Asphalting and Seal Coating For your Home Driveway
1. Asphalting and Seal Coating for Your Home Driveway
Having a driveway in your home is necessary and most people asphalt the driveway to
ensure that it lasts for a long time. It’s quite easy to do the process and sometimes
homeowners try to save on costs by getting small contractors to do the asphalting for
them. It’s cheaper but it’s not the right way to do the job. Ideally, well made asphalt
driveways or roads should last for more than 10 years with only minimal retouching
required. A shoddy job or an asphalt driveway without the seal coating done will start to
breakdown almost immediately. Within a few years, you can expect such cheap jobs to
start peeling away from the underlying support. In fact, the asphalt will also start melt
and dissolve resulting in the formation of potholes on driveway.
Why Does This Happen?
Asphalt is commonly mistaken with coal tar as it is made from the same materials. It is
derived from natural large lake deposits or it can also be distilled from crude oil. As the
properties of the material became well known, researchers decided to use it to coat
roads and ensure stabilization of the road. The material was very easy to use and it
melted very well. As a result, researchers paved roads inside the cities with stone and
then sprayed the melted asphalt on the stone mixture. This ensured that the road
remained stable. By the late 1900s, these asphalt mixtures were commonly used for
coating roads and pavements. The material was flexible as it heated up in direct heat
and it was waterproof and stable as well. Expansion and contraction of the material was
a detriment but it could be controlled with the help of proper underlying support, stone
mixture and sealcoating on top of the last layer. Nowadays, asphalt and stone is used in
a mixture of 4.5% to 12% with an average of 6% of asphalt in the mixture to ensure a
firm road. Road designers have to ensure that underlying layers and the uppermost seal
coat layers are in place for the road to last as long as possible. Ideally, a well built
asphalt roads with asphalt sealers applied with sealcoating equipment will last for more
than 10 years with minimum maintenance. The same rule applies for your driveway as
well. You might have used the best in asphalt and underlying support, but no seal coat
on top means that you are going to lose your driveway in a few years time.
How does sealcoating work?
Asphalt is a petroleum product and it is stable but it does have a range of drawbacks.
For example, asphalt is derived from petroleum. As a result, it does react with other
petroleum products that are spilled on it. This is particularly true if gasoline spills on top
of the road. The asphalt will actually start to melt. The material is also open to attack by
chemicals and salt and asphalt actively starts breaking down after exposure to these
materials. The first visual sign of this damage is change in the colors of the road along
with cracks on the surface of the asphalt. These problems are very common on
driveways and not on roads. On major roads, the cars knead the asphalt and push it into
2. the underlying rocks preventing any damage to the road. As a result, sealcoating with
asphalt primers and professional sealcoating equipment is recommended for driveways
and homes. Currently there are two different types of sealcoating layers that can be
applied on top of a road. CPTE is the most commonly used coating and it is derived
from petroleum. The coat acts as a barrier preventing the leakage of materials into the
road. Newer materials like soap emulsion and clay stabilized emulsions are also used to
seal roads and prevent road damage.
How is sealcoating applied?
You can choose the right type of sealcoating that you want but most manufacturers
suggest that you use professional sealcoating equipment to cover the road. The mixture
also has to be diluted by 25%-30% and mixed with sand or crushed stone to prevent
slipping. It is advisable to get a professional to analyze your driveway, install the stone
layer and the n cover it with the properly diluted asphalt primer and seal coating layer.
