Sealcoating Questions - Questions 1-10

The first 10 questions have to do with  sealcoating. 

Sealcoating is the process of placing a protective coating over the asphalt to help increase the life of the parking lot by reducing oxidation, protecting from gas and oil spills. Additionally  it returns the lot to its original consistant black appearance which should probably be considered as an aesthetic benefit. Now lets try to answer the questions. The questions were not in any specific order. I will try to answer them in the order they were given to me which may not be the best. 

1. How much will it cost?

Sealer pricing will range depending on size of lot, striping and number of coats. Depending on the lot the pricing is generally less pennies on the dollar compared to the cost of resurfacing or other repairs. 

2. What is spider cracking on sealed lots?

Hairlines are very thin cracks, (usually less than 1/16th of an inch wide). They are cracks in the sealcoating, not in the asphalt itself. They are spider web looking, interconnecting cracks, and are usually more apparent when it is wet or damp out. This generally results from too many applications of coal tar products.

3. How did it happen?

We think it occurs because the coal tar cures differently than asphalt and as a result creates this incompatibility after successive applications. Check out this article: http://www.geeasphalt.net/asphalt_competitiveproducts.asp

4. What can I do to fix it?

Using asphalt sealer will generally improve the situation. If you begin sealing your lot with asphalt this problem will never occur. The only way to eliminate them completely would be to re-surface the parking lot.

5. Why should I seal my lot?

Why Seal Coat?

· Seal coating seals the asphalt pavement, preventing the oxidation and erosion of the top layer of asphalt

· On older pavements seal coating replaces fine particles lost from the asphalt surface due to oxidation

· Seal coating seals the small cracks that can turn into large cracks and prevents water from seeping down to the base material.

· Seal coating helps protects the asphalt from the sun as well as the harmful effects of chemical spills such as oil and gasoline.

· Seal coating provides an attractive black surface that is ideal for painting lines and other markers.

· Seal coating leaves a smooth, clean surface ideal for sweeping, lowering cleaning costs.

· Seal coating costs pennies a square foot compared to the dollars needed to repair or replace damaged asphalt.

6. Are there alternatives to coal tar?

Yes there are asphalt based products that are the equivalent of coal tar based sealers and do not have the strong odor, acidic burning or carcinogenic effects.

7. What is coal tar?

Coal tar is a byproduct of the coking process. It is has been used as a preservative and in medicinal products that deal with lice and psoriasis. Coal Tar is thought to be carcinogenic and for that reason was banned in parts of California and Texas for use in sealcoating products. Here is the city of Austin's brochure on coal tar products: http://www.cityofaustin.org/watershed/downloads/brochure_coaltar.pdf

Here is another good article on coal tar that I think tells the whole story:

http://www.geeasphalt.net/asphalt_competitiveproducts.asp

8. What is asphalt sealer?

Asphalt sealer uses asphalt instead of Coal Tar to make a comparable sealcoating product.

9. What are the benefits of asphalt sealer?

Asphalt based products that are the equivalent of coal tar based sealers and do not have the strong odor, acidic burning or carcinogenic effects.

10. The other contractor said he is going to squeege the sealer. You are spraying. Whats the difference?

In our opinion spraying is the better method. It provides the more consistant coat across the entire surface (in terms of thickness) and without question produces the better finished look. Some websites question whether squeeging may be the better method. Maybe as a first coat application but its benefits are minimal. It is often view that this method does a better job filling cracks and voids. This is really  a misnomer.  Structurally sealcoatings do not do a good job to fill cracks since the resins in it are not flexible enough to deal with the movement in asphalt. As a result there is only minimal benefit to fill the cracks using the squeegee method. Squeegees tend to drag on the surface leaving the coating thin on the wear part of the surface where it is needed the most. Proper spray applied asphalts tend to outperform squeegee applied applications.

