Hi my name is Dominick Allocco Jr. My Brother Fred and I own ALLOCCO DRIVEWAY CO.,INC.a MUSHROOM CAN AND WILL GROW THROUGH ANYWHERE FROM 1 TO 5" OF FIRMLY COMPACTED ASPHALT. As asphalt is a flexible material, especially when in direct sun, this fungus will push up the blacktop in an almost perfect circle the size of the mushroom.Being in the driveway paving business and having responded to driveway repair calls as well as my own driveway, I have seen this again and again. The culprit is usually a decaying piece of wood or root. Mushrooms thrive on growing out of these and the asphalt becomes no match for Mother nature.They will either push the asphalt aside or more often bubble up the blacktop in a nice neat circle not even breaking the asphalt. The solution the said spot must be broken away with a sharp pick or similar tool trying to stay in the shape of the eruption so as to keep it a small area to repair.(Who wants a big eye sore in their driveway). Next dig out this wonderful specimen along with as much of the root or wood as possible. Using a strong weed killer or vegetation killer, spray into the hole liberally. Now being a Paving contractor we would then bring a small amount of hot asphalt leftover from a nearby job just finished. Applying it into the hole in layers and tamping it firmly. Hint: wet the bottom of the tamper with water so as not to scuff or scrape existing area. As a homeowner, since this small amount of hot asphalt cannot be purchased at any quarry, your local hardware store should carry bags of cold workable blacktop. Use the same method as above to fill the hole in keeping it as flush to the existing paved area as possible,i.e.not below or above for a better looking repair. I know you still may not believe this delicate fungus can push its way through hardened asphalt, until it happens in your driveway. 9 times out of 10 this is not the paving contractors fault who paved the area. Often a piece of wood or root missed in the excavation process because it was deep in the sub-base causes the problem. Oh well I hope this helps all you happy homeowners and may all your mushroom adventures be on your neighbors property. You rs Truly, DrivewayDom ALLOCCO DRIVEWAY CO., INC.
