Start with what the cracks are telling you

Hairline surface cracks usually mean the pavement is aging normally and the base underneath is still sound. Wide cracks that branch into a pattern like alligator hide mean the base is moving. One of those is a surface problem, the other is a structural one, and no amount of sealer fixes the second.

The three honest options

• Sealcoating: cosmetic protection for pavement that is still structurally fine

• Overlay: a new surface course over a base that still holds grade

• Full replacement: grind it out and rebuild when the base has failed

We will tell you which one you need, including when the answer is that you should wait another season and spend the money elsewhere.

If you are weighing this on your own property in Hadley, Amherst, Northampton, or anywhere else across the Pioneer Valley, call A&M Construction Enterprises at (413) 374-5714. We will walk the site with you, tell you plainly what the ground is doing, and put an honest written scope together. We answer the phone and we will tell you when the work can wait as readily as when it cannot.

What we look at on the walk-through

We start at the low points. Where water sits after a storm tells us more than the cracking does, because standing water means the base is already saturated or the grade never shed properly. Then we look at edges, since asphalt fails from the outside in when there is no shoulder support. Finally we check the transitions at the garage apron and the street, where settlement shows up first. Ten minutes on a driveway usually tells us whether you are buying five more years or starting over.