Sealcoating, or pavement sealing, is the process of applying a protective coating to asphalt-based pavements to provide a layer of protection from the elements: water, oils, and U.V. damage. Sealcoating extends asphalt pavement life and can help reduce the friction commonly associated with asphalt pavement.
As a general guideline, you should seal every 1-3 years. We proudly use the most durable sealant and crack filler available on the market. The average life span of our work depends on a number of different factors, such as:
• High vehicle traffic
• Heavy-duty vehicles
• Overhead vegetation
• Harsh winter temperatures
• Degrading (crumbling) surface
• Scraping from snow plowing
• Chains on tires
• Chemical spills
• Low spots that hold water
When we come to inspect and measure your parking lot, we can give you a better idea of how long our services will last on your particular lot.
Besides making your pavement look new again, our commercial grade coal tar sealer protects pavements from the destructive elements of the weather, gas, oil, antifreeze, and many other chemicals that could damage the paved surface. You need to protect your investment, and that’s where we come in.
| Resists gas and oil drippings
| Diminishes weather damage
| Beautifies asphalt surfaces
| Helps winter snow melt & Traction
At Asphalt Advanced Services, we work hard to make sure our sealcoating process is done right every time. We seal with a strong lacquer and add sand to our sealcoating mixture to make it more durable. We use commercial-grade Coal-Tar Emulsion Sealer on all of our projects, so our customers can count on maximum durability.
As a family-owned business, we understand that you are interested in getting the lowest price. However, please keep in mind that there are many different ways to sealcoat, and many different types of sealcoating material.
It is very easy for a sealcoating company to cut corners on labor & material. When it comes to pavement maintenance, price and quality truly go hand in hand. We work hard to keep our prices as competitive as possible, but our number one priority will always be to use the highest quality, and longest-lasting, material. Please also consider these important factors:
“The Bitterness of poor quality remains long after the Sweetness of low price is forgotten.”
We offer asphalt sealcoating, asphalt paving, asphalt maintenance and repair, asphalt crack filling, asphalt patching, and parking lot striping.
Sealcoating prevents asphalt surface oxidation by forming a tough protective outer skin. It also helps prevent damaging water penetration and protects your asphalt from the deteriorating effects of gasoline, oil, de-icers, and other harsh chemicals. Our Sealmaster LV Sealer provides a black finish and fresh, new appearance that will improve the image of your business. Most importantly, sealcoating saves you money. Your parking lot is an important investment that needs maintained. Sealcoating and crack filling your parking lot every few years will double, and many times triple, the life of your asphalt. It is significantly cheaper to sealcoat and crack fill a parking lot every few years than it is to pay huge sums to remove & replace neglected asphalt every 10-15 years.
It takes 60-90 days (or longer) for new pavement to rid itself of surface oils through oxidation and rain. To check this, spread some water on the surface. If the water does not bead up then it is ready to be sealed.
Your parking lot is the first thing that visitors see when they come to your property. A parking lot that shows sign of neglect will have a negative impact on your visitors before they even reach your front door. Unfortunately, asphalt deterioration is unavoidable. However, it can be slowed down significantly with routine crack filling & sealcoating.
In order to determine if you are due for sealcoating your commercial parking lot, ask yourself the following questions:
• How old is your parking surface? – If your asphalt is brand new, you do not need to sealcoat. By the time your lot reaches 6 months to a year old, you’ll want to start thinking about sealing the lot.
• When did you last apply a sealcoat? – It is recommended that you apply a new sealcoat every two to three years. This will help preserve the surface of your asphalt while preventing far more expensive repairs further down the road.
• Can you see deterioration? – Surface deterioration is another tell-tale sign that you need to apply a sealant as soon as possible. Even minor wear, such as small cracks or surface color change from black to grey, can be a sign it’s time to consider maintenance.
Weather is the most important factor when it comes to a durable, high quality sealcoating project. There are multiple weather factors that must be taken into consideration to ensure that the sealer will dry properly. Sealcoating in less-than-ideal weather conditions sacrifices the integrity of the material, and your project will not last as long. Both air temperatures and pavement temperatures must be at least 55ºF and rising.
The most ideal weather conditions for sealcoating are 55ºF and rising, with direct sunlight and relative humidity below 60%. Other important factors are wind and sunshine. We do not schedule projects when rain is imminent. We strive to make sure your project is completed under the most ideal weather conditions, and we appreciate your cooperation.
If you fertilize any grass along your parking lot, please do not:
• Fertilize for a week prior to sealcoating
• Also, do not hose off the parking lot prior to our visit – the pavement must be completely dry.
• Make sure any sprinkler systems are turned off, and that any trash pick-up or landscaping won’t interfere with our work.
• Make sure any lawn mowing is put on hold until the sealer is completely dry – you do not want any grass getting stuck in wet sealer!
• Finally, the work area will need to be cleared of all vehicles, equipment, or any other obstacles. You will need to make sure the appropriate people (employees, tenants, etc.) know that they will not have access to the parking lot while we are sealcoating it.
Asphalt cracks should be taken seriously by a property owner or manager, and should be addressed as soon as possible. Crack filling is the first line of defense in protecting asphalt, and it is the best way for a property owner to save money in the long run. Left untreated, asphalt cracks can lead to more significant problems, like potholes. Once the subbase of your asphalt fails, you will be left with no choice but to spend thousands, and sometimes tens of thousands, of dollars to repair and re-pave your parking lot. Crack filling, on the other hand, is a comparatively cheap and easy option to protect your asphalt from further damage.
