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(715) 450-9897

Asphalt Paving in Onalaska

Asphalt Paving in Onalaska, Wisconsin.

Lot paving, overlays and tear-out-and-replace for commercial properties in Onalaska. Base graded, compacted and drained before any mix goes down.

Get a Free Estimate Call (715) 450-9897

4.7 from 21 Google reviews

About an hour and forty-five minutes southeast of Eau Claire on I-94 and I-90. The estimate is free.

A freshly paved asphalt lot in deep black, running up to a white barn and silo.
4.7 Google ratingFrom 21 reviews
6-12 mo Before first sealNew asphalt has to cure
15-20 yrs Well-built drivewayIf it gets sealed

Working in Onalaska

The commercial ground here is already built, so paving in Onalaska is usually an overlay or a tear-out rather than new ground. An overlay works when the base is still sound and the surface is worn or cracked through; it's the wrong call when the failures come from underneath, because the new mat cracks in the same places by the second winter. A tear-out is the answer when the base is the problem, and the base gets graded, compacted and drained before mix goes back down. Which one a lot needs comes out of what the failures look like and where the water goes.

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 Onalaska

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 Onalaska

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 the last of the sealcoating season now · Call (715) 450-9897

Questions We Get in Onalaska

What Onalaska calls us about, answered straight.

More questions answered
How far will you come for a lot down here?
Onalaska is about 79 miles from Eau Claire, an hour and forty-five minutes down I-94 and then I-90, and for commercial lots we come. Send the address and what the lot needs and we'll set up a time to walk it. The estimate is free.
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 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.

The Lots and Surfaces in Onalaska

Onalaska is in La Crosse County, a city of about 19,900 between Lake Onalaska and the Highway 16 retail strip, right where I-90 and US 53 meet. It's about 79 miles from Eau Claire, an hour and forty-five minutes, off Exit 4 or Exit 5 on I-90. Ten and a half square miles at 700 feet, with Highway 35 and Highway 157 running through it as well.

The commercial center of gravity here is retail. Crosseroads Center on Highway 16 has about 68,700 square feet of leasable space with Michaels, Old Navy, Burlington and PetSmart in it, and a Sam's Club and a Target next door. Crossing Meadows, off the I-90 and US 53 interchange, is an open-air center of roughly 234,000 square feet with more than 15 stores, anchored by a Festival Foods. Highway 16 through there carries around 26,000 vehicles a day.

The employers named for Onalaska are Gundersen Health System, a Kwik Trip support center, Altra Federal Credit Union, L.B. White and Empire Screen Printing, which has been here since 1960. Kwik Trip bought the old UnitedHealthcare office building in 2023 to put its training department and part of its accounting staff in. City Hall is on Main Street, the Omni Center is the convention and arena building, and the school district has the high school on Hilltopper Place, a middle school and three elementary schools, with Luther High School and two parochial schools also in town.

Where we work in Onalaska

  • The Highway 16 retail corridor
  • Crosseroads Center
  • Crossing Meadows
  • The I-90 and US 53 interchange
  • Main Street

Around Onalaska: Onalaska Omni Center, Lake Onalaska, Crossing Meadows, City Hall on Main Street, The Frank Eugene Nichols House.

19,898 people, 2024 Census estimate.

This is Driftless country. The ice never came through, so there's no glacial drift, the bedrock sits near the surface, loess covers much of it, and the ground drains so freely that natural lakes are almost absent.

Get a Free Estimate in Onalaska

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 commercial lots and properties in Onalaska
  • 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

Get an estimate

Send the form and we'll call you back. The estimate is free.

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Other Work We Do in Onalaska

Asphalt Paving in Nearby Towns

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