EXPERT ADVICE
customer who does not want to
close up shop during the day,
there are additives that can cure
out faster with less sunshine.”
Clearly there are benefits to seal-
coat additives. Additives do add to
the performance of the pavement
being protected.
Some additives act like a drying
agent to accelerate the drying and
cure time of the sealcoat. “Dry” is
when the sealcoat doesn’t transfer
to the touch, and “cure” is when
all the moisture has been driven
out of the sealcoat and it is fully
set (adhesive and cohesive strength
reaches its strongest point, and the
film cannot be re-dissolved in wa-
ter).
“There is a class of additives
that are used to prevent stripping
of asphalt from aggregates which
are, naturally, called ‘anti-strip-
ping agents,’ and are specific to
the type of aggregates used,” stat-
ed Girish C Dubey, president of
STAR, Inc., Columbus, Ohio.
“They are other types of addi-
tives that I have come across in
my research that include deodor-
izing agents to suppress the odor
of asphalt and additives for low
temperature paving, which are
a major advancement that are
worth noting.”
Additives come in many types
and offer many solutions to as-
phalt pavement contractors.
“There are latex and polymar
sealers,” explained Robb Archie,
owner, U.S. Seal Internation-
al, Inc., Reno, Nev. “Additives
benefit sealcoats. It can change
the viscosity, making the sealer
thicker and better able to sus-
pend the aggregate. Additives
can improve adhesion to the as-
phalt pavement and reduce dry-
ing time while providing a richer
color to the finish.”
Archie described a project
which showcases the benefits of
sealcoating. He explained that he
has a very long driveway leading
to his own home that was built
and paved 35 years ago.
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“Sealcoating has extended the
life of my very long residential
driveway considerably,” Archie
said. “I apply sealcoating ev-
ery two or three years at a cost
of $12,000. If I were to repave
the driveway, the cost would be
$82,000. Not only does sealcoat
maintenance cost less, the results
are spectacular. The sealcoat fin-
ish looks rich and dark as though
it had just been freshly paved.”
Wellman has a contractor who
had a challenging job that re-
quired sealcoating.
“The contractor had quite a
large sealcoating project for a
number of gas stations that came
with a substantial payday... and
a stipulation,” said Wellman.
“The owner of the stations gave
him the job, but would only shut
down his stations for four hours
at night, which to any sealcoat-
ing contractor is a huge issue to
put traffic on a freshly sealed lot
that fast. My customer came to
me for help.
“We literally went into our lab
and created samples with varying
percentages of our additives try-
ing to figure out the best possible
solution. We provided him with
a mix we felt confident would
work. We still held our breath,
when our customer came in the
next day. He was all smiles, be-
cause the mix we designed for
him worked to a T and he was
able to put two coats of sealer
down on this lot and open it
in the four-hour allotted time
frame and had no tracking!”
In general, sealcoats can bene-
fit from additives when the pave-
ment surface is aged, exposed
to chemicals (such as motor oil,
road salt), receives heavy traffic,
experiences weather extremes or
moderate exposure to sun.
Jeff Winke is a business and con-
struction writer based in Mil-
waukee, Wisconsin. He can be
reached through jeff_winke@
yahoo.com.
1.800.210.5923