Periodic applications of a high-quality sealant can often more than double the life of an asphalt pavement. Sealants help your pavement resist damage from the sun, salt, water, automotive fluids, and other enemies of asphalt. However, sealcoats must be correctly mixed and professionally applied to deliver the desired results. Here are five points you should consider to determine whether a sealcoating contractor has the knowledge, integrity, and ability to handle the job properly.

Did the Sealcoating Contractor Send You a Contract to Sign Without Visiting Your Site?

Experienced contractors know approximately how many square feet of pavement a gallon of asphalt sealcoating will cover, so they may be able to give you a quote for just the sealant over the phone. However, there are many other factors that can affect your total cost, and the contractor must see your pavement before making an accurate, firm quote. For example, when quoting a parking lot sealcoating job, the contractor needs to know about landscaping islands and other obstacles that may require special attention. If you need parking lot repair, the contractor needs to know how many cracks or potholes are involved, what caused them, and how severe they are. The contractor also needs to see whether there are heavily shaded areas in which the sealcoating will need extra time to cure or the use of an additive.

Did the Parking Lot Maintenance Contractor Tell You That the Sealant Will Repair Pavement Cracks?

If there are tiny hairline cracks on the surface of your pavement, a sealant will usually hide them. However, sealants cannot repair any cracks that are more substantial. Asphalt sealcoating is frequently referred to as asphalt sealing, and this leads some people to confuse it with asphalt crack sealing.

How Frequently Did the Sealcoating Contractor Recommend That You Repeat the Procedure?

Although there are exceptions, Treasure Coast asphalt sealcoating contractors typically recommend an application about every two years. An extremely busy parking lot may need an annual application, but this is usually limited to the areas that receive the most traffic. Contractors who tell customers that they should reapply a sealant every three to six months are inept, dishonest, or misinformed. Too much sealcoating is not a good thing; the sealant will not cure properly, and it will not bond properly. This means that the fresh parking lot sealcoat can be washed away by the first heavy rain, or it can cling to tires and shoes and be tracked onto other pavements, inside your building, or onto your sidewalk.

Does the Contractor Claim to Have a Proprietary Recipe for Mixing the Sealant?

To be blunt, there is no such thing as a secret formula for a sealant mix. The companies that manufacture asphalt sealcoating specify the exact amount of water and sand that should be added to their concentrated product for application. They even provide instructions for incorporating an additive. Furthermore, they do not lock their recipes away in a vault, so anyone can easily find the precise mix formula online.

Did Your Parking Lot Maintenance Contractor Tell You That the Weather Does Not Matter?

Just like the mix formula, sealant manufacturers specify the conditions under which their products can be successfully applied. Although there are some minor variations in some of the conditions, there are two that are absolutely required. First, it cannot rain during the application or for the next 24 hours. Second, the temperature must remain above 50 degrees during the application and for the next 24 hours. Sealants are finicky products that need adequate weather conditions to cure properly. Along the Treasure Coast, conditions can change quickly. This means that contractors must sometimes reschedule jobs to ensure quality results. Experienced, reputable parking lot maintenance contractors will never tell you that the weather is inconsequential, that they guarantee to apply your sealant two weeks from tomorrow, or that they can sealcoat your pavement in the rain.

For a Company You Can Trust, Contact Asphalt Care Services

Our family-owned, family-operated company has been caring for asphalt pavements in the Treasure Coast area since 1993. We specialize in asphalt maintenance for residential and commercial clients throughout the region. Our services include asphalt repairs, parking lot striping, asphalt sealcoating, traffic sign installation, thermoplastic line striping, speed bump installation, parking lot maintenance, and concrete bumper block installation. We have earned our exemplary reputation by consistently delivering work of the highest quality at reasonable prices. For a free quote, send an email to [email protected], submit the online request form, or call 772-888-2840.

Property managers deal with a variety of technicians and contractors on a routine basis. However, they normally have more frequent dealings with landscaping contractors, HVAC technicians, painting contractors, and mechanics than with paving companies. When budget time rolls around, many property managers find it challenging to create an accurate budget for the routine maintenance of their asphalt parking lot or other pavements. Here are three tips for determining how to budget for your asphalt maintenance.

Asphalt Maintenance Budget Tips for Property Managers

What Are Three Tips for Creating a Budget for Asphalt Paving Maintenance?

If you want to simplify budgeting for your asphalt maintenance, you should start with the following steps.