ALWAYS ask a sealcoating company for their mix design! Our mix design consists of sand, for added skid resistance, and premium latex, which reduces tracking and power steering marks. Specifically, for every 100 gallons of sealer we add 20 gallons of water, 100 lbs. of sand, and 1% latex additive, per Sealmaster manufacturer specifications.
If you are unable to close your entire lot, we are able to barricade and seal the parking lot in sections.
Yes, we take care of closing off the area to traffic & pedestrians so that they do not interfere with the sealer. However, you are responsible for notifying employees, tenants, and any other relevant persons of the work we will be doing ahead of time. While we always make sure that the area is completely barricaded off with cones and channelizers, we are not responsible for any messes that are made as a result of your employees, customers, tenants, or any other third parties who disregard our cones and onto the wet sealer.
The amount of time it takes for the sealer to cure is based on humidity, temperature, and sunlight. For best results, we recommend waiting 48 hours (under ideal weather conditions) before you walk or drive on the area. When this cure time is not possible, we use FSA (Fast Dry/Cure Additive) which will cut the cure time in half.
We stand behind all of our work with a one year satisfaction guarantee on the material and workmanship. We are not responsible for damage during the warranty period that was caused by standing water, physical/structural damage, winter weather abuse (i.e. snowplows/over-sanding), tire chains, gas, oil, or chemical spills. Our guarantee is for our previously performed work only.
Yes, this is a temporary situation that occurs when new sealer is applied, especially on hot & humid days. After the sealer is completely cured (1-2 weeks) these marks will go away.
Yes, it is very important to sealcoat all the way up to the very edge of your pavement, and this means that sealer will get on the edge of your grass. This is completely normal, and will not damage your grass in any way. The next time you mow your lawn, the sealer on the grass will be eliminated and your grass will look & grow exactly the same as it did before.
No. While sealcoating will beautify your parking lot and extend the life of your asphalt by protecting it from damaging elements and harmful UV rays, it will not make a parking lot that is in very bad condition look like brand new again. While sealcoating will provide an attractive black surface, it will not mask depressions, repairs, divots, and other surface blemishes (and any company who tells you it will is being dishonest!).
No. The goal of crack filling is to prevent moisture from seeping down into the cracks and causing further damage. Crack filler will not make your cracks disappear and it will not always be flush with the surrounding asphalt. If your cracks are very deep, the material may settle down into the crack. This is normal and does not affect the integrity of the seal.
The main difference is that resurfacing/ rehabilitation is a structural repair that will extend the useful life of your asphalt surface. It entails the patching (if necessary) and resurfacing of the entire surface with a new overlay of 1 ½” to 3″ of hot bituminous asphalt. Sealcoating is not a structural repair and may be likened to painting your house. The sealcoat protects and extends the life of your asphalt, but does nothing to correct structural flaws. Sealcoating, accordingly, is substantially less expensive than resurfacing your drive.
Essentially all asphalt is black. When the aggregates (stone) are mixed together with hot asphalt cement, the mass of material becomes black. Over time, as the asphalt oxidizes, the coating on the aggregates breaks down and the color of the aggregate starts to show through. This can lead to a ‘grayish’ color if the asphalt plant uses a light color aggregate.
No. We have many calls for this, but as Henry Ford said ” you can have it in any color you want, as long as it is black”. Recently a more environmentally friendly light grey sealer (less heat retention) has been under development for commercial uses, but this is very expensive and has not been utilized very extensively.
A critical aspect of producing a long lasting job is the achievement of the proper compaction of your surface. 90% compaction is ideal. Sometimes the rollers leave ‘streaks’ or marks on the drive. These are temporary and will become less noticeable over several months.
The edges or ‘shoulders’ of your drive are one of the most vulnerable areas of the drive. If you put a lot of weight on the edge (say by driving your car or lawn mower right to the edge), there is the possibility that the edge will crack or break off if it is not properly supported. We try to help the situation by creating a ‘beveled edge’ on the side of the drive with a 45° angle to defuse the pressure. You can help by installing seeded topsoil against the finished height of the asphalt once the job is completed.
Properly compacted asphalt has 10% air voids in it. If a seed of grass gets into the mix and germinates – viola! – We have grass. The best thing to do is spray the area with ‘Round Up’ to kill the grass.
Color aside, we believe that this is primarily a question of personal taste, but there are two primary differences. Asphalt is a flexible surface that has the ability to flex with use and slight movements of the base. Concrete relies on its own internal strength to absorb loads and bridge weaknesses in the sub-base. Concrete costs significantly more than an asphalt surface of comparable strength.
Much like the repair of rot in a piece of wood on your house exterior, it is significantly cheaper to repair deteriorated areas before they start to spread than to wait and rehabilitate the entire drive. Typically a dollar spent on repairs in the first half of a driveway’s life will cost $4 to $5 to repair at a later date.
This is one of the trickiest questions we get. And the answer is ‘it depends’! Once we patch part of your drive, it will be a black area in the midst of your existing graying surface. If your driveway has been sealcoated previously, the new asphalt will also have a more porous texture. This does not bother some people, as they know that they are protecting the investment that they have in their driveway. Others see it as an eyesore and have the whole driveway resurfaced or sealcoated after the patching is completed.
