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Asphalt Paving in Strum

Asphalt Paving in Strum, Wisconsin.

Asphalt driveways, overlays and small lot paving in Strum.

Get a Free Estimate Call (715) 450-9897

4.7 from 18 Google reviews

About 25 minutes southeast of Eau Claire. Free estimates, and a straight read on whether it needs doing yet.

A freshly paved asphalt lot in deep black, running up to a white barn and silo.
1,068 People in Strum
4.7 Google ratingFrom 18 reviews
2-3 yrs Reseal cycleIn Strum
400°F Crack fillerDirect-fire rubber

What an Asphalt Paving Job Looks Like in Strum

For a village this size Strum has an unusual amount of commercial surface, and it's spread across five streets rather than concentrated on one.

Fifth Avenue North is the retail spine: the grocery, the bank, the post office, the dentist, and the telephone cooperative that serves twenty-five communities from a building here. Fifth Avenue South carries the village hall and the library. Maple Street is where the industry actually is, a millwork plant and the co-op agronomy site, and it's worth naming precisely because Strum has no industrial park to point at.

The largest single parking demand in the village is the school campus on Highway 10. Eleva-Strum consolidated into one building here, so elementary, middle and high all share one site, and any work on it happens inside the summer window or not at all.

Asphalt Paving specifically in Strum

Long rural drives out of the village are the common paving conversation here. Grade and drainage do most of the work on unglaciated ground, and the setup is spread over more feet than on a short town drive.

The Driveways and Lots in Strum

Strum sits on the Buffalo River in Trempealeau County with Crystal Lake on its edge and US Highway 10 running through as the main route. The Buffalo River State Trail, thirty-six miles of old railroad corridor between Mondovi and Fairchild, passes through the village. Rolling hills in open farm country, and unusually for this area, unglaciated ground.

A village of about 1,100 on a compact grid, with the older stock close to Fifth Avenue and newer building out toward Crystal Lake. Drives are short in the core and get considerably longer as soon as you leave it.

The Crystal Lake end is its own thing. A campground and a golf course sit out on Crystal Lake Drive, and the surfaces there are seasonal: heavy use for five months and empty for the rest, which wears differently from a driveway used every day of the year.

Strum

We work the whole village rather than a named handful of neighborhoods.

Around Strum: Crystal Lake, Woodland Park, Crystal Lake Park, Buffalo River State Trail, Buffalo River.

Standard 48-inch frost depth. The important local difference is that Trempealeau County is unglaciated, so instead of the sorted sand and gravel outwash we work in up the Chippewa valley, the subgrade here's residual soil over bedrock. It holds water differently, and a drive that ponds in Strum is usually telling you something about grade rather than about drainage.

From our jobs

Job Photos

A large freshly paved asphalt lot curving around a landscaped island in front of a low institutional building
A lot repaved, edge to edge
A freshly paved asphalt driveway running up to a three-bay garage, caution tape across the street end
A driveway repaved and taped off to cure

All job photos

Overlay or tear out and replace?

An overlay is new asphalt laid over the old surface. It's roughly half the cost of a replacement, it goes down in a day, and it's the right answer when the existing base is sound and the surface has simply worn out. It's the wrong answer when the base has failed, because an overlay follows the shape of what's underneath. Lay one over a surface that's cracked into squares and those cracks come through the new mat within two or three years, and the overlay only delayed the replacement. That conversation is worth having before the quote, not after.

What Decides the Price in Strum

Asphalt tracks the oil market, so a number from last season is not a number for this one. Every job here is measured on site and the number is fixed before work starts.

Overlay

Per square foot

Measured on site

  • Existing base sound, surface worn out
  • Overlay or full replacement, priced after the base is checked

Tear out and replace

Per square foot

Measured on site

  • Old surface out, base rebuilt, new mat laid and rolled

Gravel to asphalt

Per square foot

Measured on site

  • Common out in the townships, where drives are long
  • Grading and drainage are most of the work and most of the cost

The setup on a long rural drive is spread over more area than on a short town one. If you've been told a long drive is prohibitive, it's worth a second number.

How the Work Goes in Strum

The base is the part you never see and the part that decides everything.

Work out where the water goes

Before anything else. Grade and drainage decide the lifespan, and they're the one thing that can't be fixed later without starting again.

Remove, or prepare what stays

Full replacement means the old surface comes out. An overlay means the existing surface is cleaned, failed areas cut out and patched, and the edges prepared.

Base, graded and compacted

Compacted in lifts to the right depth for what will drive on it. A driveway and a lot that takes delivery trucks need different bases, and building both the same way is how one of them fails early.

Lay and roll

Hot mix laid to the design thickness and rolled while it's hot. Compaction is time-limited, which is why paving is a day that runs to the weather.

Tell you when to seal it

Not this year. New asphalt needs six to twelve months to cure before its first seal, and sealing too early traps the oils and does more harm than leaving it alone.

Booking sealcoating and striping through October · Call (715) 450-9897

Questions We Get in Strum

What Strum calls us about, answered straight.

More questions answered
We run a seasonal business out at Crystal Lake. When should the lot be done?
Either side of your season rather than through it. Sealer wants warm pavement and a dry cure, so late spring before you open or early fall after you close both work, and both beat trying to seal around campers in July. Talk to us in the winter and we'll book the slot.
Is Strum inside your area for a single driveway?
Yes. It's about twenty-five minutes and we work down that way along Highway 10 regularly. As anywhere at that distance, two or three drives on the same street in one visit costs each of you noticeably less than one on its own.
Does the ground here really behave differently to Eau Claire?
It does, and it is the one thing worth knowing about pavement in Strum. Trempealeau County is unglaciated, so instead of the sorted sand and gravel we work in up the Chippewa valley, what is under a drive here is residual soil sitting on bedrock. It holds water differently and it drains slower, which changes where a surface fails and how a base gets rebuilt. A repair specified for a lot in town is not automatically the right repair out here.
How much does a new asphalt driveway cost?
It comes down to three things: the square footage, whether the existing base can be built on or has to come out, and how much of the drive a truck can reach. An overlay over a sound base is the cheapest way to a new surface; a full tear out and replace is the most expensive and is sometimes the only thing that lasts. Asphalt also tracks the oil market, so a number from last season is not a number for this one. We measure it and price it, free either way.
Can I overlay the driveway instead of replacing it?
If the base is sound, yes, and it saves roughly half. If the surface is cracked into squares that flex underfoot, no: the base has failed and those cracks will come through a new overlay within a couple of years.
When can a new driveway be sealed?
Six to twelve months after paving. New asphalt needs to cure and release its lighter oils first, and sealing early traps them. Anyone offering to seal brand new asphalt is telling you something about how they work.
How long does a well-built driveway last?
Fifteen to twenty years if the base was done properly and it gets sealed every two to three years. Without sealing, closer to ten, because oxidation and water take it from the surface down.
Can you pave a gravel driveway?
Yes, and it's common out in the townships. The grading and drainage are most of the job, and the setup on a long drive is spread over more feet.
When can we drive on new asphalt?
Cars after about 24 hours once it has cooled properly, heavy vehicles after several days. In hot weather keep the wheels moving when you turn for the first few weeks, because fresh asphalt scuffs.

Get a Free Estimate in Strum

Tell us what it looks like and we'll come measure it. You get a written price before anything starts.

(715) 450-9897
  • Free on driveways and lots anywhere in the service area
  • A photo of the problem helps, and it can go in the message
  • Surfaces that are not ready yet get told so at the estimate

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Other Work We Do in Strum

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Everything about asphalt paving, including how the work goes and what changes the price