Preston paving contractor
Preston is right next door
MD 318 starts in Federalsburg and runs west along the Caroline and Dorchester county line until it ends at MD 16 and MD 331 at Linchester, right at Preston's doorstep. That is about a seven mile drive for us. Preston incorporated in 1892, covers barely half a square mile and had 673 people at the last census, and the historic Linchester Mill at the end of that road dates back to around 1682.
Small town, but the work is not small. Between the houses in the village, the farms all around it and the businesses on MD 16, there is steady paving to do. Our third generation paving crew has been on these roads for three generations.
Preston is farm country
Step outside the village and Preston is fields, poultry houses and long private lanes. Those lanes are not driveways in the suburban sense. They carry grain trucks in harvest, feed trucks year round, and equipment wide enough to take the edges off anything built too narrow. If a lane is built like a car drive, the first loaded axle finds the weak spot and you have ruts by spring.
The ground helps and hurts. Preston sits about forty six feet up, which is high for this part of the Shore, and a good share of the farm ground here is the well drained sandy loam type that makes this county productive. Right beside it you will find flat, poorly drained pockets where water sits within inches of the surface for weeks. We check which one you have before we quote, and on long lanes we often recommend tar and chip paving, which handles farm traffic and a hard winter better than a thin asphalt mat.
What we handle here
What we build in Preston
Tar and Chip Paving
On a long rural lane, tar and chip gives you a sealed, hard wearing surface with a stone finish that grips, at a build that suits farm traffic. It flexes with the ground instead of cracking in a straight line across it. Our tar and chip paving in Preston is one of the most common jobs we do out toward Bethlehem.
Driveway Paving
In the village itself the drives are short and the houses are old, so the work is about neat edges, a clean apron at the street and a crown that keeps water off the house. We take the old surface out rather than laying over trouble. Our driveway paving in Preston covers homes and small businesses on MD 16 and MD 331.
Driveway Grading
Ruts, soft middles and a lane that washes out at the same place every year are all grading problems. We cut the shape back in, crown it, build the base up where it has sunk and give the water somewhere to go. Our grading work on Preston lanes is often the whole job on a farm entrance.
Gravel Driveway Installation
Stone is still the right answer on plenty of Caroline County properties, especially where heavy equipment turns. The difference between a gravel lane that lasts and one that scatters is the base and the crown underneath it. Our gravel driveway installation in Preston is built to be driven on hard.
Why Preston calls us
Why Preston owners call Robert and Son
Because we are seven miles away and have been for three generations. Bob was born and raised on the Eastern Shore, and Preston is close enough that our trucks pass through it on the way to other jobs. If something needs looking at, we are not making a trip of it.
Licensed in Maryland under MHIC #74385, BBB A plus accredited since 2018, two year warranty on all work, free estimates, and we are out Monday through Saturday from seven in the morning. We work homes and businesses both. If your lane has broken up rather than worn out, our asphalt repair crew can usually fix it without a full rebuild.
Where you will see us around Preston
MD 16 and MD 331 run together right through the middle of Preston, and that is the spine of everything we do here. West of town, MD 331 carries on across the Choptank on the Dover Bridge into Talbot County, which is how we reach Easton. East, MD 318 brings us home to Federalsburg along the county line.
Off those two roads it is farm lanes, chapels, small industrial yards and the historic buildings around Linchester, including the Jacob and Hannah Leverton House, a documented Underground Railroad site listed on the National Register in 2009. When the weather turns, the same trucks are back through here for snow removal on commercial properties.
Where we work
Driveways and lots we lay in Preston
We cover Preston and the surrounding Caroline County farm country, and we are on the same roads most weeks for Denton up MD 313 to the north and Easton across the Dover Bridge.
Ask a paving contractor
Straight answers about asphalt paving on the Eastern Shore
How far is Preston from your yard?
About seven miles. MD 318 runs west out of Federalsburg along the county line and ends at MD 16 and MD 331 at Linchester, right at the edge of Preston. It is one of our closest towns.
What is tar and chip and why do you suggest it here?
It is a sealed surface finished with stone chips. On long rural lanes it handles farm traffic and winter better than a thin asphalt mat, and it gives good grip. It suits a lot of Preston properties.
Can you build a lane that takes grain trucks?
Yes. That is a base question more than a surface question. We build the stone deeper and compact it harder where heavy axles run, and we make sure water is getting off the lane rather than sitting in it.
My lane washes out in the same spot every year. Can that be fixed?
Usually, yes. It means water is being funnelled there with nowhere to go. We regrade, crown the lane and cut the water a proper route out. Fixing the shape is what makes the repair stick.
Do you work on small commercial properties in Preston?
Yes. Residential and commercial both, from a home drive to a shop lot or a church parking area. The estimate is free either way.
How long have you been working around Preston?
Robert and Son Paving is now in its third generation. We are licensed under MHIC number 74385, BBB A plus accredited since 2018, and all work carries a two year warranty.