A Consumer's Guide to Hot Mix Asphalt

Inviting, Attractive
The appearance of your driveway creates an impression about your home and way of life. An inviting driveway provides a focal point as passersby and visitors approach your home. And certainly an attractive driveway, one with “curb appeal,” adds value to your home investment. So it is worthwhile to plan your driveway carefully. With Hot Mix Asphalt as your material—and some attention to design and construction—your driveway will provide years of lasting service and an excellent return on the investment.

Just What Is Hot Mix Asphalt?
Hot Mix Asphalt is an engineered mixture of aggregate, or stones and sand, with liquid asphalt cement, a petroleum product. Varying sizes of aggregates are heated, mixed, in exact proportions, with asphalt cement that has been liquefied at about 300 degrees. While the mixture is still hot, it is delivered to your driveway and paved on top of a base or sub-grade that has already been prepared. Very soon after paving, the mixture cools and hardens and you can drive on it right away.

What You Receive With Hot Mix Asphalt
You’ll recognize several benefits with Hot Mix Asphalt, compared to other, more costly options; 

• Strong and durable.
• Engineered to withstand freezing and thawing.
• You are able to use salt on your driveway in winter.  
• Hot Mix Asphalt is unaffected by salt, and….
• Unlike other, more rigid materials such as concrete, Hot Mix Asphalt is designed to flex and “give” with slight settlements or frost heave (expand and contract). 

Hot Mix Asphalt lends itself readily to the types of service that are usual in residential areas. If a utility line must pass under your driveway, repairs are more easily and quickly performed than with alternative materials such as concrete. The same is true if undue ground settlement should occur naturally.

And Hot Mix Asphalt is the most cost-effective option you can choose. Just as it has for millions of homeowners the world over, Hot Mix Asphalt can last many years for you—with only minimal maintenance.