Helmetta is one of the smallest boroughs in Middlesex County, a former company town built around the George W. Helme snuff mill, with the mill buildings, Helmetta Pond and Manalapan Brook still at its center. Dan The Paver installs asphalt driveways for Helmetta homeowners and repaves asphalt parking lots for the small businesses, churches and residential properties in town.
A mill town’s homes
Helmetta’s older streets near the mill have modest homes on small lots, many with short, narrow driveways running beside the house. The historic mill complex itself has been converted into apartments, which brought new residents and shared parking areas. Newer homes on the edges of the borough have wider drives and attached garages, and some properties back up to wooded land.
Because the borough is compact, our crew plans the work around tight streets and close neighbors, keeping trucks and rollers off lawns and sidewalks wherever possible.
Sand, woods and wet spots
Helmetta lies on sandy soil at the northern edge of the pine-and-oak woods that extend into the nearby Jamesburg Park Conservation Area. Sand drains quickly and compacts well when it is handled right, but it shifts when left loose. Near Helmetta Pond and Manalapan Brook, the ground is lower and wetter.
We match the excavation to the lot: on dry, sandy ground we strip, compact and place a dense-graded aggregate base; on damper lots we dig deeper and build up more base. Every drive is graded so water heads to the street or a lawn edge.
Roots are the other thing to watch in Helmetta. Oaks and pines near the woods send roots under driveways, and those roots lift and split the asphalt over time. We cut them back at the edge of the excavation so the new surface starts flat and stays that way.
Small commercial and multifamily lots
Helmetta’s few commercial and multifamily properties, including the apartment parking at the mill, need lots that drain and stay smooth. We can mill, rebuild failed base and repave in phases to keep residents parking. Read more about our parking lot paving.
Before you pave
Check with the Helmetta Borough construction or zoning office about aprons, curb cuts and lot coverage before you widen a driveway.
We also serve neighboring Spotswood and Jamesburg. See all of our Middlesex towns on the Middlesex County paving page.
Helmetta paving questions
Helmetta is so small. Will you really come out for one driveway?
Yes. Helmetta sits between Spotswood, Jamesburg, Monroe and East Brunswick, all towns we already work in, so a single driveway here is an easy stop for our crew. Whether it is a short drive on a borough side street or a longer one near the woods, we give it the same estimate and the same base work.
My Helmetta lot is close to the pond and the ground stays damp. Is asphalt still a good choice?
It can be, with extra preparation. Low lots near Helmetta Pond and Manalapan Brook may have a higher water table. We dig out soft, wet material, add more compacted aggregate base and grade the surface so water drains away. If the ground is very wet, we will tell you up front what it takes.
