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Posts Tagged ‘cost effective’

Maryland Sealcoating Service: The Benefits of Sealcoating Your Asphalt Parking Lot

Friday, January 6th, 2012

Asphalt parking lot maintenance is important. But of all the precautions you can take to ensure your parking surface lasts for a long time, sealcoating is perhaps the most important. If applied properly and at the right time, sealcoating provides the following benefits:

Slows Oxidation and Water Penetration: Over exposure to oxygen will harden asphalt binders, resulting in brittle pavement prone to cracking. And cracking allows water to seep into the asphalt sub base, further weakening the entire parking surface. This leads to more cracks, potholes, and eventual total parking lot failure.

Sealcoats fill surface voids, reducing exposure to oxygen and water and prolonging pavement life.

Protects Pavement Against Ultraviolet Rays: The sun’s rays can break the links between carbon bonds and your asphalt. Sealcoat prevent ultraviolet rays from further damaging the asphalt pavement.

Protects Against Spills: Gas and oil spills can soften asphalt, making it more susceptible to other damage. Sealcoating reduces the depth to which oil or gas can penetrate.

Easy to Clean Pavement: Sealcoating results in a smooth, even texture allowing for much easier cleaning.

Increased Pavement Flexibility: Sealcoating keeps your parking lot black. This attracts more heat from the sun, which, in turn, makes your parking surface more pliable and increasingly able it is to withstand traffic volume changes without cracking.

Beauty: Well, this one is a given.

Cost Effective: It is far less expensive to sealcoat your parking lot every few years than it would be to overlay or completely replace your parking surface.

If you have any questions, contact an experienced asphalt company today – a company like PTG Enterprises. The asphalt experts here have managed hundreds of pavement sealcoat projects and have the experience you need. So contact PTG Enterprises aka My Pavement Guy today by calling 410-636-8777 or click here today!

There are many different options available to property managers and owners today than there were when I started in the Industry. This works to the advantage of the property and to the pavement. Now, depending on the current condition of the asphalt, I have the ability to recommend several different options depending on the condition of the lot, previous maintenance schedules and budgets. The cost of sealcoating is only pennies a square yard versus repairs and rehabilitation which can be as much as twenty times higher.

Give me the opportunity to impress you. I can be your one stop ‘Pavement Guy,’ for any pavement project regardless of size or scope.

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Sources:

Asphalt Pavement Maintenance 101

Asphalt Parking Lot Replacement vs. Resurfacing (Overlay)

Wednesday, August 31st, 2011

Eventually, all asphalt parking lots become too deteriorated to maintain and require restoration or rehabilitation. The asphalt condition (as well as your budget) will usually determine the extent of the project. Some will require a total excavation and replacement, while others may only need to be resurfaced.

So how can you decided if your parking lot needs a surface overlay or a total replacement? This article from AsphaltAdvisor.com can help. It outlines the conditions of each procedure.

Total Excavation and Replacement

There eventually comes a time when every parking lot has outlived its useful life – it is more cost effective to excavate the entire lot and re-install a new one. The property manager or owner needs to evaluate the cost of maintaining the deteriorating pavement over time vs. the cost of replacement. Performing non-stop patching can be expensive.

Assuming the decision has been made to perform a total excavation and replacement, the process, in theory, is a simple one. The entire parking lot is machine excavated, usually by an asphalt milling machine, but this can vary with the size and shape of the lot. Once excavation is completed, the sub-grade stone is evaluated for its condition. Any soft spots will be undercut and new stone installed. Then the base and surface courses of asphalt are re-installed. With this option, the life cycle of the parking lot is reset to zero. The lot is brand new.

Surface Overlay
In some cases, if the sub-grade is good and there is no surface cracking, an overlay only is the proper fix. This is the correct option if the surface is dry, brittle, and raveling. In this situation, a new and additional layer of asphalt is installed over what is already there. It’s important to evaluate the project properly because the grade of the lot will change. Edge milling is required along gutter pans and transition points.

Resurfacing can be a viable option if removal and replacement does not fit your budget. But remember, if you are looking for a long-term solution, it is usually more cost effective to opt for the expensive total excavation and replacement. But in the end, the choice is yours.

If you would like a professional opinion or if you have any questions, contact PTG Enterprises aka My Pavement Guy by calling 410-636-8777 or click here today!

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Crack Sealing versus Crack Filling

Thursday, July 28th, 2011

Your pavement will eventually fail. It doesn’t matter how well you maintain your paved surface, it will eventually deteriorate and crack. However, how you deal with those cracks will determine how long your pavement will last. Sealing and/or filling cracks in existing pavement is the single the most effective procedure that can be performed to extend pavement’s lifecycle. This will prevent water and other foreign materials – sand, dirt, et.c – from seeping down into the asphalt where it can cause major distress and failures by weakening the base and sub-base.

This article from PaveManPro.com explains how filling or sealing pavement cracks is the most cost effective way to extend the life of your asphalt pavement.

Crack filling and crack sealing, while similar in nature, offer very different benefits.

Crack filling is less costly and will require less initial investment, but this solution may only be a temporary fix. Once the crack begins to move or expand, the crack filling material will lose its effectiveness and the crack will need to be re-filled. For this reason, crack filling is more effective in milder climates with less temperature change.

Crack filling materials include liquid asphalt, asphalt emulsions and cutbacks.

Crack sealing is a more costly option, but provides a longer life expectancy than crack filling – lasting 8 years or more. Crack sealing – which utilizes a flexible, specially prepared hot pour rubberized sealant – is considered a permanent treatment and is the only effective treatment for active cracks that contract and expand between seasons.

Crack sealing materials include asphalt rubber, rubberized asphalt, low-modulus rubberized asphalt and self-leveling silicone.

So explain your situation and budget to your pavement specialist and come up with a solution that meets your needs and your budget. If you have any questions, contact PTG Enterprises aka My Pavement Guy by calling 410-636-8777 or click here

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