Pavement Solutions - Sealcoating

Sealing Protects the Asphalt’s Porous Surface

All asphalt pavements are porous and absorb water.  In freezing weather these pockets of water turn to ice and the resulting, expansion and contraction will damage the pavement. If this water soaks down into the base, it will soften or erode the base creating air space so that a heavy load on the surface will crack the pavement. Rain then causes water to collect in these depressions and flow down through the cracks or pot holes to cause greater damage.

What is sealcoating? Sealcoating is a product that protects your pavement with a wear resistant, durable surface. It forms a water tight, smooth seal that will help protect your parking area from weather damage.  This will save you money by postponing the need for repair work.  Hot rubberized joint fill is also applied to the cracks (up to 3/4 of an inch) before the seal, which will also prolong the life of your asphalt work.  Sealing will also give your parking lot a rich, black, new look.

How Sealcoating works Asphalt Pavement is a mixture of aggregates (crushed stone) and binders that acts as a glue to hold the mixture together. Over time the UV rays from the sun break down the binding materials holding together the aggregates, allowing moisture to fill the voids subjecting it to expanding and contacting impacting the integrity of the pavement. This breakdown of the binder can be seen as the color of the pavement turns from a rich black to grey. As this process continues the binding materials become weak to the point of releasing their bond to the aggregates, this is when cracks and potholes develop.

Sealcoating prevents the adhesive qualities of the binder from being broken down to the point of failure, keeping the aggregate properly adhered by the binder and brings the pavement .......back to black! The largest benefit of Sealcoating is a cost effective means of preventing premature pavement wear for just a few cents per square foot!

Sealing Resists Damage From Oil, Fuel, and Chemicals All petroleum products will disintegrate asphalt .  Sealers are resistant to gas and oil and prevent their seepage into the surface below.  Individual aggregate pieces or stones work loose and come out, leaving  roughened surface and additional pockets to hold water, oil and gasoline.  All driveways, secondary streets and parking and airport areas are subject to such damage.

Sealing Protects Against Frost and Snow Damage Sleet, Snow, and frost accelerate water damage.  In addition, the freezing and thawing increase the pavement and sub-surfacing damage.

Sealing Protects Against Sunlight Damage

Sunlight will, over a period of time, oxidize and dry out the asphalt, causing revealing of the aggregate.

Sealing Saves Money for You

Asphalt sealing is important preventative maintenance, and saves the owner much of year to year repair costs.  Like most good maintenance practices, the regular sealing and protection of asphalt is economically sound.  An owner can have a quality sealing job put down for a small expense, and secure as much as 300% greater life on his asphalt surface.  Such treatment is far less expensive than repair and re-surfacing work.