Asphalt pavements take a beating from nature in the North Texas area. From bombarding pavements with intense levels of ultraviolet radiation to flooding them during the frequent thunderstorms, nature can take quite a toll. When you include the weight and volume of traffic, leaked automotive fluids, and the probability that vehicles will arrive with overheated tires in the summer, it is easy to see that asphalt pavements must endure a great deal of stress every day of the year. Asphalt sealcoating is the most cost-effective way to shield pavements from the various sources of potential damage. However, sealcoating need to be applied correctly to be truly beneficial. One crucial factor in the application is getting the thickness of the sealant right.
What Happens When Asphalt Sealcoating Is Applied Too Thinly?
When correctly applied, most asphalt paving lot sealcoating will last between 18 and 24 months, but lots that support very few vehicles may not need fresh parking lot sealcoating as frequently. If your sealcoating contractor applies a sealant in coats that are too thin, the traffic will wear away the sealant in a matter of weeks, leaving your pavement unprotected.
What Happens When Asphalt Sealcoating Is Applied Too Thickly?
If your sealcoating company applies a sealant in coats that are too thick, you are going to have a mess on your hands in more ways than one. Sealcoating must lose the water that it contains through the process of evaporation, and thick coats make it difficult or impossible for all the water to evaporate, so the sealant cannot cure. Until it cures, parking lot sealcoating can be picked up on shoes and tracked down your walkway and onto the floors of your building. The uncured sealant can also be picked up on tires and tracked onto other pavements. If a heavy rain falls on the uncured sealant, the sealcoat could be washed away in spots or even completely; you could end up with an unsightly pavement with a mottled appearance, or your pavement could be left without protection. When parking lot maintenance companies apply thick layers of sealant, the best-case scenario is that their clients will need to keep their lots closed for a far longer time than would have been necessary if the sealant had been applied correctly. Thus, sealcoating Dallas TX parking lots too thickly can often be even more disastrous than applying the sealant too thinly.
What Is the Correct Thickness for Parking Lot Sealcoating?
The first thing you need to know is that a sealcoating company should never apply a sealant in one thick coat. When sealcoating parking lot pavements, the industry standard calls for at least two coats, and each coat must be given time to cure sufficiently before the next coat is applied. Therefore, you should consider the total thickness of all layers of the sealant to determine whether the application is too thick or too thin. Although some variations may occur, most parking lot maintenance companies aim for a total thickness of just under 13 mils for cured sealant and around 32 mils for wet sealant. For perspective, two coats of fully cured sealant is roughly equivalent in thickness to a stack of three to four sheets of printer paper, and the combined thickness of the wet sealant would be equivalent to a stack of approximately eight pieces of paper.
At HI-TEK Paving, We Get It Right the First Time
We are Dallas specialists in all areas of parking lot maintenance, and we have the equipment, staffing, and experience to handle jobs of all sizes. Our services include sealcoating, asphalt paving, parking lot striping, asphalt resurfacing and repair, concrete installation and repair, and asphalt crack repair. We have an outstanding reputation for high-quality workmanship, superior customer service, and professional and personal integrity. Contact us for a free, honest quote by completing the online form, calling 214-908-9641, or emailing Kevin@Hi-TekPaving.com.