Spraying vs. Sealing is not the end of the story. There is one other method that is worth mentioning - Brush Application. "The bristles of the brush push the sealer deep into the pours and fill in all the little nooks and crannies. " (http://www.sealcoat911.com/about2.html), 

The author of the above reference however recommends a squeegee application as the finish coat to the brush application. We have experimented with this and are not satisfied with this process. In our opinion there are 3 options to sealing:

1. 2 coat spray

2. 1 coat brush

3. 1 coat brush and 1 coat spray. 

Number 3 is the best choice albeit the most expensive process. While the jury is still out our results indicate that 1 coat brush is better and slightly less expensive than 2 coat spray.  But the brush / spray 2 coat process is by far the best. 

50 Important Questions

The Thanksgiving holidays are over and its time to get ready for Christmas. I always look forward to this slower time of year. In the construction industry the winter represents a time to take account of everything you did last year and how you would like to change things for the following year. I have been involved in this process since 1981, the year I was married. 5 children and almost 28 years later it has become a ritual that I can now look back on with some sentimental feelings for what seemed like a simpler time long ago. 

When we decided to get this blog together, I asked for people within our company to put together lists of questions that our customer always ask. We felt that it would be another way for our customers to gain insight into our operations. My brother, David,  took me up on this and put together a list of 50 questions that address issues that he answers all the time.  So I thought I would simply list the questions in this blog entry and then over the next few weeks do my best to put some sort of an answer to each of the questions. Here is that list (which for better or worse) I simply cut and pasted from his email. 

1,  How much will it cost

2,  What is spider cracking on sealed lots

3,  How did it happen

4,  What can I do to fix it

5, Why should I seal my lot

6,  Are there alternatives to coal tar

7,  What is coal tar

8,  What is asphalt sealer

9,  What are the benefits of asphalt sealer

10, The other contractor said he is going to squeege the sealer, you are spraying,  whats the difference

11,  My business is open 7 days a week, can we phase the work to keep the lot open

12, I am closed on weekends, can you seal then

13, my lot has cracking can you repair the cracks

14, What is the difference between normal cracking and alligator cracking

15, What are my options for fixing the alligator areas.

16,  You said there is reflective cracking in my lot, what is reflective cracking

17,  what are the advantages of repairing the cracks

18, What are the differences between patching,  mill and pave  or  peel and pave,  what are the advantages or disadvantages to each one.

19,  There is mud coming through my blacktop, what can you do to repair it and why do I see mud

20,  I always have water ponding in certain areas of my lot, what can you do to get rid of the water

21, Do you stripe,

22, I have broken curbs, can you repair them

23, I have damaged concrete walks or driveway approach, do you do concrete

24, I have a catch basin that’s  collapsing, Can you repair or replace my catch basin.

25, I have water going into my garage doors, do you install trench drains

26, There is a sink hole in my parking lot, what could be causing it and how can you fix it

27, I got another price and he said he is giving me 1” compacted, what does that mean

28, I have another quote and his scope is different than yours.

29, My lot is breaking up and I have a lot of heavy trucks coming in and out of my business, what are my alternatives

30, The blacktop where the dumpster truck empties the dumpster has deep tire ruts, what are my alternatives.

31, How is the price of gas effecting the blacktop business

32, I want to resurface my lot, but the blacktop is already above the doors and walks,  what can I do

33, Do you do oil and chip,  Is it a good option to repaving my lot.

34, I only need 1 pothole fixed, Will you come to do a small job

35, We have a community board, will you come to our board meeting and explain your quote

36, I need a budget price , we will be looking to do some work in the next yr

37, I have another location in Rochester, how far will you travel

38, I am from out of town, will you go and do a survey of what repairs and overall condition of my parking lot

39, I already have a site contractor, will you just do the paving

40, Do you do residential work

41, Do you need any money down

42, It’s the middle of winter, can you fill the pothole in my lot

43, Do you have a guarantee

44, How often should I seal my parking lot

45, My concrete is Spalding, what causes that to happen

46, Can you break your bid up and give me multiple prices, I might not do all the work

47, You bid this job for me 2 months ago, are the prices still good

48, You bid type 7 top and the other guy bid type 6 top, whats the difference and whats better for me

49, why do the sabres keep losing

50, why do the bills keep losing

Stay tuned for all the answers.

