6 Sealcoating Facts That Can Benefit Your Asphalt Pavement

Sealcoating is an inexpensive, simple, and necessary aspect of asphalt pavement maintenance that can help extend the lifespan of your commercial parking lot and save you money in the long run. External damages like harmful UV rays from the sun, as well as inclement weather such as rain, snow, and ice can all damage your asphalt pavement over time, causing premature fading, cracking, pothole formations, and more. Combine all of those elements with regular vehicular and foot traffic and you have a recipe for disaster.

As long as you keep your property clean and implement a regular maintenance schedule, then you shouldn’t have anything to worry about. Ready to learn more about the benefits of sealcoating and how it works? Keep reading to learn about the most important benefits of sealcoating and why you should hire experienced asphalt pavement services in your area.

What Is Sealcoating?

Sealcoating is a preventative measure you can and should take to protect your asphalt pavement from potential damages and harmful elements. But it’s not a cure for existing damages like cracks, potholes, or dips.

Also referred to as pavement sealing, sealcoating involves applying a thin layer of asphalt-based aggregate to your existing asphalt. For maximum benefits, you should allow the fresh layer of sealcoat to dry and cure for about 24-48 hours before resuming usage. For that reason, it’s recommended that you choose to sealcoat your asphalt parking lot on your least busy working days.

Optimal weather conditions for sealcoating include clear, sunny days, and mild temperatures ranging between 10 and 15 degrees Celsius. As a result, the best times of the year to sealcoat your asphalt pavement or parking lot is around September to early October or just before the first frost of the season. You can also sealcoat you property in early spring, when the temperatures are still teetering between cool and mild.

Important Sealcoating Facts and Tips

Here are some important sealcoating facts and tips to keep in mind when working on your commercial asphalt pavement.

Asphalt Preparation Is Key

Before commencing a sealcoating project, it’s important to adequately prepare your asphalt. As mentioned, sealcoating is simply a protective measure to prevent future damages. It’s not a quick fix or repair solution for existing damages. That means you need to do a full sweep of your asphalt parking lot, look for cracks and other damages, and repair them completely before you can apply the sealcoat.

Otherwise, all you’re doing is trapping the cracks underneath the layer of sealcoat and they’ll just keep getting worse over time. Cleaning up debris and administering proper asphalt maintenance builds and reinforces a strong foundation for the future of your pavement.

Sealcoating Is a Great Long-Term Investment

Your commercial property isn’t just something you, your employees, and customers use to access your business; it’s also an excellent long-term investment. Sealcoating your asphalt pavement regularly (approximately every 2-3 years or as needed) can help protect that investment and prolong its overall lifespan by a few decades.

On top of that, regular sealcoating helps prevent damages, which also keeps your pavement spotless and in turn increases its curb appeal and the value of your business.

Sealcoating Protects Your Asphalt Against Oil and Gas Stains

Whether you own a busy commercial property that accommodates hundreds of vehicles on a daily basis or you have an industrial lot that services trucks and other utility vehicles, oil and gas leaks are inevitable. And once they have time to fully set, they’re almost impossible to clean out.

Not only are oil and gas stains unattractive, but the chemical compounds in these liquids can slowly corrode your asphalt pavement by penetrating the surface and then reaching the subgrade and foundation. This is a major and potentially expensive problem because it can eventually weaken the structural integrity of your asphalt pavement and even pave the way for other potential problems later on. Sealcoating helps protect your asphalt pavement from permanent oil and gas stains, which can also help retain and increase your property value over time.

Sealcoating Facilitates Snow and Ice Removal

Canadian winters can be notoriously harsh with certain parts of Toronto and the GTA getting varying degrees of inclement weather, particularly snowstorms. Luckily, asphalt pavement naturally retains heat from the sun, which can cause snow and ice to melt faster. Sealcoating has dual benefits in this regard because it can help facilitate the snow and ice melting process by trapping heat inside the asphalt aggregate and it also protects the asphalt from pooling water and runoff.

Sealcoating Prevents Fading

As much as heat from the sun benefits your asphalt pavement, continuous exposure to direct sunlight over prolonged periods of time can also cause serious damages. Fading is one of the repercussions of long exposure to direct sunlight, inclement weather conditions, and standing or pooling water.

Although fading colour doesn’t damage the asphalt itself, it should be viewed as a symptom of potential damages to come. Additionally, faded asphalt can degrade the value of your property by prematurely aging it and making it seem like it’s been neglected for a long time. Sealcoating your asphalt helps protect it from the very elements that would cause the colour to fade from a rich black to grey, and eventually an unappealing shade of white.

Sealcoating Enhances Asphalt Performance, Aesthetic, and Longevity

By actively protecting your asphalt from external elements, sealcoating also enhances its performances, improves the aesthetic appeal of your property, and makes your asphalt pavement last longer. Freshly applied sealcoating can restore the clean and brand-new appearance of your asphalt, which also helps attract more business to your location. Plus, regular sealcoating can increase your asphalt pavement’s lifespan by about 20 to 30 years and reduces the amount of major repairs needed in that timeframe, which saves you money.

Are you looking for expert asphalt pavement services in Toronto or the GTA?

Sure-Seal Pavement Maintenance Inc. is one of the top-rated and renowned asphalt pavement installation, maintenance, and repair companies in Toronto. We have over 20 years of experience improving commercial and residential asphalt pavements and all our work and materials are backed by a comprehensive seven-year warranty. Contact us today to book a consultation!