Best Asphalt Driveway Sealer? Experiences?

[hrhofmann]

I am trying to find the best overall driveway sealer for the Naperville area climate. Brands and good and/or bad experiences wanted.

[anonymous]

Beats me. Probably anything but the cheap crap they sell at McLowesDepotBigBoxSuperStore.

I always hire the local driveway sealing company. They spray it on hot, takes just a few minutes and they're done. Makes it look nice for about

5 years.

But you're in the Chicago area. Good luck finding an honest contractor. ;-)

[Arthur Conan Doyle]

I've used the stuff SealMaster sells exclusively for the last 10 years and have been pleased with it. A few things to keep in mind:

- The stuff sold by the big box stores is generally acrylic/latex based. It doesn't last very long and once you use it, you can't use asphalt based sealers until it's completely worn off, which is basically never. I also had some really nasty crack seal stuff that went on brown and tuned black after a couple of hours. Thought it was fine - two months later it had weathered to light gray.

-There's no such thing as "Airport Grade." That's a marketing trademark.

- As with most coatings, how it's applied has a lot to do with how good it looks and how long it lasts. Doing it yourself or getting some guy who rang your doorbell and said he was in the area is not going to turn out well.

- Proper crack filling is important. Don't think you'll be able to fill cracks with sealer. It doesn't work.

- Sealer does not fix asphalt that has failed. Soft spots and places that have turned to gravel need to be repaired.

- The Sealmaster store will sell you the material, but it needs to go on hot, which means you need to transport it properly and get it down quickly. Some stores have heated tank trailers they will rent you.

- The Sealmaster store manager will also know who the good applicators are in your area. Ask nicely and they'll give you a few names.

- There's a lot of ways bad applicators can cut corners, including watering down the sealer with kerosene. Will look OK going on, but wear really fast. See bullet above.

[Don Y]

When I lived in such climates, we used "Jennite". It seemed to last a good long time! But, that's been > 20 years ago...

[Travis Bickle]

Might have been inclined to respond but since the OP was too lazy to mention what state his little town is in and I didn't feel like first looking it up, I said screw it ;-)

[Don Y]

I guess it depends on how knowledgeable you are about US geography.

If he'd said "Memphis", would you have needed to look it up? "Austin"? "Dallas"? "Chicago"? "Boston"? "Framingham"? "San Francisco"? "Des Moines"? "Cambridge"? "Feenigs"?

"Springfield"? ;-)

[FIP Buste]

Naperville residents think the world revolves around Naperville, IL. I can smell a FIP 200 miles away. ;-)

[Dean Hoffman]

I was curious so did a quick search. Only one Naperville. It did make the list of ten snobbiest cities.

There are at least 3 towns named Springfield in the U.S. Well, make that four, or so. Illinois, Missouri, Ohio, Minnesota, Oregon, and Nebraska. I guess there's another one way back east.

[Ed Pawlowski]

Never heard of Naperville? Don't gt out much do you. It is between Downers Grove and Aurora.

[Don Y]

Springfield, MA (we used to make a dash there to buy beer/liquor "after 8PM").

But, I thought there were more Springfields (which is why I chose Springfield for the last reference). I'll have to check my postal database...

Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, New York, Ohio, Tennessee, ...

(now you understand the wink? :> )

[Ed Pawlowski]

MA, VA and PA have a Springfield also. Next up -Milford

[Don Y]

*Lots* between DG and Aurora (Co! :> )

[Dean Hoffman]

Aurora NE for example. It's big enough to have a McDonald's and a Runza.

[Don Y]

What's a "Runza"? Is that a regional thing (like Russell's in Chitown)?

[Travis Bickle]

Yeah, I actually know where it is- I was just jerking the OP's chain!

I used to have a client whose corporate headwaters office was in downtime Chicago. I flew in and visited there often

Three of the most insufferable, self-aggrandizing assholes in the company commuted in daily from Naperville.

I had to go to a cocktail party in Naperville one evening and the BS was flowing so deep, I could have used waders...and most of the women were real piggies too ;-)

[Dean Hoffman]

It's a small chain of fast food. Cabbage and hamburger inside a roll. Link here:

They add different things to change the flavor a bit. One is called a Swiss cheese, another spicy jack, cheeseburger, plus a couple more. I like the burgers better than the big chains and the onion rings aren't bad. A winter promotion is the price of a Runza is the temperature at

6 am. or so. A summer thing is they throw in a free straw with a drink.

[Don Y]

golabki on a roll? Interesting concept...

Yikes! In NE, I would assume early morning WINTER temperatures would be pretty low! 30c?

Ha! How generous!

[Dean Hoffman]

I've never stopped in while the promotion is going. I guess they actually hit 0 for the actual Runza. One has to pay for the extras, of course.

Average low is about 10F. Average high is about freezing in January. The worst I remember was a few days not reaching 0 F for the high the winter we buried my favorite uncle. Auto makers used to test cars in International Falls, MN where it gets really cold.

I sense thread drift.

[gregz]

I had local 2man crew do my 100foot driveway plus. Less than $200. Put it on hot. I don't think they added the recommended sand. Still looks nice. Minor cracking on my fairly rough surface.

Greg

[Frank]

Last one I used:

Similar price.

Asphalt is over 90% sand and rock and is porous. Needs to be sealed particular from water freezing and thawing in winter.

You can do it yourself, job will be better than spray on but will cost more and is tough job for us old folks.