Your driveway is the first aspect of your home that visitors will notice. A poorly-maintained driveway will give a negative impression. It also affects your property’s curb appeal and has the potential of decreasing your home’s value. It can turn away potential buyers. A poorly constructed and maintained driveway is unfriendly for tires. A well-constructed driveway is necessary for your safety as well. Poorly laid asphalt can lead to accidents and injuries and incur lawsuits. Your vehicles won’t fare well either. You can expect damages and costly repairs in the future.
Most residential and commercial driveways are surfaced with concrete or asphalt. Although both are good materials, asphalt holds more benefits. If you are planning to refinish an existing driveway or build a new one, you’re probably wondering which material is better-bitumen or asphalt?
Both bitumen and asphalt driveways provide a beautiful and robust driveway. Asphalt has always held a reputation for offering solid performance when used in parking lots, driveways, highways, and local roads.
What are Bitumen and Asphalt?
Asphalt is a popular product used in constructing and maintaining ports, parking lots, roads, sports areas, airport runways, and many other types of construction. Asphalt is created using various aggregates such as gravel, sand, filler, and binders. The binder, as suggested by its name, pulls all the aggregate together to create a uniform mixture.
Bitumen is the most commonly used binder with asphalt. Although many people use the words ‘bitumen’ and ‘asphalt’ interchangeably, they are different products. Bitumen is a liquid material. It keeps the asphalt together. It is sprayed on the aggregate materials to seal the asphalt. To get a two-coat seal, an additional layer of aggregate is applied.
Bitumen is a product produced from petroleum. It is a dense and strong adhesive that is oil and water-resistant. It is the best sealer for use with asphalt.
6 Benefits of Using Bitumen on Asphalt Driveways
There are several reasons why bitumen is used to build asphalt driveways.
1. Fast Installation and Usability.
When laying an asphalt driveway with bitumen, it is quick to lay and use. Asphalt driveways are laid within two days, depending on the length of the driveway. Laying a concrete driveway takes twice the amount of time to lay and longer to dry and set. Depending on what season it is, an asphalt driveway is ready for use within two days after laying. You will have to wait for a week before you can use a concrete driveway.
2. Better Driveway Durability.
Compared to concrete, asphalt is not vulnerable to surface flaking that arises from incorrect mixture preparations, poor installation, and application of salt to melt snow and ice. Sometimes called ‘spalling’, surface flaking is a continuous issue with concrete driveways, especially if the driveway was installed hastily. Asphalt is far more flexible. It is less likely to develop pavement cracks with time.
3. Improves Curb Appeal.
Stop and think about the highways and byways you see in movies, commercials, and professional photographs. Remember how perfectly smooth they look? This is because most of them are built from asphalt. Asphalt is an attractive material. It is an excellent way to improve the visual appeal of your property. After laying and drying, asphalt has a seamless and smooth appearance. A neatly laid driveway will instantly increase the resale value of your home. It is a favourite among commercial property owners.
4. Asphalt Has Lower Maintenance Costs.
If it has been some time since your asphalt driveway was laid, you might see lineal cracking. Rest assured, these are easy and inexpensive to repair. You will need crack sealant products to make the repairs. These are easily available at home improvement stores. You may apply these on your own, even if you lack paving expertise!
Apart from low repair costs, it’s easy to keep up with asphalt preventative maintenance. This involves seal coating, crack filling, sweeping, and upkeep. Doing this regularly extends the lifespan of the asphalt driveway by nearly two decades. By contrast, concrete is harder to maintain.
5. Asphalt is Environmentally-Friendly.
Did you know that asphalt can be 100% recycled? When you see road crews scraping up the pavement, they often recycle and reuse tons of asphalt pavement every year. In addition, less energy is required to construct and create asphalt compared to other pavement materials. Old shingles and tires made from asphalt are often repurposed into new pavement materials. This prevents the landfills from filling up. You don’t have to take additional natural resources to make asphalt because you’re reusing existing asphalt. Using this material preserves our natural resources.
6. Asphalt is Budget-Friendly.
This smooth and shiny pavement is easy on the eyes and budget. Asphalt costs less compared to concrete and other materials. Cost-saving measures are vital if you have a large project going on. As you would expect, the labour costs will be low as well because building with asphalt uses less time, effort, and materials. With concrete, you need a smaller staff team to complete the project.
Bitumen is a vital binder that gives asphalt its many advantages.
With Bitumen Driveway Paving, it’s Easy to Request a Free Estimate!
Do you have any questions about the advantages and benefits of using bitumen in asphalt paving? Are you interested in a free paving estimate? For Bitumen Driveways Brisbane, Please get in touch with our company today. Our friendly staff will help you choose the best materials for your project.