FEATURE
“ For the sealcoating to perform , it needs to be cured and form a complete film ...”
“ Additives that are designed to cure faster are able to extend the sealcoating season in the spring and in the fall by molecularly adding heat at the film level , creating faster evaporation and a better pavement bond early on ,” stated Rick Poole , president , Diamond Shield Fortifier , Alexander , Arkansas . “ But these products have limitations in that sealcoat conditions still need to be reasonably favorable enough to even apply sealcoat . Examples might be ground saturation levels that are unacceptable , temps forecast to fall too low at night before the coating can be dry enough , or really high humidity problems .” Cooler temperatures make it difficult for sealcoating .
“ For the sealcoating to perform , it needs to be cured and form a complete film ,” stated Nihal Pandrapragada , research chemist , STAR , Inc ., Columbus , Ohio . “ The curing happens with the coalescence of binder and polymer particles in the coating and release of water from the film . The issue with the cooler temperatures is that the binder particles stay hard enough not to coalesce ; think of it as marbles hitting each other without fusing into each other .” Pandrapragada continued , “ The specialty additives designed for this purpose help to plasticize ( to make those hard particles soft ) to coalesce the binder and polymer components in the sealer and facilitate water evaporation at the same time , even at cooler temperatures , resulting in a complete film formation .
The use of low temperature additives has enabled contractors to sealcoat even at cooler temperatures and extend the sealcoating season to early spring and late fall .”
Cautions regarding applying sealcoating in cooler weather have been around for awhile . It is old hat .
“ Fast drying additives have been around for decades and have historically been used in the early spring and fall to speed up the dry times that are slowed by the cooler temperatures and overcast skies ,” said Woodrow Adams , operations manager , with STAR , Inc . “ However , we have come to the conclusion that fast-drying additives may actually detract from your sealers performance in cooler temperatures , causing premature
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