Monday, May 6, 2013

Extend The Life Expectancy Of Driveways And Roads With Help Of St. Louis Sealcoating Contractors

By Alison Wilcox


Sealcoats on asphaltic pavements can help prolong the life expectancy of roads, parking lots and driveways. A St. Louis Sealcoating contractor can help you sealcoat your driveways and parking lot asphaltic surfaces and ensure that they last for long. After the first sealcoat, which is done a couple of months following the construction of a new parking lot or driveway, the other successive sealcoats may be done after 2 to 5 years depending on how fast the coat peels off.

Sealcoats do not cure the problems beneath pavements and therefore, they should only be applied to well maintained asphaltic paving surfaces. You are likely to incur huge costs of asphalt maintenance if you do not sealcoat the blacktop. Weather aspects like rainfall, snow and ultraviolet rays can negatively affects the quality of your blacktop surface.

When sunrays heat asphalt material directly, it increases the oxidation rate of this material causing it to harden and dry. With accelerated oxidation rate, the asphaltic blacktop will prematurely fail. Development of cracks starts occurring and this eventually leads to penetration of water into the pavement. Water is another element that wrecks havoc on pavements.

Brittle or rigid asphalt can start forming cracks and it easily breaks and crumbles when heavy loads and vehicles turn over the road surfaces. By sealcoating, it means that the environmental factors like ultraviolet rays do not directly act on asphalt material. When ultraviolet rays directly heat asphaltic pavement material, it bakes it making it dry and fragile.

These cracks start letting in water and this causes more damage to your pavements. Water can collect under pavements and settle on aggregate material making it loose. As more water collects, this may cause the pavement to crumble down leading to extensive damages on your roads. You should not allow water to penetrate and settle beneath the blacktop as it will continue to wreck havoc on driveways, parking lots, and roads.

If you do not sealcoat your parking lots and roads as required, you are likely to do major replacements of pavements in just within 8 to 10 years. However, when the coats are applied as desired, a major replacement may only be done after 15 to 20 years. This again brings out the cost element because a major repair or replacement of pavements is very costly.

When that frozen water melts down, it leaves behind a large void. That empty space causes the blacktop pavement material to crumble and fill the area. This forms cracks which will cost you a lot of money to repair. A pavement which is sealcoated does not require frequent repairs because the blacktop surface is protected. In addition, sealcoats improve the elasticity of pavements.

Roads and parking lots that have developed potholes can be dangerous to drive on. You can experience personal injury accidents and collisions on your roads if there are potholes. To prevent such accidents, you need to ensure that these surfaces are protected from environmental effects like sunlight, water, and snow. Sealcoats also prevent the damages caused by salts, oil spills and chemicals that are spilled over road surfaces. In essence, a St. Louis Sealcoating contractor will apply a sealcoat that will protect your blacktop.




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