FAQ

Because asphalt pavement offers poor resistance to UV rays and sunlight, it begins to deteriorate as a result of oxidation (exposure to the air and sun) as soon as it’s constructed.

Oxidation from the sun speeds up the aging and deterioration of asphalt pavement, so anything you can do to slow this process will extend pavement life. Sealcoating your parking lot will slow oxidation.

As oxidation progresses, fines are released from the pavement surface, exposing larger aggregate, and as the pavement continues to dry out and is exposed to traffic (as well as a variety of weather conditions) aggregate can be pulled out of the pavement and small cracks begin to form. These cracks, if left untreated, eventually become larger, providing a way for water to work its way beneath the pavement.

Once cracks start developing, you are going to get water into the subgrade. That will soften the subgrade and with traffic, the pavement moves and starts creating cracks around the original crack and pretty soon you have alligatored areas that can only be fixed through remove-and-replace.

As part of a comprehensive pavement maintenance program, sealcoating is one of the most important elements in extending pavement life. Sealcoating protects the asphalt from water penetration, oil, salt and the sun’s ultraviolet rays and provides a longer life of the asphalt pavement.

“Sealcoating is essential in pavement preservation and extending the life of your asphalt pavement,” says Greg Houser, Vice President of Research and Development for Neyra Industries. “There are many benefits of sealcoating asphalt, including improving visual aesthetics, resisting oxidation from the sun, replacing eroded surfaces, extending the life and optimizing the overall value of the asphalt pavement.”

Sealcoating helps by filling the hairline cracks that eventually can become entryways for water. Because sealer contains fillers and usually sand, it also replaces some of the fines lost through oxidation and erosion and fills hairline cracks.

If left unprotected, the asphalt binder, or glue that hold the stone and sand in place, loses strength and the mat becomes brittle, allowing stone and sand to roll out. The parking lot is the welcome mat to your property – to your store or your mall. So both the condition and cosmetics of your parking lot either present an inviting place to shop or an unviting place and that’s going to affect your store traffic. If it’s nice and black with bright stripes – that tells the public that you run a nice operation and you take care of the place they’re going to visit, so you’ll probably take good care of them.

Just as it’s important to understand why to sealcoat, it’s important to explain what sealcoating doesn’t do. Sealcoating doesn’t:

• Improve the pavement structure in any way. It’s a preventive, maintenance process, not construction.
• Fix damaged pavement or pavement defects. Once an asphalt pavement reaches a certain stage of deterioration, sealcoating is a waste of money.  It will make damaged pavement look better for a short time but the damage will continue to expand, causing additional pavement failure. At some point the pavement needs to be repaired before being sealcoated.
• Level depressions or uneven pavement. It is applied in thin coats.
• Restore flexibility to the pavement.

Because of its petroleum-based nature, asphalt pavement offers poor resistance to petroleum products, chemicals and salts. Gasoline and oils dissolve directly into the asphalt and petroleum products soften the pavement structure. Consequently, because of its chemical makeup, refined tar sealer offers better protection than asphalt-based sealers against gasoline, oil, chemicals and salt.

Refined coal tar sealers generally last 2 times longer than asphalt-based sealers.  Also, Coal Tar based sealers have a lower recommended temperature installation range, which allow installation to begin earlier and end later in the year.

Coal Tar Emulsion (CTE) sealer is the proven, preferred method of enhancing and protecting your asphalt pavement. Only CTE truly offers resilient protection against the environmental elements that are destroying your parking lot.

The sealcoating application process includes many steps to ensure that the sealer performs at the highest level. Not only does the quality of the product and equipment used determine success, but also the knowledge and experience of the contractor applying the sealer. C & R Asphalt is one of the most experienced sealcoating contractors in Central Kentucky.

The most important step in the sealcoating process is preparation, and C & R Asphalt takes this step extremely seriously. If a job is not prepared properly, the sealer will not perform to its full capability.

• First, to ensure the pavement is clean, we first use wire brooms and a high-speed blower to clear the surface from any debris.
• Second, we clean and fill cracks with Neyra branded crackfill to ensure that the sealer can bond with the surface and that no water is able to penetrate down beneath.
• Third, we apply the premium Neyra sealer, either Tarconite or Jennite, by hand around concrete and brick surfaces or next to structures to minimize any over spray.
• Finally, we apply the sealer by spraying the surface. Spraying the surface gives even coverage without the buildup you can experience with hand application. Spraying also prevents any brush or squeegee marks from being visible in the final product. On large parking lots, C & R Asphalt utilizes a truck mounted spraybar.

