Asphalt Paths: the Pros and Cons

Asphalt is currently used for lots of different purposes. You can find it on the road, on runways, in carparks and on driveways. It’s also a great material to use to create a path.
Asphalt is an oil-based material and usually contains crushed rock and bitumen. It’s often called Tarmac, and the two materials have lots of similarities.

To help you decide whether to use asphalt to create your path, we’ve come up with a list of its pros and cons.

Pros

Affordable

If you don’t want to spend too much, asphalt is a good choice of material for your path. Like gravel it’s relatively affordable and certainly cheaper than concrete and paving.

Long-lasting

Asphalt is also a good material to use if you want a path that will last for a long time. If it’s installed properly and you look after it it could last up to 35 years. This may not be as long as gravel and concrete can last but it’s still a significant amount of time.

Easy to repair

It’s pretty easy to repair asphalt. If any cracks do develop, you can simply fill them in and seal them. Patching usually leaves some evidence but this isn’t too obvious from a distance and won’t damage the look of your path.

Flexible

Some path surfacing materials, like concrete, are brittle and can be prone to cracking. Asphalt, however, is flexible so is unlikely to crack in very warm or cold weather.

Cons

Susceptible to weathering

Whilst it is flexible, asphalt can still get damaged by the weather. It will expand in high temperatures and shrink in very cold weather. This means that it can become misshapen. When it is very hot asphalt becomes soft, so is also prone to warping out of shape.

Requires maintenance

Asphalt requires regular maintenance. It needs sweeping and washing at least once every 6 months to keep it in good condition. It also needs coating with a sealant once every 2-5 years. This prevents your driveway from fading and fills in very small cracks. If you want to your asphalt path to last as long as possible you need to fill in large cracks as soon as you can.