Asphalt Driveway Installation in North Richland Hills, TX

Asphalt driveway installation is three jobs stacked on top of each other: preparing the ground, building a compacted stone base, and laying and rolling the asphalt. The asphalt is what you see, but most driveway failures in North Richland Hills begin in the first two layers. A driveway that cracks along its edges, sinks near the garage or develops a web of cracks in the tire tracks usually has a base that was too thin, too soft or too wet.

Replacing an older driveway

North Richland Hills grew from 8,662 residents in 1960 to 45,895 in 1990, and many driveways from those decades are on their original base. Signs it is time to replace rather than resurface:

• Alligator cracking over large areas
• Sunken spots or ruts in the tire paths
• Broken edges along the lawn
• Repeated potholes in the same places
• A surface raised by past overlays until it sits above the garage slab

When the base is still firm and the damage is on top, resurfacing is often the better buy, and we will tell you so.

Matching the base to the ground

The ground across the mid-cities ranges from sandy soils to clay that swells when wet. Sandy ground drains well but shifts if the edges are not supported; clay holds water and loses strength. We excavate, look at what is there, remove soft or organic material, and build back with compacted crushed stone. A common residential figure is 6 to 8 inches of base under 2 to 3 inches of asphalt, deeper for trucks, trailers and RVs.

Edges, garage and street

We compact the base out past the edge of the new asphalt and taper the edge so tires do not snap it off. At the garage we set the asphalt just below the slab so water does not run inside, and at the street we tie into the existing apron cleanly. If the project changes the curb cut or the approach, we confirm with the city what it requires before scheduling.

Where the water goes

The city treats drainage on private lots as the owner's responsibility and warns against concentrating runoff onto a neighbor. We set the slope to carry water to the street or an existing outlet and look at where downspouts empty, so the new driveway does not create a problem next door.

Paving day

The paver lays hot-mix at an even depth, and the roller compacts it while it is still hot. In summer we start early. Keep cars off for a few days and heavier vehicles longer, avoid turning the wheels in place during the first hot season, and plan the first sealcoat 3 to 6 months later.