FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Maintenance & Longevity
Answer: There are several factors that influence how long a driveway or private road will last. The most important factors are the base, installation quality, traffic loads, and—for asphalt—proper ongoing maintenance.
Answer: Asphalt requires proper edge support, periodic crack sealing, cleaning and sealcoating of the surface.
Tar & chip requires no routine maintenance.
(See Do’s and Dont’s for details)
Answer: Under typical use conditions, asphalt pavement lasts around 20 years, while tar & chip surfaces last approximately 10 years.
Answer: Yes. Properly backfilling asphalt edges is absolutely critical and serves two essential purposes: edge support and improved drainage.
(See Do’s and Dont’s for details)
Answer: New asphalt should be sealed using a petroleum-based fog seal (also known as a construction seal) within the first year of installation, and ideally immediately on the day it is installed and every 3-4 years thereafter to maintain it.
If we seal your new asphalt on the day it is installed, we double our standard one-year structural warranty to two years.
(See Do’s and Dont’s for details)
Tar & chip does not require sealcoating because it is sealed during installation.
Unlike asphalt, which relies on an exposed surface seal that gradually wears away and must be reapplied, tar & chip is sealed and protected as part of the installation process.
During installation, hot liquid asphalt binder is applied to the prepared base, sealing and waterproofing it. Crushed stone is then spread and compacted into the binder, becoming embedded and forming the structural surface of the pavement. After embedment, a thin layer of loose stone remains across the surface.
This stone surface—both the embedded aggregate and the loose cover stone—protects the underlying asphalt binder from UV exposure, oxidation, weathering, and traffic wear. Because the sealing binder is protected beneath the aggregate rather than exposed at the surface, it does not dry out, erode, or wear away the way a surface-applied asphalt seal does. For this reason, tar & chip surfaces do not require ongoing sealcoating.
After Installation — Use & Curing
Answer: Asphalt can typically be walked on about four hours after installation. Tar & chip surfaces can be walked on immediately.
Answer: As a general guideline, new asphalt should not be driven on until approximately 7:00 a.m. the morning following installation. Tar & chip can be driven on immediately after it is installed.
Answer: Yes. For asphalt installations, we block off the entrance with high-visibility tape once the work is complete to prevent vehicle traffic while the surface cools and hardens.
Tar & chip surfaces do not need to be blocked off, as they are traffic-ready immediately upon completion.
Answer: Both asphalt and tar & chip begin curing immediately after installation. While they are usable right away, the pavement can take up to one year to fully cure and reach its maximum hardness.
Hiring, Scheduling & Payment
Answer: The first step is to give us a call and let us know that you would like to move forward with the project. The next step is to provide us with a signed and dated copy of the proposal. Once we receive the signed proposal, we will confirm details and schedule the work.
Answer: No. Because of variables beyond our control, including weather and the completion timelines of other projects, we cannot reliably lock in exact dates far in advance. We can, however, give you a clear picture of what our schedule looks like, provide a realistic time frame, and in many cases narrow the work down to a one-week start window.
Answer: Yes. We will call or text you as far in advance as possible, typically a few days ahead of time, to schedule the start date.
Answer: In almost all cases, no. We are typically paving over an existing gravel or paved driveway. Any permits that would have been required for that driveway were obtained by the builder or developer when the home or structure was originally constructed. As long as the driveway already exists and we are not performing work in the public right-of-way (the public road in front of your property), additional permits are not required.
This reflects our experience over many years in business, but accuracy is not guaranteed.
(See Do’s and Dont’s for details)
Answer: We generally accept checks and major credit cards. Please refer to your proposal for payment terms and details.
Answer: Some projects require a deposit, while others do not. Please refer to your proposal for payment terms and details.
Answer: Final payment is due upon completion of the work. Please make arrangements to ensure timely payment. Please refer to your proposal for payment terms and details.
During Construction
Answer: Most smaller jobs under about 8,000 square feet are completed in one day. Larger or more complex projects may take multiple days. If the timeline is not specified in your proposal, feel free to contact your Estimator for clarification.
Answer: Jobsite unreadiness at the time our crew arrives, changes in the scope of work, equipment or material supplier issues, and unfavorable weather conditions can sometimes cause delays. That said, our team has decades of experience adapting to and overcoming these situations and keeping project completion timelines on track.
Answer: Yes. But changes may affect the price and completion timelines. It is preferable to review any changes with your estimator before work begins.
Answer: No. Our crews are experienced, well-equipped, and prepared to complete the work properly, so customer supervision is not required.
Answer: No. Your garage doors do not need to be left open for our crew to perform your paving work.
Weather & Temperature Considerations
Answer: Yes, to an extent. It is a common misconception that paving cannot be done in the rain. Light rain does not interfere with asphalt or tar & chip installation.
In fact, during the installation process, the pavement surface is intentionally wet down as part of normal rolling operations. Roller drums are continuously supplied with water through built-in sprinkler systems to prevent hot asphalt from sticking and to allow proper compaction. This is standard practice on all asphalt paving jobs.