The sealer needs to dry approximately 24 hours before allowing any traffic.  If desired, striping is applied after the sealcoat is cured enough to walk on. The entire lot is then dry and opened for traffic depending on weather conditions.

Contact C & R Asphalt with any questions you may have concerning your sealcoating or pavement maintenance needs. For a FREE project estimate, click here.

C & R offers customers a variety of pricing options to meet every need. All standard procedures and pricing options are explained in our specifications.

The following describes the three options:

• Good: One “heavy” coat procedure of Brewer-Cote Coal/Tar emulsion with a mix ratio of 30% dilution, 70% emulsion concentrate, and 2 lbs. of sand per gallon of mixture. (Not offered for commercial projects)
• Better: Two-coat application procedure of Brewer-Cote Coal/Tar emulsion with a mix ratio of 30% dilution, 70% emulsion concentrate, and 3 lbs. of sand per gallon of mixture.
• Best: Two-coat application procedure of Poly-cote Coal/Tar emulsion with a mix ratio of 10% dilution, 90% emulsion concentrate, and 6 lbs. of sand per gallon.  Please note an additional third primer coat is necessary with virgin asphalt.

There are several reasons we have chosen this pricing method. First, is to give you the opportunity to compare apples to apples. In today’s market, there are many companies that use different products with different mix ratios and applications rates. Hopefully, at least one of our first two options will compare to theirs. Beware of the bidder who does not specify the mix ratios or the number of coats.

The second reason is economics. Often a customer’s budget simply does not allow for option C (best).  You may want to make your parking lot look “black” for appearance and be inviting to your customers. If you just want that “fresh pavement look” that often, (every year or every other year) then, option A is for you. One good coat of our sealer will last that long under normal conditions depending on traffic usage and condition of asphalt.

Water is the most destructive element for pavement, and crackfilling is the number one way to prevent water intrusion into asphalt surfaces. Effective crackfilling keeps water from entering and weakening the base or sub-base of the pavement. It helps preserve the asphalt adjacent to the cracks; prevents sand, stone, and dirt from making its way into open cracks causing compressive stresses; and extends pavement life by minimizing crack growth.

Proper attention to cracks prevents problems from spreading and doubles the life of the pavement. Pavement repair in the early stages of deterioration pays big dividends later delaying costly resurfacing.

The crackfilling process begins with properly preparing the crack prior to filling. There are a few methods used to clean cracks of debris, such as vegetation, loose rock, dirt and dust. Some of these methods include an air compressor, steel wire brush or router. A clean, dry surface is important to achieve proper adhesion for the crackfill.

Once clean, cracks can be filled with either a hot or cold rubberized crack filler. Cold crackfillers are primarily used for minimal cracks, while hot pour materials are used for more excessive cracking and applied using pour pots or fire kettle machines.

How the material is applied is oftentimes as important as determining what material will be used. When filling the crack, it’s important to fill from the bottom up to assure a complete seal. Having an experienced contractor complete this type of work is imperative to the success of this type of preventative maintenance.

C & R Asphalt is a distributor of Unique Paving Materials (UPM) cold mix asphalt products. UPM Cold Mix Asphalt Repair Material is used to permanently repair more potholes than any cold mix or cold patch asphalt product in the pavement repair industry. UPM prides itself on being…

• Worldwide Standard for Cold Mix in industry
• High Performance Cold Patch Asphalt Material promoting cost effectiveness
• All Weather Workability and Dependability

To see UPM cold mix in action, watch this video: UPX COLD MIX IN ACTION.

Visit UPM’s website for more product information at www.uniquepavingmaterials.com.

C & R Asphalt specializes in small to midsize concrete projects and has the expertise necessary to identify the most practical solution for your commercial concrete repairs, replacement or new construction needs.

• C & R specializes in the following concrete work:
  • Removal and replacement of existing slabs
  • Dumpster pads
  • Sidewalks
  • Extruded concrete curbing
  • Concrete curbs & gutters
  • Retaining walls
  • Concrete slabs
  • Drain basins and surrounding aprons

To see UPM cold mix in action, watch this video: UPX COLD MIX IN ACTION.

Visit UPM’s website for more product information at www.uniquepavingmaterials.com.