Since we live in beautiful Southern California, we don’t often have to worry about puddles or birdbaths.
This is the time of year where we find out just where all the water goes and how well our drainage really is. Birdbaths are your smaller puddles that get less than an inch of water build up and are only a few feet in length and width. Puddles can be a bit larger and well, deeper. This is why they are so much more fun to jump in!
In all seriousness, both puddles and birdbaths can cause serious damage in the long-term life of your asphalt. Even though it doesn’t rain every day or even every week, it gives us the opportunity to see what is actually happening on a daily basis with your landscape irrigation. These little puddles and birdbaths are trapping water in one location that is seeping slowly into your asphalt causing damage underneath the asphalt to your sub grade. These areas are easily fixed by resurfacing with up to an inch or two of asphalt.
Now be careful, because we don’t just want to push water around, which could just make another puddle or birdbath right next to where you just had one. It’s best to first identify where water is supposed to go in the original design layout. Once we have figured this out, then we can determine what and where we resurface so that we direct water in the direction we need it to go. The cost of something like this is fractional to what the cost can be if you don’t take care of the puddles and birdbaths as these will eventually develop into the dreaded pot hole.
Pot holes are bad for all kinds of reasons and reflect a complete failure of the asphalt and sub grade. Once a pothole has been formed, the only right way to fix it is to completely remove and replace the asphalt. Sometimes if the sub grade becomes too saturated, you will also need to remove it and bring new base material in to establish a solid foundation for the asphalt. Some contractors will say that you can just fill the pot hole in with asphalt. Well yes you can. However, this is only a temporary fix and the pot hole will eventually come back and typically within a year or less. Making a repair twice when you only need to do it once is costly and we always recommend doing things the right way the first time even if it costs a little more.
You’ll save money in the long run!
