A quality driveway, outdoor patio, or parking lot can transform the look of your home or business, but, over time, weather changes will affect the condition of the surface. Extreme temperatures can cause asphalt to crack, wear out, and degrade, compromising its appearance and functionality. According to the professional paving contractors at Beausoleil & Sons in Cranston, RI, you can mitigate some of these issues by being proactive about how you take care of your pavement.

Here, they explain what you need to know about the weather and your paved surface:

• Heat: When asphalt is exposed to hot temperatures, the pavement expands. When it does this too much, fissures can form, causing cracks. Pavement that has cracked is much weaker than a surface that is intact and can suffer widespread damage under pressure, resulting in problems like potholes. Cracked pavement is also susceptible to water damage, since rain and snow wear away the sublayer, causing further degradation.
• Cold: There is a reason why winter is road construction season for paving contractors. As the temperature rises above freezing, cracks expand. When this happens, water fills the sublayer, and, when the temperatures drop again, it becomes ice, further widening the cracks. This leads to significant surface and structural damage.
• Precipitation: If you live in an area that gets lots of rain and snow, your surface will wear out faster. This is because rain can wash away the material used to bond the asphalt together. As a result, the pavement degrades, which leads to a loss of material, especially on sloped surfaces.

If your pavement is damaged, the best course of action is to hire a paving contractor to fix it right away. The residential and commercial experts at Beausoleil & Sons will assess your property to help you determine whether new pavement or repaving solutions are best for you. For more information, call (401) 632-0203 or visit them online.