Your asphalt driveway sees a lot of wear and tear thanks to its use and exposure to the elements.
To keep your driveway healthy, it needs to be sealed every few years.
Knowing how to seal an asphalt driveway seems daunting on the first attempt at it, but as you will see the steps required to get the job done are pretty simple and straightforward.
1. Clean Up Your Driveway.
This means you’ll need to sweep away all dirt and debris.
If there are cracks in the asphalt where weeds have begun to grow, these will need to be removed.
Should pressure washing be used to clean the driveway, you’ll need to allow 24-48 hours for the asphalt to dry enough to apply the seal coat.
2. Patch Your Cracks.
Pick up some asphalt patching compound to fill in any cracks that may have formed.
If you have a deep pothole in your asphalt driveway that needs to be repair, you’ll need some actual asphalt patch and a few extra days to allow the patch to cure so the driveway can be sealed.
3. Choose Your Seal Coat.
You’ve got two basic options available: tar or asphalt emulsion.
You’ll often see a tar emulsion used on parking lots because this protects the asphalt from fluids that leak out of vehicles from time to time.
It’s also the cheaper version.
Asphalt emulsion is easier to apply, but may not last as long.
4. Paint On The Seal.
After mixing your seal coat according to its instructions, you’ll want to pour out some of it on your driveway and begin to ‚Äúpaint‚Äù it on using a squeegee.
Work in small areas at a time to prevent the seal coat from drying prematurely.
You’ll need to do two coats to properly protect the driveway ‚Äì one vertical coat and one horizontal coat.
The final step is to allow the driveway enough time to properly dry, which is about 24 hours.
Some sealants may require extra time.
You will want to make sure that you’ve put up caution tape or roped off the driveway to prevent any unintended damage to the sealant you’ve just applied.
That’s really all it takes to know how to seal an asphalt driveway.
