Asphalt Paving in Kettering, OH

Asphalt paving in Kettering is mostly about replacing and caring for driveways on homes built between the late 1940s and the early 1970s. Census figures summarized by Point2Homes put the city's median year built at 1961, with about 31 percent of homes from the 1950s and another 24 percent from the 1960s. A driveway on one of those lots may be on its second or third surface, often laid over whatever was there before. The way to get a driveway that lasts is to strip it back to a solid base, fix what is soft, and pave on top of that.

What Ohio winters do to asphalt

Dayton's climate is humid continental. January's average high at the airport is about 37 degrees and its average low about 22, so the ground freezes and thaws over and over between November and March. A typical season brings around two feet of snow. Every thaw sends meltwater into cracks; every freeze pries them wider and lifts weak spots. Driveways with a good base and a surface that sheds water hold up. Driveways with thin bases and low spots break into potholes and alligator cracking.

Base, thickness and drainage

Cost guides describe a standard residential asphalt driveway as 2 to 3 inches of compacted asphalt over 6 to 8 inches of compacted gravel, with thicker sections for heavy vehicles. On a replacement, we remove the old surface, dig out soft subgrade, rebuild the stone base and compact it in layers. The base is graded so water runs toward the street or the lawn, away from the garage and the house.

The apron belongs to you, but the rules are the City's

Kettering makes property owners responsible for the sidewalk, curb and drive approach next to their property. The City's Engineering Department runs an ongoing repair program, inspecting each section of the city on a cycle of roughly 20 to 25 years and marking squares that need replacement with white paint. Owners can hire their own contractor or let the City's contractor do the work. A contractor working in the right-of-way needs a City permit, a bond and insurance naming the City, has 30 days to finish, and the work gets a final City inspection. We explain all of that at the estimate if your project reaches the street.

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Extending or widening a driveway

Kettering's residential construction guidance says a driveway extension needs a zoning permit, plus an Engineering permit if the apron or curb in the right-of-way changes. Many postwar driveways were built for one car. Adding width or a side pad is common, and the new section is built to the same depth as the old so the seam does not crack.

Repair, resurface or replace

HomeGuide's repair guide suggests repairing or resurfacing when less than about a quarter of the surface is damaged, the asphalt is under 15 to 20 years old and the base is stable. Replacement makes more sense when cracking covers most of the driveway, potholes keep returning, or drainage problems never go away. We tell you plainly which one your driveway needs.

We work in Kettering and across the southern Miami Valley: Oakwood, Centerville, Washington Township, Beavercreek, Bellbrook, Sugarcreek Township, Moraine, West Carrollton, Miamisburg, Miami Township, Springboro, Dayton, Riverside, Huber Heights, Fairborn, Xenia, Vandalia, Trotwood and Franklin.

The main differences from town to town are who controls the street in front of your home and what the land is like. Kettering and Centerville both require permits for apron and sidewalk work in the right-of-way. Towns along the Great Miami River sit on lower, flood-shaped ground, while Oakwood and parts of Kettering sit on hills. Each town page covers what we found for that community.