It’s important to understand how asphalt production works. Asphalt plants manufacture the asphalt used for paving work, and they are large industrial facilities that do not bring in crews and start up production unless weather conditions allow asphalt to be properly installed. These plants do not operate simply to supply material for relatively small private paving projects. If asphalt is being manufactured and sold on a given day, it usually means it is being installed on large projects such as state and county road work and commercial parking lot projects, which are heavily regulated and inspected. If conditions are acceptable for those projects, they are also acceptable for smaller private projects.
That said, heavy rain is a different situation entirely. When rainfall is heavy enough to interfere with proper installation, asphalt plants will not operate or produce material at all.
In practical terms, if asphalt is being produced and sold on a given day, it means weather conditions are generally suitable for installation.
Answer: Yes. On private projects, asphalt can often be installed when temperatures are above freezing, provided the ground is not frozen and conditions are suitable. In colder weather, asphalt is produced at the higher end of approved temperature ranges to account for heat loss during transport and placement. As the asphalt is placed, the paver’s propane-heated screed reheats the material and helps keep it workable.
Because private paving projects are relatively smaller in size, they are installed in short sections, allowing compaction to begin immediately after placement, before the asphalt has time to cool, so proper compaction can be achieved.
One advantage of installing asphalt in cooler temperatures is that it cools and hardens more quickly after compaction, allowing the pavement to be opened to traffic sooner.
Tar & chip installations are even less sensitive to cold temperatures. Because the asphalt binder is applied at a controlled temperature using a heated, insulated distributor truck, cold weather typically has little impact on the installation process.
Normal Appearance & Pavement Behavior
Answer: No. Asphalt gradually fades from black to gray due to UV exposure, weather, and vehicle traffic. This is normal. As the surface oxidizes, it begins to take on the natural color of the aggregate it is made from.
Periodic sealing with a petroleum-based fog seal helps replenish surface binder and allows asphalt to maintain a darker appearance for a longer period of time. Tar & chip surfaces do not experience color fading in the same way because they are already the natural color of the stone used on the surface.
(See Do’s and Dont’s for details)
Answer: No. Asphalt is a fairly coarse material when first installed. It is made from a blend of crushed stone (aggregate) and fines held together with asphalt binder. Because of this composition, some natural variation in surface texture is normal.
The texture of the surface will vary from smoother to rougher in different areas. Areas with a higher concentration of stone or aggregate may appear rougher, while areas with a higher concentration of fines may appear smoother. This is a normal characteristic of hot-mix asphalt.
Regardless of how skilled an asphalt crew’s finishers are, areas that must be placed or finished by hand—such as radiuses, edges, seams, tie-ins, or tight spaces—may have a slightly rougher texture than areas paved entirely by a large, heated paving machine (Paver). This is expected and occurs on all professionally installed asphalt surfaces.
Visible seams will also be present wherever separate sections of asphalt are joined together. These seams are normal and unavoidable parts of the installation process and do not affect the structural performance or longevity of the pavement when installed correctly.
It’s also important to understand that many people compare new asphalt surfaces to older asphalt surfaces that have been driven on for years and seal-coated multiple times with water-based sealers designed to smooth the surface. Over time, traffic, weathering, and sealcoating gradually smooth the surface and reduce visible texture variations. Freshly installed asphalt will look and feel coarser by comparison.
These characteristics are inherent to asphalt and occur on all installations. They are not indicators of poor quality or improper workmanship. Asphalt installed by Standard Paving meets and often exceeds industry standards for surface consistency and appearance, and is as smooth and uniform as customers can expect from any high-quality paving contractor.
Answer: No. Asphalt edges must be installed and compacted entirely by hand without the use of rigid forms like those used for concrete edges.
We put a lot of effort into our edges that many paving contractors do not. Whenever necessary, we paint perimeter guidelines in advance, and our crews carefully shape, finish, and compact the edges by hand to keep them as straight, consistent, and durable as possible. This process takes time and skill, and we believe our asphalt edges are as clean and professional-looking as those installed by any paving contractor. We regularly receive compliments from customers on their appearance.
That said, asphalt edges are never going to be perfect. Some minor inconsistency and cosmetic imperfections are normal and do not affect the performance or longevity of the pavement.
Answer: Yes. Tar & chip surfaces intentionally retain a thin layer of loose stone after installation. During construction, the primary stone is embedded into the hot asphalt binder through rolling and compaction, and the remaining loose stone helps protect that embedded stone-and-binder surface while it cures out and hardens.
Over time, excess loose stone gradually diminishes due to normal traffic and temperature fluctuations. As vehicles travel over the surface and the binder continues to cure, more of the stone is drawn down into the surface and becomes further embedded. This process strengthens the finished surface and is a normal, intended part of how tar & chip pavement performs.
