Driveway Sealcoating
After you have your newly paved asphalt driveway, the blacktop looks so nice that you want it to last forever. Unfortunately, just like other things, asphalt wears out overtime and develops cracks and potholes from traffic and weather. These damages could potentially damage vehicles and pose safety hazards. Therefore, asphalt paving needs to be maintained. Since the cost of road maintenance varies significantly, it’s imperative to find a budget friendly solutions for roadway maintenance. Generally speaking, costs of repairs rise as pathways age.
One solution for repairing is resurfacing. It involves removing the top layer of the damaged roadway and replacing it with a new surface. Resurfacing gives you a completely new, smooth driveway that is quiet and safe to ride on. However, it is expensive. It costs approximately 105 to 125 thousand dollars to resurface one mile of a two-lane track. To make matters worse, a newly resurfaced roadway will require maintenance in approximately four years.
A much more economical solution is sealcoating. Sealcoating is basically the process of adding a layer of seal coat on top of asphalt that serves a protective purpose. Also known as chip seal, a seal coat can extend the life expectancy of a given roadway by many years at a fraction of the cost of repolishing. Budget wise, it costs approximately thirty five to sixty thousand dollars to place a seal coat on one mile of a two-lane track. Compared to resurfacing, seal coating is a savings of up to ninety thousand dollars per mile. To make matters better, a seal coated track will last seven to ten years, saving even more money.
Seal coats are best used on pathways that are just beginning to crack. The sealcoating process begins by filling roadway cracks with a layer of hot oil. This seals water out and keeps cracks from expanding. Then, a layer of rock is spread on top of the oil and packed down. Driving on a newly sealed course is louder than on a resurfaced road. However, noise fades as traffic packs down the rock, pressing the smaller rocks into the sealant oil like a puzzle. A seal coated surface will start to smooth out one year after the seal coat was applied, and become even smoother as time progresses.
At Vaughan Paving Pros, we strive to give our customers the solution that balances budget and functionality. If a surface is just beginning to crack, resurfacing will incur unnecessary expenditure and a sealcoating process will be just right. However, if cracks and potholes have been around for a while and have exceeded the maximum threshold for sealcoating, a resurfacing will be inevitable. All in all, it’s best to take action as soon as a crack or pothole starts to develop. Price only go up the longer you wait. We know sometimes it’s hard to tell what kind of treatment is appropriate, and so we actually visit our customers’ site to make inspections and give treatment plans for free. Call Vaughan Paving Pros at 289-217-9180 to get your free on site quote. Alternatively, call our partner Iowa City Landscaping for some help in Iowa, USA.