7 Reasons You Should Sealcoat Your Driveway

Sealcoating your home’s driveway is a cost-effective way to make a big visual impact. The process also protects and extends the life of your driveway.

During the sealcoating process, a liquid sealing product is applied over an existing asphalt driveway.

As its name suggests, sealcoating “seals” and “coats” the asphalt. It’s a preventive maintenance method for your driveway, similar to how painting protects your home’s woodwork.

Why should you sealcoat your driveway? Here are 7 reasons why 309 Paving Services recommends you sealcoat your drive:

1. Sealcoating prevents small cracks from becoming big

The liquid sealcoating product fills small cracks and voids. If those same spaces were left unsealed and exposed to the elements, the asphalt would oxidize and harden. As a result, the asphalt becomes more brittle causing small cracks to expand into large cracks.

2. The process acts as a waterproofing agent for your drive

Rain, snow, and ice are the enemies of asphalt. When water flows into asphalt cracks, the frost-thaw cycle causes the surface to both shrink and expand. The movement causes stress on the asphalt and can lead to linear or alligator cracks. Sealcoating minimizes the rate at which water enters asphalt by covering cracks.

3. It makes your driveway look cleaner

Sealcoating covers cracks, which gives your driveway a more uniform look. Fewer cracks also make the surface easier to sweep and maintain.

4. Sealcoating improves your home’s curb appeal

The dark black color of a sealcoated driveway stands out against your lawn’s green grass, making the drive look fresh. It’s an attractive surface and improves your home’s curb appeal.

5. It protects your drive from the sun and harmful chemicals

By filling surface voids, sealcoating reduces asphalt’s exposure to oxygen and UV rays, which, over time, makes asphalt brittle and prone to cracking. Chemical spills, such as oil or gasoline, are common on driveways. Sealing the asphalt reduces spaces where the chemicals can seep into the drive.

6. Sealcoating extends the life of your driveway

Experts recommend a driveway be sealcoated every 2 to 4 years. Regular driveway sealcoating prevents small cracks from becoming major issues. The protection offered by sealcoating prolongs the life of the asphalt. The black color of sealcoating attracts more heat from the sun, warming the surface. The hotter the surface becomes, the more pliable the asphalt is, which helps it withstand traffic better without cracking.

7. Sealcoating is affordable

It costs pennies per square foot to sealcoat a driveway compared to the more costly task of replacing your driveway asphalt. Regular sealcoating is an investment in your driveway. Doing so saves you a ton of money in the long run, as you will not need to constantly spend money to have the drive patched or replaced altogether.

The staff at 309 Paving Services are your Peoria-area experts on driveway sealcoating.

They use GemSeal products. GemSeal is a respected national supplier of asphalt maintenance products and pavement sealcoating.

The mix design used by 309 Paving Services is as per industry standards. Sand is added to the sealer at the rate of 2 pounds per gallon and gives the sealer a more aggressive texture acting as a slip-resistant when applied to your asphalt surface.

It also acts as a bonding agent to enhance the strength of the sealer prolonging its life expectancy.

309 Paving Services also uses an additive called Rapid Set, also a GemSeal product. Rapid Set is a polymer modified additive for use in both refined tar and asphalt emulsion pavement sealers. Rapid Set reduces dry time, improves sealer adhesion, and increases durability. Reducing dry time is critical when your driveway needs to be open to traffic quickly.

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