The smell of spring is in the air as nature pops back into life for another summer season. Many of you might be spending more time outside thinking about how to prepare the yard so it looks great over the summer. You might daydream about fancy landscape additions but such endeavours come at a steep cost. If you own an asphalt driveway however, adding a coat of sealer is an extremely cost-efficient way to revitalize it and make your home stand out all summer long. But how should you do it?
You might be under the impression that in order to do a good job of sealing your driveway you need lots of fancy equipment. This isn’t the case. A spray system is actually not the best method of applying sealer. The spray system offers two very important advantages and this is why it is often used by contractors. The spray system is extremely efficient for material use, and it allows for a very rapid application. Because the sprayer can put a very thin coat without losing lots of material in cracks and low spots, it requires a lot less sealer to cover the driveway, which directly translates into cost savings. It also allows for a very quick application, which also translates into cost savings.
The main disadvantage of a spray system is that by spraying only a thin layer over the asphalt, it doesn’t allow sealer to soak into all the small cracks and pores. This thin layer of sealer also doesn’t last very long. Sprayed sealer is a very cost effective solution if you want to seal your driveway every year. Manually applied on the other hand, is not very efficient in material use. If your driveway is cracked and porous, it will use up a lot of material. Although this raises the cost slightly, it will actually seal small cracks and porous sections of the asphalt which can help prevent degradation in the long-term.
No matter what method you prefer to seal your driveway, or whether you decide to hire someone or take it on as a DIY project, driveway sealing is an excellent way to preserve your asphalt and make it look fresh, ensuring your driveway stands out from the others.
