Driveway Sealcoating in Gilford
 

Well the snow is almost gone from the driveway so I thought it would be a good time to locate a good seal-coat contractor. Can anyone please give me some recommendations on who I should call. I know I will need to wait until late April or May for it to be warm enough, but would like to get a jump on locating someone now. Any comments or recommendations would be appreciated.

sealing driveway
 

hi cottonwood
I recommend calling a paving contractor thay also seal driveways too.also you can do it your self to save some money. you can get all the sealer and bush at any hardware store home depot.You can do it in one day or have it done in a weekend that is if you do it your self.

Eric, thanks for the reply. I may do it myself but was hoping for some feedback from someone who had it done professionally. It's a rather long driveway and time might be better served fishing:)

Thanks again

Based on my personal experience...

If you decide to do it yourself, I'd wait until at least late April to buy the materials. A freeze is not good for uncured latex products. You should start your prep a couple weeks before you plan to spread the sealer. Spend a few more dollars and buy the giant squeegee. You can use a paint brush but for any large area your back won't be happy.

Clean the cracks and identify the places you are going to want to add patching material. Once you start you may find more areas that need atention than you thought. If you hire somebody they will just do what they can in the day or two allotted to the job. If you are going to do some and hire the rest, ask the contractor what they suggest you use so it is compatible with the materials and techniques they use.

Latex patch ("Pudding") needs to cure at least 24 hours before you put sealer on it and cold patch 4-6 weeks. Too thick a layer of pudding may seal on the surface and stay soft a long time so apply it thinly and dont be afraid to do multiple coats. Even though the can says pudding does not need to be sealed I have observed it turning back from black to brown after rain so I seal it.

If you need to use cold patch to fill a pot hole try to borrow or rent a compactor. It takes a lot of effort to tamp it properly by hand and you may not get the agregate tight enough to last very long. I seal cold patch too because water will accumulate under it and cause spalling from below and the patch will fail faster.

The sealant may say one coat is enough but unless your driveway is in excellent condition I'd recomend two. At the very least seal your patches then do the entire drive way after those sections have cured (or dried accordng to your material's instructions). It is better to apply the sealer when the weather is going to be warm but not excrutiatingly hot. Too much heat causes 'spider cracks' which will allow water under the top coat adn it can flake up.

Good luck!

Kamper,
Thank you for your post. My driveway is in fairly good condition except for some cracking. I'll take your advice and let the crack filler cure before I apply the sealer. The way things look outside today it will be awhile before I start this project. Thanks again.

Any idea what the rough cost per sq/ft would be for a professional to do it?

All good comments above but I will add one. Make sure the "ground temperature" is above 60 degrees, meaning the actual ground temp. You will notice that most reputable places only sell driveway sealer in the late spring, summer and very early fall timeframe. Just because it is 70 degrees out on an April or September day does not mean the ground is warm enough to apply the sealer. Watching it wash away a week later in a heavy rain really.........well you get it.

This is the product that I used. Great stuff, easy stir and easy cleanup.

http://www.latexite.com/pr-optimumPRO.html

BT

Blue Thunder has a good point about the ground temperature. The buckets say 'air temperature' but I'm sure the ground temperature can effect proper curing.

I've used Latexite too, but I can't say if it's better than the others. I've gotten materials at HD and Lowe's. One think I have observed is the more expensive version of the same brand, will spread better so you need less. For my job it's about break-even but I have fewer buckets to dispose of.

A point about re-using the empty buckets... They do come in handy but you want to clean them immediatly after they are empty to minimize the sediments.