When your blacktop was first installed you noticed the rich jet black color. As time passed, however, the surface began turning gray. That’s the warning signal that the blacktop surface has become worn, porous and rough. The asphalt binder weakens and looses flexibility, causing the aggregate to loosen and allowing water to penetrate deeper, accelerating deterioration. Black asphalt cement (“A/C”) binds the rock in your pavement together, but has no resistance of it’s own to the oxidizing effects of the sun’s infrared radiation and is soluble in petroleum chemicals like fuel and motor oil. As it wears away, the rock, too, loosens and can be washed away, opening the surface to water penetration. As water builds up beneath the asphalt, freeze-thaw cycles cause cracks and cavities to form, eventually developing into potholes and other serious damage.

Any pavement contractor will tell you that the price of blacktop has nearly doubled in the past 5 years, as the material is tied to petroleum prices. It is far less expensive to preserve the investment you have already made in your pavement by maintaining it through seal coating and crack sealing. Seal coating restores the lustrous black appearance of your pavement and locks in the asphalt cement, keeping your pavement young. A film of sealer becomes the wearing surface of your pavement: The weight of traffic and the wear of tire treads hits the sealer, not the valuable pavement. Seal coating your pavement every 2 to 4 years will more than double the life of your pavement investment.