A crumbling driveway is a major issue for homeowners in Lakewood, WA. Tackling an asphalt project around your Lakewood property can feel difficult, especially with our local damp winters and shifting clay soils. Homeowners need to know what they can realistically handle themselves and when they definitely need to bring in heavy equipment and a professional crew.
The Pre-Property Phase: Planning and Permitting
Before a single shovel hits the dirt, homeowners have preparation work to complete. If you are near American Lake or dealing with local sloped terrain, water drainage is your biggest hurdle. You need to figure out where stormwater goes so it does not pool against your foundation.
- Clearing surface debris, branches, and old vegetation around the edges of the work zone.
- Marking underground utility lines by calling 811 before any digging starts.
- Checking local Pierce County codes if you are expanding your driveway footprint.
Layout design and property line checks are things you can do on a Saturday with a tape measure. But figuring out the sub-base load requirements for heavy vehicles is where Apex Asphalt Solutions steps in to help.
During the Paving Process: DIY vs. Pro Execution
When project day arrives, things move fast. Hot-mix asphalt does not wait around for anyone; it arrives hot and needs to be rolled and compacted before it cools down. Here is where the line between homeowner tasks and professional contracting becomes crystal clear.
You can handle the prep work like pulling up old edging blocks or clearing out loose dirt from shallow surface depressions. What you cannot do yourself is lay down structural hot mix without a commercial paving machine and a multi-ton roller. At Apex Asphalt Solutions, we see people try to patch large sections with bagged cold-mix from the hardware store, only to watch it break apart under the first heavy rainstorm because the subgrade was not graded or compacted correctly.
After the Pave: Curing and Upkeep
Once the paving machine leaves, your job is not quite finished. Fresh asphalt takes time to fully cure, sometimes up to several weeks depending on the temperature. Keep heavy delivery trucks and sharp RV stabilizers off the new surface during those first critical weeks. You can help the pavement settle by gently hosing it down on hot afternoons to keep the surface cool, and sweeping away organic debris from nearby trees.
If you keep up with small maintenance tasks like weeding the edges and filling hairline cracks early, your new surface will easily ride out the local weather. When bigger structural issues pop up, Apex Asphalt Solutions is here for all your Asphalt Contractor needs in Lakewood.