Asphalt Sealcoating in Arkansas

Neither, exactly. Sealer goes on as a film measured in thousandths of an inch. It carries no load, so it will not stiffen a soft lot or hold a failing section together. What it does is take the UV, the water and the fuel drips that would otherwise reach the binder holding your asphalt together. That binder is a petroleum product. It oxidizes under sunlight and goes brittle, which is why an unprotected lot turns gray and starts shedding aggregate before it ever cracks. Sealer buys the surface time. It does not buy the base any.

Sealer is a water-based emulsion. It cures by the water leaving, so it needs the pavement and the air above about 50 degrees and climbing, and it needs them to hold there overnight while the coat sets. Rain inside that window lifts an uncured coat right off the surface. Winter is out, and so is any stretch of wet weather. It also means the same lot cures at different speeds in one day: full sun and low humidity pull the water out fast, while the shaded strip along a north wall stays wet the longest.

Months, not weeks, and a full season is the common practice. A new mat still carries volatile oils from the mix, and those have to work their way out. Coat it too early and you trap them; the sealer stays soft, bonds poorly and scuffs where tires turn against a stopped wheel. New asphalt is also still black and rich in binder, so it has nothing to gain from a coat yet. The exception is a fuel or oil spot. Those soften the surface and have to be cleaned and primed before sealer will stick to them at all.

Yes, and it is not an upsell. Sealer is a coating, not a filler. The squeegee pulls it across an open crack and it shrinks back off the edges, so the crack is still an open route for water into the base. A saturated base loses bearing strength, and that is how a crack becomes a pothole. Alligator cracking is the base already failing and showing through the surface. Sealing over that pattern hides it for a season and it returns in the same shape, usually with a dip in it by then.

It runs in phases, so the whole property rarely closes at once. Most lots are sealed in sections: one area gets barricaded and coated while traffic uses the rest, then the sections swap. What sets the hold time is weather, not the calendar. Sun, heat and low humidity pull the water out fast; shade, damp air and a second coat all stretch it. Striping waits until the seal has cured, and the paint then needs its own dry time. We set the section plan with you before anything goes down, so you can post it for tenants.