Sealcoating: Key Ingredients
Sealcoating: Key Ingredients
When you have asphalt pavement, you must maintain it properly to make sure that it reaches its full life expectancy. Sealcoating is a vital part of maintaining asphalt pavement; it can prolong the pavement’s life as well as improve its appearance. However, you might not be aware of the key ingredients that go into a quality sealcoating mix and how they affect the results of the sealcoating job.
Sealcoating: Key Ingredients – All Sealants Are Not Created Equal
Your sealcoating contractor can choose from a wide variety of sealants for your job. The options include sealants of different quality levels that normally have different prices. If you want your sealcoating to last, you want to make sure that your contractor chooses a sealant that is of sufficient quality for the use to which your pavement will be subjected. For example, applying a sealant meant to support only light pedestrian traffic to a busy parking lot is simply not going to yield the desired results. The sealcoating will disintegrate quickly, meaning that your pavement will no longer have the protection you need.
Sealcoating: Key Ingredients – Never Overlook the Importance of Sand
Just as asphalt pavement needs an aggregate to hold everything together, sealcoating needs an aggregate to bind the ingredients together. Sand makes an ideal aggregate for sealcoating and provides a number of benefits. Sand enhances traction on the sealcoated pavement, boosting safety for pedestrians as well as drivers. It also helps with the appearance of the pavement; the sand will settle in hairline cracks or tiny imperfections to improve the smoothness of the surface. Furthermore, sand helps the sealcoating form a tough, hard film to provide better resistance to traffic, chemicals and sunlight. However, the amount of sand included in the mix must be correct and it must have grains that are the right size.
Sealcoating: Key Ingredients – An Additive or Two May Provide Substantial Benefits
Additives are compounds that asphalt paving contractors may incorporate into the sealant mix. Different additives provide different benefits, so they are chosen for the condition of the pavement as well as the weather on the day that the job is to be performed. Your contractor may need to include an additive if there is a pressing need to shorten the drying time of the sealant so that the pavement can be reopened quickly. If the humidity is much above 50 percent, the contractor may include an additive to compensate for the reduction in the rate of evaporation of the water contained in the sealant. Sealant manufacturers do not advise applying their products unless the temperature is at least 50 degrees Fahrenheit and rising; if the temperature is near this point, the contractor may need to include an additive to ensure that the sealant will cure properly. Since it is also important for the sand to be uniformly dispersed throughout the mix, your contractor may include an additive to help accomplish this. Other additives can help compensate for porous pavement, deepen the color of the finish or help the sealcoating resist tire scuffing.
Always Hire a Reputable Contractor
The importance of hiring an experienced, reputable contractor is another key to a quality sealcoating job. Dirtworks is an asphalt contractor and we have the experience and skills to provide our customers with exceptional work at reasonable rates. We have impeccable references and an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau. We offer an extensive range of services, including asphalt repairs, sealcoating, parking lot striping, asphalt paving, site work, excavations and asphalt milling. If you would like to request a free quote, you can submit our online form or call (508) 240-5541.
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