Regular maintenance of your parking lot asphalt is crucial if you wish to prolong the life of your investment. After all, a well-maintained parking lot plays a big role in providing an exceptional customer experience for your guests.
Your parking lot takes a beating from the constant traffic, weather conditions, and other damage-causing elements. Seal coating prevents elements like moisture, salt, chemicals from cars from penetrating your asphalt and weakening its structural integrity.
More importantly, sealcoating slows down the oxidation of the underlaying asphalt. Oxidation cause asphalt to become brittle and shortens the lifespan of your parking lot.
Not only that, sealcoating offers a dark black appearance making your parking lot look fresh and new at all times.
To always ensure maximum protection of your asphalt, Sealcoating is a part of our maintenance plans here at Erickson Asphalt Services. We suggest having your pavement sealcoated within a year after its application, and then every 2-3 years. Some of the other services included in our maintenance plans are crack sealing, infrared patching, and repair.
There are two main types of sealcoating material: coal-tar emulsion and asphalt-based emulsion. We use Asphalt Emulsion Sealers which is made up of the same oils and minerals used in asphalt production and is mixed with additional minerals, polymers, and emulsifiers to boost its durability. This is a huge advantage because the asphalt will absorb more of the vital oils that the driveway sealer replenishes. At the same time, it’s a lot more environment-friendly than coal tar.
Depending on your asphalt’s condition, we can apply sealcoating through a squeegee or spray method. In many cases, we use a combination of these two methods to ensure your asphalt is sealed completely without any entry point for harmful elements. Our expert team is trained to apply sealcoating evenly without compromising on its quality.
To prepare your asphalt parking lot for sealcoating, you must first ensure that all structural repairs are completed. Then, we must wait for at least 12 months before applying our sealcoating.
Before we start, you must ensure that the places that need to be sealed are accessible to us. For covered parking spaces, sprinklers will have to be shut off for the duration of the process.
While we will clean the areas with mechanical blowers and other tools to ensure no dirt and debris are present, please clear the areas of any object that may hinder us from applying the sealcoat completely.
Weather conditions affect the quality of the emulsion as it’s being applied. That said, the air and pavement temperature must be at least 55 degrees Fahrenheit for the duration of the application process, and the next 8 hours to ensure stability.
Once your asphalt is sealcoated, it takes about 36 hours to completely dry. Your newly sealed asphalt can then be opened for traffic after at least 24-48 hours. To minimize interference with your business operations, we can divide your parking lot into sections, working on one section before closing the next one.
Please do not wash or hose down your parking lot for at least 72 hours. It’s also advisable to turn off your sprinklers for the whole duration of the drying and cooling process.
We treat severely stained areas before the sealcoat application to make sure that the sealer will adhere to the surface and not be affected by gasoline or petroleum products. Once your sealcoat is applied, all of the spots and stains should be covered completely.
Sealcoating your asphalt is a must if you wish to prolong the life of your parking lot, and protect your investment.
We at Erickson Asphalt Services can help you achieve the maximum protection for your asphalt through our expert sealcoating service. Using only the best materials and application methods, we can also ensure the best results.
Contact us now to learn more!
