your concrete driveway in tip-top shape long-term.

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What are the Advantages and Disadvantages of a Concrete Home Driveway?

Would you like a home driveway that adds value to your property, only requires minimal maintenance, and can last for up to 50 years? If so, a concrete driveway may be exactly what you need. Concrete is a popular material choice for homeowners redoing their driveways. However, it’s important to know the pros and cons of using this material in order to make an informed decision.

What are the Advantages of a Concrete Driveway?

Concrete significantly boosts your home’s curb appeal. Its clean, sleek appearance is ideal for any modern, contemporary, transitional, or even colonial home. At the same time, concrete companies can add some flair to a concrete driveway in a number of ways. You can have it stamped, stenciled, colored, or engraved. You can add decorative edging or even cut patterns into the concrete. Additionally, concrete is strong enough to handle any load. If you use High Early strengthened concrete, it will harden right away, which means you’ll be able to use your driveway in less than a day after the concrete has been poured.

Concrete can also hold up well in inclement weather. It releases heat slowly, which means your driveway won’t heat up during the hot summer months. Concrete can also handle cold winter weather. Ice and road salts won’t damage it if you seal the driveway in the fall. You only need to seal the driveway once a year.

Keeping your concrete driveway looking good isn’t a problem. Dirt and debris won’t damage the driveway but an occasional scrub with an old, stiff broom and a hose will improve its appearance.

What are the Disadvantages of a Concrete Driveway?

Concrete, like all other material options, has a few disadvantages. Perhaps the biggest drawback is the price. It’s a great long-term investment if you own a home that’s in a mid-to-high price range, as a concrete driveway can boost your home’s value by up to 10%. However, the initial price tag can put a concrete driveway out of reach for many homeowners.

Another problem with concrete driveways is that oil and fluid from leaky vehicles can stain the concrete. You can remove these stains with the right tools, but it’s not easy to do so. Furthermore, you’ll need to make sure the company putting in your new concrete driveway has a reputation for doing the job right. If the sub-base isn’t right or the concrete is low quality, your driveway may crack over time. Cracks in a concrete driveway can only be fixed by replacing the entire section of the driveway.

Superior Aggregates Inc. specializes in concrete driveways for homes and businesses. We serve the Broomfield, Longmont, and Boulder, CO areas, offering top-tier work at the best possible price. Our close attention to detail ensures the job will meet or even exceed your expectations. All projects use Colorado DoT-specified concrete mix. We pay close attention to your safety to prevent damage during the work process, and we immediately remove debris from the worksite as soon as we’re done. If you are interested in a concrete driving that looks good and can hold up to extensive wear and tear, get in touch with us to learn more about our services or to schedule an anointment for a free estimate.

By admin Asphalt Driveway • • 0 Comments

How to Patch Driveway Asphalt: 5 DIY Important Tips

Despite the fact that asphalt is a naturally rugged, long-lasting material, there will still come a day when your driveway begins to show its age. Given the conditions that most driveways find themselves under constantly, this should come as no surprise.

The good news is that this doesn’t mean you’re due for a total replacement – at least not yet. Patching and other forms of asphalt maintenance are very possible to do successfully on your own – you simply need to keep a few key things in mind to make sure the project goes properly.

Begin With an Inspection

By far, the most important thing to understand about DIY asphalt repair has to do with how you should always conduct a thorough inspection of your driveway or parking lot at the outset. This will help you put together a concrete (no pun intended) game plan moving forward.

Case in point: the size of the track. If the cracks that you’re dealing with are 0.5 inches in width or less, you can simply use crack filler and a caulking gun. If they are bigger than that, you’ll need to use something more extensive, like gravel. But you won’t know unless you examine the area first.

The Importance of Asphalt Maintenance Products

Next, you’ll want to make sure that you’re using the right asphalt maintenance products to begin with. Failure to do so could doom your project before it even has a chance to start.

You should make it a habit to visually inspect your driveway a few times a year, for example, and use crack filler as necessary. There may be long periods of time where you don’t have to, but it’s always best to check. At the very least, this allows you to stop a small problem now before it has a chance to become a much bigger one later on.

