If you want an asphalt pavement that will last a long time, look as attractive as possible, and not require frequent costly repairs, periodic applications of a high-quality sealcoat can help. Asphalt sealcoating has many benefits, including improving the pavement’s resistance to petrochemicals, blocking harmful UV rays, and restoring a faded pavement’s color. Although sealcoating is highly effective on its own, there are additives that can enhance its properties.

What Can Asphalt Sealcoating Additives Do?

Asphalt sealcoating contractors have access to a long list of additives that could potentially be incorporated into the sealant mix. The following is a partial list that covers the additives that are commonly used by asphalt pavement maintenance contractors.

1. There are additives that improve the sealant’s durability, flexibility, and toughness.
2. Some asphalt parking lot sealcoating contractors choose additives that will speed up the sealant’s drying time, which allows them to proceed with the parking lot striping sooner, ensure that shaded areas dry in an expeditious manner, or compensate for less-than-ideal weather conditions.
3. Certain additives make parking lot sealcoating more resistant to oil, gas, and other chemicals.
4. Many pavement maintenance contractors use an additive that helps keep the sand in the mix evenly distributed throughout the liquid sealcoating, which helps ensure that the sand will be evenly distributed over the entire pavement.
5. Although sealcoating can often return the rich, black color that faded asphalt had when it was new, there are additives that can make the color of the pavement even darker.

How Many Different Additives Can a Parking Lot Maintenance Contractor Include in a Sealcoating Mix?

The general rule is that only one additive should be included in a batch of sealcoating. To add more than one, the contractor would need to obtain permission from the company that manufactured the sealant. Furthermore, since sealant manufacturers test how the additives they produce react with the sealants they manufacture, they advise that asphalt parking lot sealcoating contractors only use the additives produced by the company that manufactured the sealant. The mix-and-match method can have unexpected and undesirable consequences.

Do All Asphalt Sealcoating Jobs Require Additives?

Manufacturers produce many different sealants at a variety of price points. Sometimes, the performance of a premium sealant could actually be degraded by the introduction of an additive, or the additive might not have any noticeable effect, making the small additional cost unnecessary. Depending on the type of sealcoating you choose, the weather conditions at the time of application, and your priorities for your pavement, your pavement maintenance contractor may not recommend an additive.

Do Additives Impact the Frequency of My Asphalt Parking Lot Sealcoating Applications?

Occasionally, an additive can help your sealcoating last longer, but that primarily occurs if you have previously been using a low-grade sealant, subjected your pavement to abuse, or seen a dramatic increase in the number of vehicles using your parking lot. Normally, your parking lot sealcoating contractor considers the potential impact of an additive when providing customers with a schedule for future applications.

Marathon Solutions Group Will Happily Answer Your Sealcoating Questions

We are an experienced, dependable, and well-respected Houston paving company serving Harris County and beyond. We offer a full range of pavement maintenance, construction, and repair services, including sealcoating, thermoplastic markings, asphalt paving, asphalt resurfacing, bollard installation, asphalt milling, parking lot striping, asphalt crack repair, concrete repair, parking lot signage, and asphalt repair. We have impeccable references, and we are known for the exceptional quality of our work as well as our exemplary customer service. If you are interested in requesting a free quote, you can fill out our online form, call 800-879-1147, or email HQ@Marathon-Solutions.com.