1. Find a reputable parking lot maintenance company. If the asphalt company that built your parking lot does not offer asphalt repairs and maintenance, ask the contractor to recommend a reliable, experienced alternative source.
2. Make asphalt repairs and preventive maintenance your top priorities. Procedures that are primarily cosmetic in nature can be pushed down the list if funds are tight.
3. Plan your budget for periods longer than a single fiscal year.

How Do I Identify Reputable Paving Companies to Handle My Asphalt Maintenance?

Recommendations can often be helpful, so ask other property managers, relatives, and your paving contractor for recommendations. Once you have several possibilities, conduct your own research. Most paving maintenance companies have an online presence, so you can browse the company’s website to see which paving services they offer, check for testimonials from clients, and learn more about the company’s experience. Invite at least three excellent candidates to assess your pavement, recommend a maintenance plan, and provide you with an estimate. Pay careful attention to each representative’s attitude and professionalism. For example, if they fail to keep appointments without contacting you, refuse to explain terms that are unfamiliar to you, or pressure you to sign a contract immediately, you might want to reconsider hiring them.

Why Do Paving Companies Recommend Prioritizing Asphalt Repairs and Preventive Maintenance?

Although asphalt paving is economical, a new parking lot still represents a sizable investment. Depending on the company’s accounting policies, your parking lot could be depreciated over a period of 15 years, or the entire cost could have been expensed upon completion. The point is that even the Internal Revenue Service expects a parking lot to last for at least 15 years. However, parking lots that do not receive timely paving repairs and regular maintenance often need to be rebuilt in half that time. Preventive maintenance, including sealcoating, removing leaked automotive fluids, and routine sweepings, can help you avoid the need for budget-busting repairs or a premature reconstruction. If you need a crack sealed, a pothole patched, or other type of parking lot repair, taking care of it immediately can help prevent the damage from spreading. If you ignore paving repairs, the damage will soon reach the pavement’s supporting foundation. Once the foundation incurs sufficient damage, your only choice will be to have your parking lot rebuilt.

Why Should Property Managers Plan Long-Term Budgets?

There are two reasons for taking a long-term approach to budgeting for your asphalt maintenance.

1. You will not need every service every year. For example, you will likely need sealcoating once every two or three years, and you should not need an overlay for at least 10 years if you are proactive about your preventive maintenance. If you set aside funds in your annual budget to cover these types of expenses, the money will be there when you need it.
2. Asphalt pavements do not age in a straight line. When your pavement is new, it should not need any significant paving repairs for its first two or three years. After that, the likelihood that you will need to have cracks repaired increases with each passing year. Therefore, you cannot rely on a look-back period if you want to create an accurate budget. Ask your contractor to project how many repairs you will likely need each year for the next three or four years. Keep in mind that contractors can only provide you with estimates, and these estimates may change.

If you have questions about building, maintaining, or repairing your property’s pavements, contact Asphalt Care Services. We are a highly respected, family-owned operation with an exemplary reputation for quality, customer service, and honesty. Our services include parking lot repair, asphalt sealcoating, parking lot striping, thermoplastic line striping, asphalt paving and overlaying, traffic signage, speed bumps, and bumper blocks. To request a free quote, call 772-888-2840, email [email protected], or submit our online form.

Asphalt pavements are as famous for their remarkable durability as they are for their visual appeal and economical cost. However, constant exposure to the elements and vehicle traffic can negatively impact the pavement’s longevity and appearance. Asphalt paving contractors typically advise their customers that sealing the pavement can help prevent both structural and cosmetic damage. If you are trying to decide whether asphalt sealcoating is a procedure that you want to add to your routine maintenance program, you might be interested in learning more about the pros and cons of sealing your pavement.

Asphalt Sealcoating: What Are the Pros and Cons of Asphalt Sealing?

What Is Sealcoating?

Sealcoats are mixtures that contain a manufactured sealant, sand, and water; the mixture may also include additives that are formulated to expedite curing, darken the color, or provide other enhancements. The liquid mixture is sprayed, brushed, or squeegeed onto the pavement.

What Are the Pros of Asphalt Sealcoating?

Water, ultraviolet radiation, and petroleum-based vehicle fluids are all serious enemies of asphalt pavements.