Keeping our options open

Since we are a paving company, I would think that one of our responsibilities is to keep up on the latest technologies in our industry.  So, in the spirit of ingenuity and forward thinking, I've done a bit of research on what else is out there when it comes to applications of asphalt in many different situations.  One of the most interesting things which I've come across is pervious asphalt and what opportunities it offers as a way to mitigate stormwater runoff.  The whole idea behind pervious asphalt is that stormwater is able to drain through the asphalt surface, down through layers of stone and sand which act to filter the water, eventually reaching the water table beneath the installed subgrade, and re-entering the water table as benign, filtered water.  If engineers and planners were to embrace this technology and approve the use of these materials, site developers would be able to forgo the installation of expensive, and sometimes very complicated, detention ponds and other water runoff related structures.  The biggest difference between the installation of pervious asphalt and traditional is in the sub-base.  Pervious asphalt requires a layering of stone, sand and fabric, all of which is required to achieve the filtering necessary to clean the water before it re-enters the water-table.  This does increase the price of installation, though costs are more than offset considering that detention ponds and other runoff related structures do not need to be installed. 

The technology is rather new, and does have its drawbacks.  One of which being that you cannot sealcoat pervious pavement, another being that it requires some maintenance in the form of a special vacuuming in order to keep the top asphalt layer from clogging up.  

The University of New Hampshire has been studying pervious asphalt and has a wealth of information on its website dealing with it.  Check it out here: http://www.unh.edu/erg/cstev/

As well here's a bit more info to take a look at: http://www.pavegreen.com/water_quality.asp

What is our companies purpose?

This is a good question. On our websites home page, our mission statement reads:

"Our mission is to maintain excellent client relationships.  We uphold our mission by providing clients with the best service possible along with superior construction, product quality and providing accurate project deadlines and budget estimates."

I think that is a good start but I am not sure it adequately defines our company purpose as it relates to all of our activities. I plan to revisit this question over and over again in this blog and talk about it in more ways than one. But as a general outline I think a company has different purposes as it relates to it's customers, it's  employees and it's community. To adequately define all that in terms of a mission statement is pretty tough. If we start with our customers which is where I think we need to start then our Mission Statement sets us on the right track. To elaborate on it more I think we hope to produce a superior product but at the same time control costs and maintain efficiencies. I think that is the mark of a good company and what builds confidence with customers. There have been times where that doesn't always work out. Call it the nature of the construction business. That is what really makes the difference though. How you come through it. How well your company is able to react to diversity and get the job done. Perhaps a mistake gets made or we're not getting it done for some reason. Are we accessible? Can we adapt? Can we preserve the relationship and keep the lines of communication open? We can all make alot of claims when it is in a post on a website. So I guess our purpose then is to make our words into reality and deliver what we say when we say it. 

Why do a blog?

When it was suggested that I start a company blog for the website I really couldn't figure out why. The more I thought about it though the more I warmed up to the idea. What better way to give customers insight into our company. Not only from the point of view of who we are and what we do but to add a human face to all of that. We have been in business a long time and I am rightly proud of that. Our roots in the asphalt and construction industry go back to 1925. My 2 brothers and I have been in the business alone for over 30 years and now several of our children are involved. Many of our employees have been with us since the early eighties. We are still operating in Buffalo and now we also operate in Raleigh, NC. Almost 10 families have relocated here with us from Buffalo. For a small company of our size we have achieved a level of sustainable diversification that other companies simply cannot match because of the remarkable level of skill and talent that we possess. In the coming days, weeks, months...etc I hope to talk about many of the aspects of our business and how we make it work for our customer.