Driveway Sealing in Colorado Springs, CO

Driveway sealing puts a thin coat of asphalt emulsion, coal tar or acrylic sealer over the surface of a drive, and in Colorado Springs it matters because the pavement takes high-altitude sun, about 135 freeze-thaw days a year and water that clay subsoils are slow to release. The coat closes the surface so rain, snowmelt and deicer run off instead of soaking in, and SealMaster describes it as preventing oxidation of the asphalt binder. It adds no strength, cannot level a heaved slab and will not rescue a failing base. The job is also a timing exercise here: sealer wants 50 degrees and rising for a full day, and the airport's normals deliver warm nights reliably only in July and August. The cost page shows what the work runs.

Most of the labor is preparation. The crew blows off dust and gravel, edges back turf that has crept over the asphalt and scrubs oil drips; petroleum keeps a water-based sealer from bonding, so heavy stains get a primer. Cracks are cleaned and filled with hot-pour material first, because a sealer coat is only a skin and will split along any gap that is still moving. On Colorado Springs clay, a crack that reopens in the same place every spring deserves a look for heave before it is filled and coated. Crack filling covers that step and how it is priced.

Seal coating itself is normally two coats. SealMaster's specification for its MasterSeal concentrate calls for two coats, a third on entrances and other heavy-traffic areas, and 300 to 500 pounds of sand per 100 gallons of concentrate to make the finish slip-resistant. One gallon of concentrate, properly mixed, covers about 100 to 120 square feet per coat. Squeegee work presses material into the surface texture; a sprayed second coat gives an even finish. Sand is not optional on a grade, and the city's hillside overlay allows individual driveways as steep as 20 percent.

Temperature decides more jobs than price does. The same specification requires surface and air at 50 degrees or warmer and no drop below 50 in the 24 hours after application, and SealMaster's general guidance adds no rain in that day. At the airport, nights at or below 50 degrees average 27.3 in May, 11.1 in June, 1.2 in July, 2.3 in August and 17.9 in September. July and August are also the wettest months, at 3.12 and 2.96 inches. A start early on a clear morning gives the coat the most warm hours before evening.

Colorado has not banned coal-tar sealers. The state, and every Colorado city and county, is absent from Coal Tar Free America's national list of bans, which records statewide rules in Minnesota, Washington, New York, Maryland, Maine and Virginia. HomeGuide prices coal-tar and asphalt emulsion materials in the same band, about 6 to 15 cents a square foot, with latex acrylic higher. Runoff from city streets and driveways reaches Fountain Creek, which is one reason to ask which product is in the bid and how much it has been thinned.

How often to reseal depends on exposure. One Colorado Springs contractor recommends every three to four years; a drive in full sun with no shade, heavy tire traffic or constant sprinkler overspray will show wear sooner. Recoating every year builds up a film that can crack and peel on its own. The surface is the test: when it has faded from black to gray, feels rough underfoot and sheds loose sand after a storm, the binder at the top has aged and the next coat is due.