Advantages Of A Premium Grade Pavement Sealer For Your Next Seal Coating Project

Why Premium Grade Pavement Sealers such as Gem Seal Poly Tar last twice as long as regular coal tar emulsion pavement sealers.    

THE ADVANTAGES OF SEALCOATING / WHY SEALCOAT?

THE DOLLARS & “SENSE” OF PREVENTATIVE MAINTENANCE

A parking lot preventative maintenance plan (PMP), which involves sealcoating and hot rubberized crack sealing, is the ABSOLUTE best investment” a property or facility manager can make.  $0.25 cents per square foot spent TODAY will save $4.00 - $5.00 per square foot 10 – 15 years from now.   

Please click our video below for a brief multimedia presentation to show you how Premium Grade Pavement Sealers actually cost less when amortized over a 12 year life span of an asphalt parking lot.

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWPUD4qLMmo

THE ADVANTAGES OF A PREMIUM GRADE PAVEMENT SEALER SYSTEM

You may ask:

What is a premium grade pavement sealer system, isn’t sealcoating just sealcoating?

What Is Traditional Pavement Sealer Compared To A Premium Grade Pavement Sealer:

When coal tar emulsion is purchased from a pavement sealer manufacturer or authorized distributor, it comes in a concentrated form resembling mayonnaise.  The manufacturer then suggests certain mix designs each contractor should follow. 

 Most manufacturers suggest a dilution ratio of 25-35 gallons of water per 100 gallons of concentrate.  In addition, a latex modifier (Also called an additive) is recommended at a rate of 1-5 gallons per 100 gallons of concentrate.  Silica Sand or Black Beauty Slag is also recommended to be added at a rate of 100 lbs to 500 lbs per 100 gallons.

 In theory, when the sealcoating contractor is finished blending all the ingredients together; you will have a mix design which meets the manufacturers specification, this, coupled with the proper application method, should  give you a pavement sealer application that lasts 2-3 years, depending on your geographical location.

 However, very few contractors mix and apply the coal tar emulsion pavement sealer to meet or exceed the manufacturer’s specifications. 

 Our parking lot consultants are trained to help property managers identify these inferior applications.  We do this by encouraging them to contact the manufacturer or certain cooperative distributors to ascertain how the bidding contractor mixes their pavement sealer.  They find, 7 times out of 10, the contractor is mixing the concentrate sealer with only water.  To add insult to injury, water dilution ratios far exceed what the manufacturer’s recommendations! 

 By using a premium grade pavement sealer, such as Gem Seal Poly Tar, you are guaranteed to receive a long lasting application, in fact, Poly Tar has been “PROVEN” to be the longest lasting coal tar emulsion pavement sealer available on the market! 

What defines a “Premium Grade Sealer?” 

• Better controlled solids content (Meaning less water in the coating base during manufacturing).  Manufacturer delivers the product to approved applicators in bulk, ready to use, no additional water dilution is permitted!  Contractors then only have to mix the required amount of sand from 2-3 lbs per gallon. 
• High weight molecular polymer (Latex) is hot-blended into the coating base during the manufacturing process.  By hot-blending the polymer during manufacturing versus the standard practice of post-mixing it on the jobsite, the polymer is fused to the base of the coating thereby strengthening it and providing the longest lasting pavement coating on the market. 
• Made with  100% Refined RT-12 (No asphalt emulsions mixed into the coating- a true 100% coal tar sealer)
• Manufactured in a colloid mill process, not a batch process.  It is documented and recognized by industry experts that pavement coatings manufactured with a mill process are better refined and longer lasting than a batch mixing process.

Benefits to the Property / Facility Manager or Property Owner:

• QUALITY CONTROL: By the manufacturer controlling the mix design, the end user is GUARANTEED to receive the highest quality application in the industry.  Most sealcoating contractors applying a premium grade pavement sealer will warranty the coating for 2-3 years if applied to sound pavement in a 2 and 3 coat application to high traffic areas.
• Better wear resistance and stronger adhesion with up to twice the durability of conventional pavement sealers. 
• Extends the life expectancy of your pavement coating system- Standard pavement sealers require recoating after 2-3 years.  Poly Tar can last 4-5 years with applications this Author has proof of that can last well beyond 5 years for medium traffic surfaces.  Minimize impact to you and your tenants business by extending the dreaded parking lot closing or phasing from every 2-3 years out to every 4-5 years. 

What Premium Grade Pavement Sealers Will NOT do?

• Provide a long life expectancy when applied over pavement which is not structurally sound.  (Please see our Blog Post “Is your parking lot a 1 or a 10” to learn more about grading your pavement to ensure it is a suitable candidate for sealcoating)
• Will not provide a long life expectancy if it is not able to cure properly meaning it is either applied outside the temperature recommendations from the manufacturer or opened to traffic to soon after application.  A word about opening a parking lot too soon:  Let’s say you are a property manager of a mixed-use shopping center.  You have a National Big-Box Anchor Tenant, some mom & pop’s, some national small box retailers and a quick serve outparcel tenant.  Naturally, your biggest challenge is going to be keeping your quick serve restaurant client’s drive thru open and the cash register ringing along with your Big-Box Retail Anchor.  When the areas of the drive thru and front of the stores are seal coated, naturally the store managers are going to pressure you to open them to traffic as quickly as possible.  As the property manager,  you have to weigh the risk of opening the recently sealed surface too quickly, which will affect the service life of the pavement coating.   By using a Premium Grade Pavement Sealer and allowing it the full cure time, not only will the coating last as intended, you can inform your tenants they will only be impacted once every 4-5 years versus every 2-3 years. 
• Perform properly from an inferior application.  If pavement cracks are not sealed with a hot rubberized crack sealer, oil spots are not primed, the pavement isn’t thoroughly cleaned with high powered air blowers and steel wire brooms and the material is not applied in a 2 coat application (3 coats in high traffic areas), the material will not perform as intended. 

What is the cost of sealcoating with a Premium Grade Pavement Sealer?

Costs vary from market to market but on average for a 70,000 square foot seal coating project in the Mid-Atlantic Market you should budget between $0.19 – $0.22 per square foot.  Line striping typically ranges between $0.02 - $0.04 square foot with crack sealing varying on the amount of cracks falling between $0.01 - $0.04 square foot.  From watching our video below, it will clearly demonstrate that sealcoating with a Premium Grade Pavement Sealer is actually more cost effective in the long term than with traditional pavement sealers. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWPUD4qLMmo

If you would like a FREE CONSULTATION to see if your asphalt parking lot is a good canidate for GEM SEAL POLY TAR, please fclick the link below.

If you have any question, please feel free to leave comments below- we would love to HELP!