Asphalt driveway sealer questions

[TOMLESCOEQUIP]

I have an asphalt driveway at home that will need sealed this year. It has never been sealed before. I could use some recomendations on the best type of sealer to use and the application techniques to get the best job. I got a quote from a paving company to do the job but the price seems high. Do the pro's use a hot sealer thats better ??........What about the products from lowes or Home Depot ?? I have an area that was torn up by a set of studded snow tires ..........Will this need a different filler or treatment ?? It's mainly surface scratches but makes the driveway look bad........Thanks in advance !!.............TOM

 

[scottbrrtt72]

Hello Tom,
I just sealed my driveway last weekend. I live in NH and it was 90+ degrees on the day I did it. I purchased the airport grade 5-gallon buckets from Home Depot. It has a 4 year warranty on it and it looks great. It was $9.98 for a 5 gallon bucket. They have various grades and as they go up so don’t the price.

Driveway preparation:

1. Use a weed whacker to trim the grass/weeds off the edge of the driveway.
2. I used a leave blower to clean the driveway of debris, dust, etc.
3. If you have fresh oil or other stains I would recommend you cleaning those first. Pressure washer would work well.

Lessons learned/Recommendations:
1. Wear long pants if/when you spread it yourself. I wore shorts and still have marks on my legs from the splatter. It either burned my skin or I had a reaction to it. I got it on my arms and hands but didn’t have a reaction there. Weird?
2. Wear latex gloves (pending you don’t have a latex allergy) when mixing. I removed my gloves after I dumped out half the bucket on the asphalt to spread. This way you can keep the squeegee handle free from the tar. You will go through a lot of gloves but it is better to stay clean.
3. Use a 5-gallon paint/asphalt tar mixer. I also purchased this at home depot in the paint department. You will need an electric drill (not a cordless, go through batteries to quick) to do the mixing. It took less than 4 minutes to mix each bucket. Doing it by hand is not worth it!
4. When spreading I would dump out ¼ to ½ the bucket on the asphalt. Using the squeegee I purchased at HD I would spread it around in an area you can manage. You want to keep a wet edge (kind-a like painting) when advancing to a new section. Spread it around the area going back and forth with the squeegee. For the final grade I would back drag the squeegee to me. I would then bang it on the ground getting any residue off for the next final pass.
5. I had 2 good days of hot weather so it dried well within 24 hours. I did not drive on it until then.
6. If you have pets keep them indoors or occupied for the time you are doing this. My dogs fingerprints got in it a few times.
7. Be sure to purchase extra buckets. You don’t want to run out and you can always return the leftovers.
8. I would place the empty buckets at the end of the driveway blocking off anyone trying to drive on it.
9. Enjoy and Have plenty of cold beer!

 

[BrentB]

How many square feet will 5 gallons do? How much time would you guess it takes to spread a 5 gallon bucket? I've got a big drive that I had a guy do for 9 cents/sq ft, but was still $600.

Brent

 

[TOMLESCOEQUIP]

I have 7000 sq feet and was quoted .15 per sq foot.........They said the seal they use is applied hot.....Is this a better bonding sealant? inquiring minds want to know!!!!!

 

[chim]

Personal experience (only two driveways) has been as follows. At our first property, I sealed the driveway annually with a coal tar emulsion sealer. I liked that material because gas and oil didn't affect it. By the time we built our current house 17 years later, the driveway had cracked substantailly. No potholes or missing pieces, but it was getting pretty challenged looking. Sealer required for the first application was at least twice that indicated on the cans. Subsequent recoating took less and less each time. The last time probably took half the recommended amount. The best tool for application was a cheap push broom. I had better luck with that than the official squeegee/brush. One thing we did notice was a dark hard to remove patina on the light-colored floor tile that we blamed on tracking from the sealer.

I haven't done anything to our current driveway since it was put down. It's in good condition, but after about 10 years, it is showing minor cracking in some spots. It appears the degradation has been about the same for both the sealed and unsealed driveways.

A group of us owned some apartments together until about the time we had our new driveway done, and one of the fellows asked his brother-in-law (superintendent for a paving business) what sealer to use on the driveway and parking lot at the apartments. The BIL told him there's an ongoing debate among the professionals whether it is good/bad/doesn't matter to seal blacktop. At that point I decided not to bother with mine.......................chim

 

[ewoss3]

I am getting ready to build a 500 gallon ag tank spray trailer for our yearly road maintenance in the mobile home park. I have found two DIY methods for spraying the coal tar emulsion.

1. Using a gas power trash pump. The pump provides sprayer power via a T fitting to a standard garden hose. The other side of the T re-circulates back to the tank.

2. Gravity feed from tank or barrel to a 1" hose. The business end of the hose has an air sprayer that assist in sraying the material out. The air nozzle is inserted inline to the 1" hose approx 3" from the opening. This provides suction from tank and power to spray.

The pro's are normally using coal tar emulsion sealer and it is not heated. Last week the raw material cost was apprx 2.5 cents per foot. The local companies charge 8-9cents per foot for material and application.

for the true DIY solution..
One of our neighbors buy's 50 gallons each year and apply's it witha push broom.

 

[TOMLESCOEQUIP]

Which is a better product..........The oil based sealer or the latex version ?? How long can I expect the sealer to last on a residential drive ?? ...........TOM

 

[ewoss3]

We had our driveway area sealed 3 years ago with the coal tar, it is just now starting to look like it needs more sealer. I haven't used the other product ,but with the sun we get in Oklahoma I have seen several driveways that their sealer is flaking up like bad house paint. The coal tar just slowly fades away to regular asphalt look. I'm pretty sure the coal tar emulsion would be the cheaper route even if you had to recoat more often.

 

[2003Pilot]

TOMLESCOEQUIP:

I've been told by professional paving people that using REAL asphault (oil-based) sealer is far superior to the latex based coal tar sealer.

The asphault sealer is just like the actual asphault liquid mixed with the tiny stones when the "blacktop" material is made. The oil-based asphault actually soaks in and penetrates into the tiny crevices in the surface similar to a stain applied to wood. The latex coating, on the other hand, just covers the surface, just like painting wood. It may make the surface look good, but it doesn't penetrate into the material and "re-glue" it back together like oil based material does. The oil based asphault coting actually prolongs the life of the surface.

Gary

 

[Soundguy]

The material you have seen applied hot is most likely some sort of asphalt emulsion. They are applied hot for ease of application.. at under 120 or so, it is a thick gum, and harder at around 100. Mostly inert environmentally when cooled/dried/cured.

Asphalt doesn't need to be sealed untill it starts to crack or otherwise really degrade.. In other words, otherwise good asphalt that is just faded with NO cracks is still ok...Unles you just want it pretty...

Soundguy