The Importance of Proper Drainage in Residential Asphalt

Water is vital in many ways; it's extremely persistent, and it can harm roads, sidewalks, and even buildings. Asphalt pavement must be properly drained.

Homeowners typically find out in the first few years of their home's occupancy whether they have an issue with drainage. This is due to seasonality - rainy months and dry months, snow and ice vs. hot summer sun - play differently on the surface of your sidewalks, driveways, and landscape as well as the foundation of your home.

At the beginning of the year, should there be any issue, you'll see it. The lawn with low spots can be muddy and difficult to keep. Poor spots on sidewalks or driveways do not just cause inconveniences but also can get worse faster than in other locations. If you are driving across the valley of an old viaduct, take note of how the surface, even if it's not brand new, is prone to cracks and potholes. This is due to the fact that standing water weakens the base layer of asphalt, leading to rapid degradation.

In residential areas with paved surfaces, the pooling of water following heavy rainfall is usually due to poor planning, construction, or perhaps a settlement of the soil beneath (which should have been taken into consideration as a possibility by an asphalt company in their initial plan). The reality is that water always requires an area to move, and if a paved surface is not permeable or well sloped, it could persist and cause problems.

That means you can make an appropriate drainage area from the asphalt surfaces of your home using one of two ways either let it soak in or redirect the water elsewhere:

Soak it in: Although water is often viewed as a threat to get eliminated, it can be beneficial to trees and other plants in your yard to let it soak into permeable pavers as well as a driveway made of gravel. However, it is important to note that even though gravel can be the ideal look for landscaping, there is also a list of maintenance issues. It must be set on soil or a permeable base of brick that has a central crown "spine" that drains properly. Additionally, if the driveway runs flush with the foundation of the building, it can create more issues for the home than it resolves.

For those with more hilly terrain, like where the house is situated below the street level, it becomes complex. Permeable pavers can do quite a bit, but the slot drain (a kind of trench, typically with a steel or steel grate to prevent debris from entering) can also be utilized.

Environmentalists are in favor of investigating the soak-in option as a way to limit floods that affect the entire community (which could cause sewer water to enter streams and lakes) instead of redirecting the rainwater to the earth's natural aquifer. One method includes creating the possibility of a gravity-driven route (via trench drains, dry creeks, and French drainages) away from pavement and structures towards bioswales and rain gardens.

Drain Other Place: A most common method is to flush off the water from structures and away from the property completely. It's as easy as repaving to ensure that your center crown has been well planned and constructed. To ensure that runoff from the water also drains away from the building, it could be necessary to construct trench drains, dry creeks, or French drains to direct the water to the sewers of the municipal system.

In any case, the goal is to get the water to work to your advantage instead of working against your property and you. This is what the asphalt contractors were built to do.