Commercial Paving for the greater Chicagoland and Midwest Area!
Commercial Paving for the greater Chicagoland and Northwest Indiana Area!
If you are responsible for the care of an asphalt pavement, you might have heard that you should include sealcoating in your maintenance plan. An asphalt pavement that receives regular sealcoating applications can have a useful life that is two or three times longer than an unsealed pavement. However, you may have questions about what asphalt sealcoating is, how it can help your pavement, and how you can tell when your pavement needs a sealant application.
Asphalt sealcoating, also known as asphalt sealing, involves the application of a liquid sealant over a pavement. As a liquid, a sealant contains a great deal of water that must evaporate for the sealant to cure. As the sealant cures, it adheres to the pavement and forms a tough shell that helps your pavement resist damage.
Your asphalt pavement is constantly bombarded by the ultraviolet radiation that the sun emits. UV rays steal moisture from asphalt pavement, break down the binder holding the pavement together, and make the pavement brittle. Sealcoating effectively blocks UV rays to prevent this type of damage. The vehicles that drive on your pavement are another source of damage from the fluids that they leak. Gas, oil, diesel, and other
petroleum distillates once happily comingled with the asphalt in your pavement, and the different distillates will attempt to recombine. This results in the formation of soft, crumbly spots that can quickly turn into potholes. The tough shell created by the sealant gives you more time to remove automotive fluids before they can reach the underlying pavement. Sealcoating also protects against a third enemy of asphalt pavements, which is water. Water that penetrates to the pavement’s supporting foundation can inflict significant damage to both the foundation and the pavement, especially when the trapped water freezes and expands. Sealcoating makes your asphalt pavement even more waterproof.
Sealcoating can usually restore the rich, dark color that is associated with new asphalt, and darker colors absorb more heat from the sun. This can make the pavement less brittle and more flexible, which can make it less susceptible to damage from other sources. Since sealants contain sand, sealed pavements provide better traction than unsealed ones, and this can make your pavement safer.
A new asphalt pavement should be sealed as soon as the asphalt has cured and no later than 12 months after completion. After the initial application, the interval between treatments will primarily depend on the traffic that your pavement receives. For example, the parking lot serving a major retailer may need sealcoating every 18 months or so, while an employee parking lot serving a company with only a dozen employees may only need sealcoating every three years. The best way to judge whether your pavement needs sealing is to consult a reputable Chicago asphalt sealcoating contractor. However, there are some visible signs that you should schedule a sealcoating application. If your sealcoating is obviously worn away, your pavement has turned an unattractive gray or brown, or your current sealant is cracking or flaking, you should consider calling your contractor.
Black Hawk Paving is an asphalt paving and asphalt sealcoating contractor serving commercial clients since 1975. We offer an assortment of asphalt services, including asphalt paving, asphalt repairs, milling and grinding, asphalt sealcoating, hot crack sealing, and parking lot striping. Also, we offer pavement markings, concrete curbing, concrete flatwork, sewer repairs, excavation & site grading, car stops, traffic signage, and asphalt fabric installation. We serve customers in many locations in Illinois, including Chicago, Romeoville, Schaumburg, Bolingbrook, Des Plaines, Naperville, Elk Grove Village, Channahon, and Oak Brook. If you want us to get started on your free quote, just fill out our request form, or you can call 708-479-0400 to discuss your project in greater detail.
Our team has provided commercial and industrial paving installation and maintenance services to our clients in Chicago and its surrounding suburbs for more than 46 Years in Business- 1975.
