When Is It Time to Sealcoat Your Asphalt Parking Lot?

Just like you’d never stay outside for too long on an extremely hot and bright summer’s day without applying at least a small amount of sunscreen, it would be imprudent and highly inadvisable to neglect sealcoating your parking lot from time to time. Sealcoating provides a much needed protective barrier for your parking lot that prevents external and harmful elements from penetrating the surface of your asphalt and destroying it from the inside out. It also protects your asphalt, which is a precious commodity for any business, from the dangerous UV rays of the sun and keeps it from fading quickly. This year is going to be one of the hottest summers Toronto has endured in a long time and it’s important to make sure your pavement is fully prepared to take the heat by contacting a leading GTA asphalt sealcoating companies such as Sure-Seal Pavement Maintenance Inc.

Sealcoating an Asphalt Parking Lot

If you’re wondering why it’s such an asset to sealcoat your parking lot, there are two simple answers:

• It helps present a clean and well-maintained image for your clients
• It guarantees the ultimate safety of anyone who uses your parking lot

When customers pull into your parking lot, the last thing they want to see is a parking lot that’s riddled with deep potholes, cracks, standing water, and large indentations. First of all, these are all issues that can severely damage their vehicles. Secondly, these damages to your parking lot increase the risk of someone getting injured on your property, which is a huge liability issue for you. As the property owner, you’re responsible for maintaining the exterior of your business and guaranteeing that it’s safe for customers and employees to use at all times.

Cleaning up your parking lot, repairing all damages, and repainting all line marking and designated parking areas are all excellent measures that business owners can take to make sure their parking lots are in pristine condition. Once all of the necessary repairs have been made, sealcoating is the icing on the proverbial cake.

7 Signs Your Asphalt Parking Lot Needs Sealcoating

So how can you determine if your asphalt parking lot needs sealcoating? There are a few telltale signs that you may need to contact an asphalt sealcoating expert in Toronto.

Formation of Alligator Cracks

As the name implies, alligator cracks are referred as such because they resemble the dry, fractured skin of alligators. These common crack formations are just the beginning of further damages to come. The longer you neglect to repair them, the worse they’ll get and eventually lead to extensive water damage beneath the surface of your pavement.

Buckling and Warping

The more your asphalt parking lot is used over time, the weaker the structural foundation becomes. Heavy vehicular and foot traffic combined with constant exposure to environmental elements such as dense snowfalls and thunderstorms can slowly but surely cause your asphalt to deteriorate over time. At that point, you may start to notice depressions forming throughout your parking lot. This is a surefire sign that your asphalt requires potentially extensive repairs, depending on the degree of the damage endured.

Pothole Formations

Potholes are basically cracks that have been neglected for far too long. Over time, water, debris, and various other pollutants tend to penetrate the surface of your asphalt through even the tiniest cracks, forcing them to expand gradually. Pile on the repetitive movement of vehicles of various sizes and weight classes and you’ve got a definite recipe for disaster. You may be tempted to apply a quick fix to potholes, but this will only be temporary and end up costing you more money in the long run. Asphalt parking lot sealcoating is the best preventative measure in this case.

Drainage Issues

Standing water isn’t just an eyesore and inconvenience to your patrons, it’s also a major indicator that there may be something wrong with your drainage system or that indentations and uneven ground in your parking lot are preventing the excess water from being properly removed. Eventually, pooling water will begin to erode the surface of your asphalt pavement, destabilizing it and causing cracks that can lead to even worse damages.

Vegetation Breaking through Asphalt

Small cracks and potholes provide the ideal environment for vegetation to break through the surface of your asphalt. If you see this happening, it’s a sure sign that plant roots have already begun to wreak havoc on the internal structure of your parking lot, which could lead to extremely costly repairs and even require you to repave your entire parking lot. That’s why it’s best to reseal your parking lot once every two to three years and always repair all damages as soon as you notice them.

Pavement Discolouration and Fading

Even though overexposure to the sun is unavoidable because it’s impossible to control the weather, sealcoating your asphalt parking lot on a regular basis is one of the best measures you can employ to prevent discolouration and fading. This will help keep your parking lot looking like it was freshly installed for many years to come and minimize the chances of it being permanently stained by oil leaks or other toxins from vehicles.

Aged and Weathered Appearance

Elements such as water, precipitation, snow, de-icing agents, and leakages from vehicles can quickly cause your newly installed asphalt pavement to look much older than it actually is. That’s why you need to protect your parking lot and your wallet by occasionally applying a strong layer of sealcoating to it. Summer is the ideal time of year to do this because the weather is usually warm, which speeds up the curing and drying time, which means you won’t have to keep your business closed for more than 24 hours, if at all.

Asphalt Sealcoating Services in Toronto

Your search for “professional parking lot sealcoating near me” ends with the exceptional services offered by Sure-Seal Pavement Maintenance Inc. For over 20 years, we’ve established ourselves as one of the leading asphalt installation and maintenance contractors throughout Toronto and the GTA. We not only take pride in the work we do for our clients, but we also guarantee the safety of all of our employees and stand by our exclusive seven-year product and labour warranty. To book a consultation with one of our experienced asphalt sealcoating contractors and parking lot maintenance experts, please contact us!