1. Ultraviolet radiation strips moisture from the pavement, leaving it brittle and fading its color. Seal coating acts like a sunscreen to block UV rays, and it will also return gray, dinghy pavements to their original dark color.
2. Gas, oil, diesel, and other petrochemicals react with the asphalt binder that holds the pavement together. The pavement beneath the fluid softens and crumbles, and the particles can be washed away by rain or removed by vehicle tires. This typically launches the formation of a pothole. Because sealants form a tough barrier over the pavement, petrochemicals will require more time to eat their way through the sealant to damage the pavement. This buys you extra time to clean up the leaks and spills.
3. If water manages to reach the foundation that supports the weight of the pavement and the traffic it bears, erosion results. Without adequate support, the pavement can develop alligator cracking, potholes, and other significant damage. By sealcoating parking lots and other pavements, you can fight water infiltration in two ways. First, since sealants are waterproof, they boost asphalt’s natural ability to shed water. Second, the protective nature of sealants helps prevent cracks and other breaks that give water a path to reach the foundation.

In addition to giving you a line of defense against the enemies listed above, parking lot sealcoating can provide other important benefits.

1. The sand in the mixture enhances traction to make the pavement safer.
2. Tiny surface flaws can disappear beneath the sealant to make the pavement more attractive.
3. The contrast between the refreshed color and painted markings is aesthetically appealing, but it also helps make the painted markings more visible.

What Are the Cons of Asphalt Sealcoating?

There are few negatives to asphalt sealing, and most people consider them to be relatively minor.

1. Sealcoats do not last forever, so you will need to have your pavement resealed periodically. Depending on various factors related to each specific pavement, local sealcoating contractors typically recommend repeated applications every two to four years.
2. Asphalt sealing is a pavement maintenance procedure, so it will not repair damage that your pavement has already suffered. Therefore, asphalt repairs will need to be made before the sealant is applied. Because sealants are applied as liquids, they will simply drain into any pavement breaks and be lost.
3. Sealants cannot be applied until the asphalt is adequately cured, so new pavements and overlays will have to go without a sealcoat for the first four to six months of their life. During this time, it pays to give your pavement some extra attention. For example, you want to be more proactive about removing oil spills.

If you would like to learn more about asphalt sealcoating or other pavement-related topics, contact Asphalt Care Services. Our services include sealcoating, asphalt paving, thermoplastic line striping, asphalt repairs, parking lot striping, traffic signage, speed bump installation, concrete bumpers, and bollard installation. We have an impeccable reputation for reliability, craftsmanship, customer service, and integrity. If you would like to obtain a free quote, you can call 772-888-2840, submit the online request form, or email [email protected].

You notice a loose button on your favorite shirt, but you do not repair it. The highly unique button falls off and is lost forever. You notice a minor leak around a window in your home, but you do not repair the weatherstripping or caulking. An offshore tropical storm brings several days of heavy rain, turning the leak into a torrent that damages your drywall, flooring, and drapes. Regardless of the type of item involved, neglecting repairs will usually lead to larger problems. The lost button might upset you, but the water damage to your home could cost you a considerable amount of money. In both cases, the negative results could have been avoided with a timely repair. In a similar way, delaying your asphalt repairs can be a stressful, costly mistake.

Asphalt Repairs – Indifference Can Be Expensive

Why Are Timely Asphalt Repairs Critical?

Reputable asphalt contractors do their very best to construct a perfect pavement. However, the honest ones will tell you that your pavement will need a little asphalt maintenance and an occasional asphalt repair to provide you with the best return on your investment. Although asphalt paving has many fine qualities, it is incapable of mending itself when a crack or other break develops. If you do not call a parking lot maintenance or asphalt company to repair the break, the opening will keep expanding. Water will drain into the break, and gravity will make sure that it travels down as far as possible into the pavement’s structure. Typically, this is the foundation on which your pavement rests. As the water flows through and across the foundation, it plucks out pieces of the material used to construct the foundation. The erosion weakens the foundation and makes it unstable. Voids form between the foundation and the pavement, allowing the pavement to sink and making it more likely to crack or break when traffic crosses across the weakened area. Soon, the pavement will develop large potholes, areas of alligator cracking, and other signs of deterioration. Instead of an economical asphalt repair, you could be forced to remedy the problem through asphalt removal and replacement over a wide area of your pavement.

Can Parking Lot Maintenance Prevent the Need for Costly Asphalt Repairs?