Drainage, Edges & Structural Realities
Answer: No. Surface drainage is primarily determined by slope. Steeper surfaces shed water more efficiently, but even with adequate overall slope, minor surface irregularities and natural variations in grade can still result in some shallow puddling. Flatter surfaces drain less efficiently and are more likely to experience deeper and more widespread puddling after rainfall.
For this reason, some degree of surface puddling is considered normal in the paving industry. This is even the case on public roads, large retail parking lots, and airport runways. These paved surfaces are designed by civil engineers and constructed using large-scale, precision grading and paving equipment that is not even available for smaller private paving projects—yet surface puddling can still occur. It is not realistic to expect a completely puddle-free surface on private paving projects under all conditions. This is an industry-wide limitation and applies to all paving contractors, including Standard Paving.
It’s important to keep in mind that occasional surface puddling is normal, does not reduce pavement durability or performance, and typically dries fairly quickly once rainfall stops.
Below are citations from nationally recognized transportation agencies and pavement engineering authorities that recognize surface puddling as a normal and unavoidable consideration in pavement design and construction.
Federal Highway Administration (FHWA)
Hydraulic Engineering Circular No. 22 (HEC-22)
Federal roadway drainage design manual
FHWA current edition
Section: Pavement Surface Drainage & Spread
Asphalt Institute
MS-4 – The Asphalt Handbook
Industry technical manual
Asphalt Institute current edition
Section: Pavement Geometry, Drainage, and Surface Tolerances
California Department of Transportation (Caltrans)
Highway Design Manual
State DOT engineering design manual
Caltrans current edition
Section: Pavement Drainage and Surface Irregularities
Answer: No. Asphalt edges are not designed to be driven over and doing so can severely damage them.
(See Do’s and Dont’s for details)
Answer: Yes, it can occur occasionally. It is most common in older pavement, especially where open cracks are present.
(See Do’s and Don’ts for details.)
Answer: The pavement surface itself does not determine how much weight a driveway or private road can handle. Load-bearing capacity is determined by what supports the pavement—the underlying subgrade (native soil) and the base structure beneath the surface (existing pavement and/or gravel). In simple terms, the pavement is only as strong as what it is built on. If the subgrade and base are overloaded and fail, the pavement above them will also fail. If the subgrade and base are not overloaded and do not fail, the pavement above them will typically not fail either.
NOTE: It’s important to realize that if the subgrade and base of an existing driveway or private road have supported vehicle loads over time without structural failure, there is no reason to think that they should not be able to continue to support those same vehicle loads after new pavement is installed.
4”–6” Compacted Base
Typical residential base used on most Virginia driveways and similar residential pavement. Designed for normal household traffic including cars, SUVs, and pickup trucks, as well as short-term access by light-duty service vehicles such as package delivery trucks, moving vans, HVAC service vehicles, lawn mowing and landscaping vehicles, plumbing, painting, roofing, electrical service vehicles, and other typical residential services.
6”–8” Compacted Base
Common for private roads and pipe stems with increased usage and regular garbage truck access, as well as rural driveways with heavier vehicle traffic such as septic pumping trucks, swimming pool filling trucks, horse and livestock trailers, utility tractors, hay wagons, feed delivery trucks, propane trucks, and service vehicles supporting agricultural or multi-residence properties.
Note on existing asphalt:
The load-bearing guidelines above assume a gravel-based support structure. If existing structurally sound asphalt is present and left in place instead of being removed, and is paved over and used as part of the base structure, it adds significant strength. Asphalt provides approximately three times the structural support of a gravel base. When evaluating total base strength, each 1” of existing asphalt can be considered equivalent to approximately 3” of compacted gravel.
During normal site preparation and construction, our work requires us to operate heavy paving equipment—such as dump trucks, rollers, and paving machines—over the areas to be paved. This is not a formal test or evaluation of subgrade or base conditions. However, as a practical matter, due to the weight of the equipment involved and the stress it places on the underlying subgrade and base, if there are any underlying or previously undetected issues, they often become apparent during this process.
If areas show signs of instability or underlying issues during equipment operation, we bring those conditions to the property owner’s attention and recommend appropriate corrective action before paving continues.
In addition, while drainage and runoff patterns of the property beyond the area being paved are outside our area of expertise, if we happen to notice obvious conditions that could adversely affect the pavement being installed, we may bring them to the property owner’s attention as a courtesy.
As part of our general guidance, we also provide recommendations on proper edge backfilling and site drainage practices in the Do’s and Don’ts section of this website. These recommendations are intended to help property owners support pavement edges and manage surface water after installation, but they do not replace site-specific engineering evaluation.
Final Note on Site Conditions & Engineering Evaluation
For this reason, if the property owner has any concerns or knowledge of potential issues related to subgrade conditions, base conditions, subsurface drainage, or surface drainage, a geotechnical engineer should be hired by the property owner to evaluate the site prior to paving. The base thickness guidelines provided are intended as general guidance only and are not a guarantee of load-bearing performance.
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