That pretty much sums it up. Thanks.
Never. If it actually worked, why wouldn’t they seal the roads and highways?
Does it actually work to seal the asphalt? I always thought it was a cosmetic thing designed only to look good to people who value image over substance.
For example, they “sealcoated” the parking lot of the plaza across the road from me. Stunk up the neighbourhood for a week. But they did nothing to actually repair the asphalt, and it still has the same patches and (in places) centimetre-wide cracks that it had before. Idiots.
I thought the idea was to slow the seepage of moisture into the asphalt. So you’re saying it doesn’t work? Does anyone have a cite? I really don’t want to pay for something I don’t need, nor do I want to take a pass on something that will make my driveway last longer. Our driveway is two years old and so far is holding up. No patches and no cracks. Also, we live in Dog Patch. No one to impress here, and no village code to meet (unlike my dad, who is forced to sealcoat every two years).
A properly sloped driveway doesn’t collect pools of water. It runs off, either to the street or to a drain in the driveway, depending on which way the driveway is sloped (toward the house or away from the house). Water takes the path of least resistance, which is generally not seeping through asphalt.
Water won’t damage your driveway if it just runs off. What damages your driveway is frost heaves, dropping heavy stuff on it, damaging it with snow shovels, and things like that. Sealcoating doesn’t protect the driveway from any of those things. If your driveway does collect water in pools, the water will destroy the sealcoating soon enough and then will have its way with the asphalt.
If your driveway is in good shape, sealcoating accomplishes nothing. If your driveway is already damaged, sealcoating just covers up the damage. It’s pointless.
I’m saying that I don’t know whether it actually works to slow moisture seepage or whatever, because the applications I’ve seen seem to be looks-oriented rather than otherwise functional. You imply as such when you mention your father. It might as well be black paint.
Well, water damage is obviously not a big issue here in the Las Vegas desert, but we were told when we got our house that it would be a wise idea to at least use a sealing paint on the cement steps leading up to the front porch. The contractor told us that it would prevent damage from heat and dryness - where the cement actually breaks off in spots.
We did it on the first week and, compared to neighbors who didn’t use a sealing paint, 10 years later ours looks practically new and theirs certainly does look weather-worn.
I had mine repaved last year. The man told me to never bother with sealcoat. He said it would only make it more slick (I have a steep driveway) and the current paving would last 20 years.
Why wouldn’t the sealcoating fill in the very tiny hairline cracks that come from normal wear and tear? That would keep the cycle of freezing and thawing (and widening of the cracks) to a minimum, wouldn’t it? It seems logical that if your driveway isn’t damaged already, this would slow it. Do you have a cite that backs up your claim that it does no good on a driveway regardless of condition?
I think it can work both cosmetically and as a preventive measure (unless I can find some info that states it does no good).
Heck, even if the driveway is already damaged, it should reduce the amount of further damage that would ensue.
I found a technical report, “Cost-Effectiveness of Crack Sealing Materials and Techniques for Asphalt Pavements” that might be helpful. (pdf link)
Also, the National Pavement Contractor Association has a discussion board that may have some useful information about the sealcoating process from a contractor’s perspective.
Hmm, only had the house 4 years and so far it doesn’t appear to need anything. so, never?
The terminology in the link seems to be referring to “crack” sealing, which I assume to mean when they pour that tar-lookin’ stuff in wider cracks. The situation I’m looking at is no cracks…just 2 winters and normal wear, good drainage, no pooling.
We don’t. My two uncles who are contractors have both said “it doesn’t do anything for the life of the driveway.” But sorry, no cite other than two uncles who are contractors saying its a scam (I’ve also had driveway guys who provide it say its a scam - but they may just be hoping my driveway gives out faster - a new driveway would probably be more profitable than a sealcoat job). Its also bad on the environment and money I’d rather said.
My brother-in-law has owned an asphalt company for the past 25 years, I worked for him when I was a teen as a laborer, and my brother worked for him in his 20s as a salesman. It makes the company good money because it’s cheap and easy to do but it’s totally cosmetic.
If your asphalt gets worn down to the point where you can see the white of the stones in the gravel and you don’t like how it looks go ahead and seal it. Just don’t do it thinking you’re extending the life of the driveway.
I’m not sure that asphaltic concrete develops tiny hairline cracks - seems to me that it unravels rather than cracking like cementitious concrete.
According to the Asphalt Institute:
*Q. Should a newly paved driveway or parking lot be sealed (or seal-coated)?
A. No. A well designed and constructed low traffic volume pavement, such as a driveway or parking lot, should not require sealing for approximately 2 to 5 years – depending on severity of climate and quality of original work.
If a new pavement is porous, meaning it allows water into the pavement rather than shedding, or draining off, the rain, this pavement might benefit from a light application of a low viscosity asphalt emulsion.
Q. When should a driveway or parking lot be sealed?
A. Sealing is effective to renew old asphalt surfaces that have become dry and brittle with age, to seal small surface cracks and surface voids, and to inhibit raveling (loss of surface aggregate). So, sealing should be done as soon as any of these distresses are noted.*
Is your driveway distressed, Kalhoun? 
Well whadda ya know. It does have a non-cosmetic function.
Thanks for that information!
You’re most welcome. 