The Importance of Asphalt Sealcoating

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Cracks and potholes are inevitable when dealing
with asphalt driveway however, neglecting to do
driveway sealcoating for all your facilities
including asphalt pavements can lead to an
accelerated cracking and pothole situation
reducing the pavements service life. Dry weather
and freezing weather can have a degrading effect
on asphalt driveway or pavement. There are also
other environmental issues such as tree roots,
vehicle traffic, gas, oil, sand, and litter also
work to crack and damage asphalt. Properly
maintained parking lots, those that receive
regular sweeping service, crack filling, pothole
repair and sealcoating, are prone to outlast
those parking areas that are left to "fend for
themselves" against these elements.
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You may have heard of the saying that goes
something like this "your asphalt should not be
seal coated because it needs to breathe". Most of
you can't remember how many times you heard this
misinformed opinion until you have almost come to
believe it nothing could be further from the
truth. To the "nay Sayers" benefit, it can be
acknowledged that there is a pinch of truth in
that statement driveway sealcoating should not
be done during the first 90 days to 6 months. The
reason is because new asphalt goes through a
curing phase in which chemicals are released from
the asphalt. A tell-tale sign that asphalt is
still going through this phase is that there
should be a rainbowish hue to water when the
asphalt is wet. This is the water and the
chemicals still mixing.
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After the curing process has completed, it is
time to seek asphalt sealcoating companies to
sealcoat your driveway. If driveway sealcoating
is not done the asphalt will oxidize and begin to
fade. If you ever noticed how the color of new
asphalt changes from black to brown to grey to
white, then you should realize that this is the
direct effects of sun light, water, and other
external conditions.
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Only Concrete contractors will protect your
asphalt from the degradation caused by oxidation.
If asphalt becomes oxidized it loses some of its
flexibility properties, which can result in
cracking. Another major benefit of driveway
sealcoating is the protection from gasoline and
oil. Unfortunately, gasoline, oil and the
chemicals in the asphalt binder that hold the
stone together are all petroleum based products.
Why should that matter? Well, being that these
are from the same source in the earth, they have
a natural tendency to bond together. The result
of this bonding is the oil and gasoline
deteriorates the asphalt binder once the asphalt
binder is deteriorated that stone starts to
release from the surface. Next time you visit a
highly populated parking lot, take a notice to
the condition of the asphalt that has been
heavily soiled with oil.
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