Asphalt Resurfacing & Overlay in Fort Worth, TX

It comes down to the base, not the way the surface looks. If the base is firm, drains, and doesn't flex or pump under load, a mill-and-overlay or thin overlay at $1.50 to $4.50 per square foot will hold. If the base has softened — usually from water — no surface layer fixes that, and it's full-depth replacement at $4 to $8 per square foot instead. On the low south side a base near the creek or lake basins can look fine on top while it's failing underneath, so we confirm it on-site before quoting.

They can, and preventing that is exactly why we check the base first. Cracks reflect through when the movement that caused them is still active underneath — a base that flexes, or water still working under a joint — so the new mat gets pulled apart from below within a season or two. Where there's real risk we can mill deeper, patch the failed section first, or over concrete add a fabric interlayer — and if the movement is too active, we'll tell you an overlay is the wrong tool.

A no-mill overlay raises the finished surface by its full thickness — a 1 to 1.5-inch overlay lifts the grade 1 to 1.5 inches everywhere it goes. On the low, flat parts of the south side that inch matters, because it changes whether water runs toward an inlet or ponds against an apron or curb. That's why we measure clearance at aprons, sidewalks, and inlets first, and why we mill instead when the grade can't afford the lift — getting it wrong is how a fresh overlay creates a new drainage problem the day it's laid.

On a sound, draining base, a properly bonded and compacted overlay generally performs on the same timeline as new asphalt — the surface takes the wear while the structural layers keep carrying load. What shortens that life is almost always the base or the water, not the overlay itself: a mat laid over a base that's still moving fails early no matter how well it's paved. Plan on 3 to 7 days before regular traffic, with full hardening over the months after. Routine [sealcoating](/sealcoating) every couple of years then protects the surface from the UV oxidation that aged the last one.

Yes, but concrete needs different handling than asphalt-over-asphalt. Concrete has joints, and those joints move — so an asphalt overlay laid straight over them tends to reflect-crack right along each joint line within a year or two. To control that we add a bonding layer or fabric interlayer between the concrete and the new asphalt, which absorbs some of that joint movement instead of passing it straight up.

We read it from the surface and from how it behaves under load. Shallow rutting, raveling, graying oxidation, and hairline-to-moderate cracking over a firm base say it's intact and an overlay will hold. Widespread alligator cracking, potholes that keep reopening, ponding water, or a surface that flexes or feels spongy point to a failing base — where a core sample settles any doubt.

Overlay and resurfacing work runs $1.50 to $4.50 per square foot installed, with milling adding roughly $0.30 to $1.50 per square foot when the scope calls for it — comfortably under the $4 to $8 of full-depth removal and replacement. What changes the number most is the base finding — a sound base keeps you in the overlay band, a failed one moves the job to replacement. We quote a fixed, written, itemized figure after the site visit, not over the phone.

A driveway or small-lot thin overlay or resurfacing typically runs 1 to 3 days on-site, with milling adding about half a day to two days when it's part of the scope. After paving and compaction, plan on 3 to 7 days before regular vehicle traffic, and longer if temperatures fall below 50°F while it cures. The surface keeps hardening for months afterward, which is why we wait 30 days on a commercial lot and up to 90 on a residential driveway before recommending the first [sealcoating](/sealcoating), so the sealer bonds instead of trapping moisture.

Milling uses a rotating-drum machine to grind off the top 1 to 2 inches of worn asphalt before the new wearing course is laid, and it's what keeps the finished surface level with curbs, slabs, and inlets instead of stacking height. The ground-off material doesn't get thrown away — it becomes reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP), crushed back into new mix. Asphalt is the most-recycled material in the country, reclaimed at close to 100 percent, so milling recovers your old surface instead of landfilling it.

A tack coat is a thin spray of asphalt emulsion applied to the milled or cleaned surface right before the new mat goes down, and its whole job is bonding the new layer to the one beneath it. Skip it or apply it unevenly and the overlay can slip, shove, or delaminate under turning loads — worst in Texas summer heat, when the asphalt softens and shear stress at that bond line peaks. Asphalt Institute and Superpave practice both treat that bond as non-negotiable.

Sometimes, but only as part of correcting the slope, not by simply adding a layer. Standing water usually means the surface no longer sheds toward where water should leave, and on the low south side that ponding is often what's threatening the base to begin with. If the base is still sound, we re-establish cross-slope during the overlay, feathering the new mat so it drains toward inlets and off the aprons. If the water has already softened the base, an overlay won't fix it — that's a case for [asphalt repair](/asphalt-repair) or replacement with the grade rebuilt.