Tuesday, August 20, 2013

Minimize Damages On Parking Lots And Drives Through Asphalt Sealcoating

By Helga Stokes


Pavement preservation is essential for the life of driveways and parking lots. If you construct your pavements and you fail to preserve them, they will wear out fast. You will spend more money in repairs and maintenance. You need to seek for asphalt sealcoating contractors to apply a layer of sealant on the surfaces. The sealant prevents damages, which could be caused by environmental and man-made factors.

Elements like sunlight and snow can damage the blacktop of your pavements. When heat from the sun bakes asphalt material, it makes it hard and rigid. The surface material cannot expand and contract easily. The sealcoat material allows the pavements to contract and expand evenly. Cracks may easily form as the pavements dry with time. Whenever cracks occur, they allow water to seep down and settle at the bed of your roads.

The oxidation causes the material to lose its viscoelasticity properties with time. You may notice a change in color of your driveways and parking lots. As the blacktop dries out, it changes from the beautiful jet-black color to gray. If you notice this change in color, you need to act fast because within a few months, the blacktop surface may develop small cracks, which can advance to big cracking.

Sealcoats prevents cracks from occurring in the first place. Many damages on pavements begin with the formation of tiny cracks, which enlarge and form large visible cracks. The presence of cracks should not be underrated and a speedy corrective measure is needed. Cracks allow water to enter the bed of roads. Inside the foundation, the water causes the aggregate material to loosen up.

Sealcoats are not intended to correct defects within pavements. If cracks have already formed, you need to repair them before a sealcoat is applied. When you apply a sealcoat on top of cracked pavement, it only masks the problem. This means that soon the coat will peel off and expose your blacktop surface to the destructive elements like sunlight and water.

If you have poorly maintained asphaltic pavements, they reflect a bad image of your business. To help create confidence with customers, you can apply a sealcoat on the blacktop to enhance its curb appeal. Stains on asphalt pavements may also be covered with a sealcoat. You can prevent the stains from occurring in the first place by sealing the surface with a sealcoat.

Timing is essential when applying sealcoats. In newly constructed pavements, you have to allow the blacktop to cure properly. This takes sometime depending on how fast the oxidation process occurs. It may take up to one year before the blacktop cures properly. After the first coating, you also need to ensure that you apply the sealants after every 3 to 5 years.

The lifespan of driveways and parking lots can be enhanced by coating the surfaces with sealcoat products. In addition, you spend less amount of money towards the repairs and maintenance of pavements when you apply sealcoats at the right time. This is because you minimize the damages that occur on the roads. By contacting asphalt sealcoating contractors, your roads are maintained in good condition throughout.




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