A proactive, professionally administered asphalt maintenance program can help prevent pavement damage. Seal coating your asphalt pavement is an economical, extremely effective way to prevent damage from automotive fluids, UV radiation, oxidation, and water penetration. As part of the seal coating procedure, reputable asphalt maintenance contractors will ensure that any significant cracks are repaired, automotive fluids are removed or primed, and any dirt, vegetation, or trash is removed. Essentially, sealcoating combines all or most of the maintenance procedures that you need to keep your asphalt pavement healthy and attractive. Your parking lot maintenance contractor can probably provide you with other important services, including pavement marking and striping, car stop installations, and traffic sign repairs or replacements. However, one of the critical benefits you gain by working with a professional is that small issues can be identified early so that they can be handled before a major repair is necessary.

Trust the Experts at Asphalt Care Services

Whether you want to initiate an asphalt maintenance plan or need asphalt pavement repairs, you can count Asphalt Care Services for exceptional craftsmanship, superior service, and reasonable prices. Our services include asphalt crack repair, seal coating, parking lot striping, bollard installation, pothole repair, speed bump installation, thermoplastic line striping, traffic sign installation, asphalt paving, and concrete car stop installations. You can request a free quote by filling out the online form. If you prefer, you can call our office in Hobe Sound at 772-888-2840, or you can send an email to [email protected].

If your contractor installed your asphalt pavement correctly, you were probably pleased with the unbroken, dark, smooth expanse that greeted you. For the first few years, you probably did not need any asphalt repairs at all if you proactively maintained your pavement. Over time, however, you began to notice cracks forming in your pavement, and some of them vary significantly in appearance. You are likely wondering why the cracks have developed, and you are also curious about how your contractor can fix them.

Why Parking Lots Crack, and How To Address Asphalt Repairs

What Are the Different Types of Cracks That Form in Asphalt Paving?

Most asphalt paving companies list seven different types of cracks. These cracks have names that reflect the shape or cause of the specific crack.

• Alligator cracks are sometimes called fatigue cracks. These interconnected cracks look like the scales on a reptile’s back. They are usually caused by destabilized foundations or overloading.
• Block cracks look like large rectangles or squares. The most common cause of block cracking is insufficient water in the asphalt mix, but the problem can result if the pavement becomes excessively dry after installation.
• Edge cracks form near an edge of your pavement, and they run parallel to that edge. Possible causes include intrusive tree roots, an inadequate depth of asphalt paving, drought, or soil subsidence.
• Longitudinal cracks are cracks that run lengthwise on the pavement. Possible causes include errors during the paver operation, poor construction of a joint, and asphalt shrinkage.
• Reflection cracks can appear in asphalt overlays, but they are a rarity in a new pavement. When an overlay is placed over cracks or joints, these can telegraph through and form reflection cracks in the overlay.
• Slippage cracks are crescent-shaped, and they are commonly caused by a failure in the bonding of the surface layer and the layer underneath. It is also possible that the contractor chose the wrong type of asphalt, or that the mix was incorrect.
• Transverse cracks typically cross the centerline, or they at least run perpendicular to it. The two most common causes are the incorrect asphalt grade and the shrinkage of an asphalt layer.

What Asphalt Repairs Are Used to Mend Cracks?

The type of crack is the primary factor in determining the appropriate asphalt repair. Some paving repairs can be made by your parking lot maintenance contractor.

• Asphalt emulsion slurry seals are often used to repair edge cracking.
• An asphalt repair method known as patching is a possible solution for slippage cracking, some instances of reflection cracking, alligator cracking, and some instances of longitudinal cracking. Patching is perhaps better-known as a method of pothole repair.
• Crack sealing is a common parking lot maintenance procedure. It is a possible solution for some instances of block cracking, transverse cracking, longitudinal cracking, and reflection cracking.
• Asphalt resurfacing, or the installation of an asphalt overlay, is sometimes classified as asphalt maintenance, but it is sometimes considered in the category of paving repairs. Depending on the severity and cause, resurfacing can sometimes be a viable solution to widespread reflection cracking, severe transverse cracking, block cracking, or longitudinal cracking.
How Quickly Should I Request Asphalt Repairs?

Cracks are bad news for asphalt pavements. Openings in the pavement give water a path to enter the structure, reach the base, and inflict severe damage on the base and subbase. Therefore, you should submit a request for crack repairs immediately.

Contact Asphalt Care Services Today

Asphalt Care Services can build, repair, or maintain any asphalt paving surface, and we are known for providing exemplary work. Our services include asphalt patching, crack repairs, sealcoating, asphalt paving, speed bump installation, traffic signage, bollard installation, parking lot striping, bumper block installation, and thermoplastic line striping. Request your free quote today by emailing us at [email protected], completing the online form, or calling 772-888-2840.