When you install a parking or driveway area on your property, it provides you with convenience and protects your vehicles for years and also boosts the value of your home. However, you don't want your pavement losing value from neglect and weather-related damage, but instead, you need to put in some important effort to keep its value up. Here are some recommendations for you to keep your yard's paved areas smooth, in good repair, and maintained to last you many years to provide a solid driving and parking surface.

Keep an Eye on Your Gravel

Even if you have not upgraded your gravel parking area to a solid paved surface yet, your gravel parking can still provide you with a reliable parking area. Gravel, when compacted and installed properly, can last for years. Just be sure to keep its condition in check. It is necessary to smooth areas of the gravel with a gravel rake to fill in divots and smooth out bumps in the gravel layer. You might find it handy to complete this each week when you mow your lawn, for example. Neglecting this task can allow your gravel to move beyond your gravel parking area and leave the parking bare of its compacted layers. Also, be sure to supplement your gravel with a new supply of gravel regularly as soil works its way up through the area.

Patch Up Asphalt Damage

An asphalt driveway or parking area on your property is a durable and solid surface that can last for years, but you need to keep it repaired. As soon as cracks begin to form and spread in your asphalt's surface, this damage will continue unrestrained until your pavement has formed potholes and crumbling materials. As soon as cracks form, patch and fill them with an asphalt filler to prevent their worsening. As moisture gets into asphalt cracks, it causes them to worsen, especially in winter when the moisture freezes and expands widening them more aggressively. Call in a professional asphalt company to repair surface pattern cracking or extensive damage, as this can be a sign of an underlying problem. 

Seal the Surface of Aging Asphalt

When the surface of your asphalt begins to dry out and turn gray, as it will after being exposed to the sun's harmful radiation for several years, you should look into having it seal-coated to protect its integrity. This drying out of your asphalt is oxidation, which breaks down the binders in your asphalt, weakening it and eventually leading to asphalt deterioration. But a seal coating team can restore its condition and appearance.

For more information, contact an asphalt paving company.