Sealcoating an asphalt driveway or parking lot not only improves its appearance but also protects it against damages resulting from:
Thus, applying a seal coating on your asphalt driveway or parking lot is essential in enhancing the durability of the asphalt. Nonetheless, most people tend to neglect seal coating to the point where their asphalt driveways and parking lots start to deteriorate. In most cases, the amount of damage inflicted on the asphalt is so severe that a resurfacing job has to get done before a seal coating can be applied.
Nonetheless, you do not have to wait until your asphalt driveway/parking lot gets severely damaged for you to consider hiring seal coating services. Instead, there are several signs you should look out for that will let you know it's high time to invest in seal coating services.
With that said, here are three early warning signs that let you know it's time to apply seal coating on your asphalt driveway or parking lot.
Minute Cracks
Though asphalt is pretty durable, it is still susceptible to incurring cracks as time passes. The cracking results from several reasons, including:
Irrespective of the reason for cracking, the initial cracks will be minute. However, if the minute cracks get ignored long enough, they will enlarge and further deteriorate your asphalt driveway or parking lot. If you apply asphalt seal coating, it will prevent the cracks from enlarging by:
Thus, as soon as you notice small cracks forming on the asphalt, it is advisable to immediately apply a seal coating to protect the asphalt from the factors mentioned above.
Color Fading
Freshly paved asphalt is black; however, exposure to sunlight results in the asphalt fading from black to gray. The fading results from ultraviolet radiation in sunlight initiating a chemical reaction in the binders contained in the asphalt. Therefore, in addition to making asphalt fade in color, UV radiation also weakens the asphalt by reacting with the binders. Thus in some cases, exposure to UV radiation also causes the asphalt to crack when the binders respond to the UV radiation.
Therefore, as soon as you notice the dark black color of the asphalt starting to fade and turn greyish, it is advisable to seek seal coating services immediately before the color fades completely or cracks begin to form. Sealcoating protects asphalt from UV light by reflecting sunlight away, thus reducing the exposure of asphalt to direct UV radiation.
Winter Is Approaching
During winter, it is typical for melting snow and ice water to seep into your asphalt driveway through cracks or pores on the asphalt's surface. Water seeping into the asphalt is not usually a significant issue. However, when temperatures drop below freezing during winter, your asphalt can easily get damaged when the water seeping into the asphalt freezes.
Remember, when water turns to ice, the volume expands. Thus, when the water in the asphalt freezes and expands, it pushes apart the asphalt, thus causing severe damages to your driveway. If you apply seal coating before the winter season sets in, the seal coat will prevent water from seeping into the asphalt. Even if the temperature drops below freezing, you do not have to worry about freezing water damaging your asphalt driveway/parking lot
To learn more information about sealcoating, reach out to a service near you.