When You Have Asphalt Resurfaced, Do You Need To Install New Borders?

Asphalt resurfacing is an easy way to repair the surface of a driveway while also transforming an older asphalt layer into something that looks a lot fresher. But if your current driveway has border materials along each edge, you may have more work on your hands. A number of issues require at least the temporary removal of the border material in order to complete the resurfacing properly.

The New Surface May Be Taller Than the Old Borders

Resurfacing asphalt can raise the top of the driveway by an inch or two, making the old borders too short to really help protect the edges of the new asphalt. You'd have to either install new, taller borders or create a new base for the old borders and reinstall them so that they sit higher up than they did before. Either way, you'll have to do some work on the borders once the resurfacing is done. If you don't, then the driveway edges will look rather strange, and the border materials may not even be visible in some sections to people passing by the driveway. The shorter borders also create a bit of a trip hazard as the driveway and adjacent ground are at very different heights. It's really best to assume you'll have to install new borders once the resurfacing is done.

The New Surface Edges Will Need Support

When asphalt is poured, either for a new driveway or resurfacing, the edges of the driveway have to be shaped into an angle that slopes down toward the soil. The actual angle value varies a bit from paving company to paving company. This spread helps support the asphalt when a heavy vehicle is parked on it. Edging material can provide the same type of support, and you'll have to cut the sloped edges on the asphalt so that the edging (such as a paver) is right next to and touching the asphalt. So, if your current driveway has pavers along the sides, for example, resurfacing the driveway would require either sloping the sides of the resurfaced layer into an angle that rests on top of the pavers, or redoing the pavers so that they were right up against the taller asphalt all the way to the top of the layer. That would most likely require installing taller pavers.

The Old Borders May Have to Be Removed During the Resurfacing Project Anyway

Unless you want to risk having asphalt splatters dry on the border materials, you may have to remove the border anyway just to get the resurfacing done neatly. And if you're going to remove them anyway, you should look carefully at replacing them. If the border materials have been there a long time, they may have damage, too. In that case, you could do a lot worse than just replace them with new, more appropriate border materials.

For more information on resurfacing, contact a professional near you.

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