The Art of Proper Surface Preparation

It’s equally important to understand that you cannot simply “jump right in” to your DIY asphalt repair project. Proper surface preparation is one of the keys to success.

First, you’ll want to make sure that the entire area you’re working with is clean. You should also take care to remove any asphalt that has become loose. Note that this is true even if it requires you to make a slightly bigger hole in order to do so.

Make Sure Your Equipment is Ready

Finally, make sure that you have all the appropriate equipment ready before you start. This will make sure that you can fluidly move from one part of the process to the other without delay.

In addition to the tools outlined above, you’ll also need a tamping tool. You’ll use it two times – once immediately after the holes and/or cracks have been filled, and again when you’ve gone through the finishing process. This will help eliminate any air holes that may be present.

Contact the Professionals

Finally, while DIY asphalt repair is absolutely possible, you also need to understand that some situations may require you to call in professional asphalt companies to make sure everything gets done properly.

If you feel like the process is too big or too complicated to handle on your own, get recommendations from friends or family members that have worked with asphalt companies in the past. At the very least, you’ll likely save money over making mistakes and you’ll also likely end up saving a significant amount of time, too.

If you’d like to find out more information about DIY asphalt repair and what you should watch out for, or if you’d just like to talk about the specifics of your next big project with someone in a bit more detail, please don’t delay – contact us today.

By admin Asphalt Driveway • Snow Removal • • • • 0 Comments

How And When to Salt Driveway or Pavement Surfaces | Snow Removal Pros

Winter is upon us once again, which can only mean one thing – much of the country will soon be bombarded by a plethora of winter storms, if that isn’t already the case.

If you live in a part of the country that experiences all four seasons, you’re no doubt familiar with the trucks that drive around neighborhoods that salt the roadways to keep things safe. Of course, this demands the question – when should you salt your driveway or pavement surfaces, and how do you best go about accomplishing that goal? The answers to questions like those require you to keep a few key things in mind.

Show Removal Basics: Breaking Things Down

One of the most important things to understand about this process in general is that you’ll need to take a very proactive approach when it comes to snow removal.

That is to say, you shouldn’t wait for the snow to fall before you begin taking care of the situation. In a best case scenario, you should put salt down on places like your driveway asphalt and other surfaces prior to the beginning of the storm. Spread salt evenly across your surfaces to make sure that you have equal protection moving forward.

Even if a storm cropped up unexpectedly and snow is already on the ground, don’t worry – you can still put salt down. Yes, it’s true that the poor weather will likely make it more difficult to do so. But especially as the storm drags on, this is very much one of those situations where doing something is better than doing nothing at all.

Especially if you’re dealing with asphalt surfaces, you should be judicious about where you put down salt. While it’s true that products like rock salt can cause long-term damage to concrete, they aren’t nearly as hard on the asphalt itself. This is because asphalt is less porous than concrete is. Because of that, it will hold up better to the application of salt over the long-term. This is also part of the reason why, if you’re thinking about having something like your driveway redone, and you live in an area of the country that experiences significant winter storms, asphalt would certainly be an option that you would want to consider.

Beyond that, knowing how and when to salt your driveway or pavement surfaces requires you to come to a better understanding of how salt actually works in this context. Most of the products that you’re likely to find in a local hardware or home improvement store work by lowering the freezing point of water. This makes it more difficult for ice to form over longer periods of time. This is also a big part of the reason why it’s so important to put salt down prior to any upcoming winter weather – you’re not trying to solve a problem, you’re trying to prevent one from happening at all.

If you are dealing with concrete surfaces, there are other environmentally friendly products that you can consider. They’re less harsh on the concrete than rock salt, although you may not see the results quite as quickly. Likewise, you may have to put more of the product down on the ground than you would with rock salt – although when you consider that you’re preventing damage to your surfaces, that may be worth what many perceive to be a minor inconvenience.

If you’d like to find out more information about how and when to salt driveway or pavement surfaces on or around your property, or if you’d just like to speak to experts at local concrete companies in a bit more detail, please don’t delay – contact us today.