Questions we get asked

It depends on square footage, how much old material has to come out, and how much grading the site needs. We give written estimates free and there is no obligation — call and we will come measure.

Most residential driveways are a single day from tear-out to final roll. Larger jobs and commercial lots run two to three days. We give you the timeline in writing with the estimate.

Stay off it for 24 to 72 hours depending on temperature, and keep it clear of sharp turns and parked trailers for the first few weeks while it cures. We tell you exactly when you can pull in before we leave.

Roughly late April through October, when temperatures stay above 50°F. Asphalt laid in the cold does not compact properly. We book the season up fast, so earlier calls get better dates.

Every two to three years for most driveways. New asphalt should cure a full season — usually six to twelve months — before the first coat. More often than that is wasted money.

Often, yes. If the base is still solid and the damage is surface cracking or a few bad spots, patching and sealcoating costs a fraction of a replacement. If the base has failed, patching just buys a year. We will tell you honestly which one you are looking at.

Freeze-thaw. Water gets into a hairline crack, freezes, expands about nine percent and levers the crack wider — then it thaws and does it again. We get dozens of those cycles a winter, so a crack you could have filled in autumn for very little is a pothole by April. The damage runs underneath long before you can see it on top, which is why filling and sealing early is the cheapest work you will ever have done on a driveway.

Twenty years or more if it went down on a proper base and gets sealed every two to three years — a driveway sees far lighter traffic than a commercial lot, so it has an easier life. Laid on a thin or badly drained base and never maintained, the same driveway can be cracking through in five to eight. What is underneath and what happens between sealcoats decides it, not the brand of asphalt.

Asphalt, for most Michigan driveways. It flexes as the ground heaves and settles through the winter, where concrete is rigid and cracks at the joints once the ground moves under it. It also costs less to install, goes down in a day rather than a week, and can be patched or resurfaced almost invisibly — a cracked concrete slab generally has to come out. Concrete has the edge on very long life in a mild climate and under constant heavy standing loads, which is not what a driveway here is dealing with.

Waiting. Almost everything that goes wrong with asphalt starts as water getting somewhere it should not, and every season you leave it the repair moves up a bracket — crack filling becomes patching, patching becomes a section rebuild, a section rebuild becomes the whole driveway. The work is cheap while the problem is still on the surface.

Ask what they are doing to the base and get the answer in writing — grading, compaction and thickness are where a driveway is won or lost, and they are also the easiest places to quietly save money. Ask for a certificate of insurance, ask to see finished jobs nearby rather than a gallery of photos from anywhere, and be careful with anyone knocking on the door offering a deal on leftover material from another job. Asphalt is ordered hot for a specific job — nobody has a spare driveway in the truck.

Yes — licensed and fully insured, and we provide a certificate of insurance for commercial work on request.

Cash, check and major cards.