Crack sealing
It keeps water out. It does not put strength back.
Preventive work that is routinely sold as more than it is. Here is the boundary, and why closing the route still matters.
Illustrative image
What it does, exactly
A crack is a route, and sealing closes it
Asphalt sits on a compacted base, and the base is what actually carries the weight of vehicles. The asphalt on top spreads the load and keeps water off. Once a crack opens, water has a path from the surface straight down into that base.
A saturated base softens and loses its ability to support what is above it. The pavement then flexes where it used to be rigid, and flexing pavement breaks up. That is the sequence that turns a hairline crack into a patch of broken surface and eventually into a repaving bill.
Crack sealing interrupts that at the first step. It is not a repair and it is not structural. It is a route closure, and it is the earliest point at which the sequence can be stopped.
Scope
What crack sealing will not do
This is the service most often described as more than it is, so here is the boundary plainly. None of the below is a reason to skip crack sealing. They are reasons to know what you are buying.
- It will not restore structure. Pavement that has lost strength does not get it back from sealant
- It will not fix a failed base. If the ground underneath has gone, the crack is the symptom
- It will not repair interconnected cracking. That pattern needs asphalt repair, not sealant
- It will not make the lot look better. Sealed cracks are visible lines, and that is normal
Central Texas
Ground that moves, and sun that opens what moves
Much of this region sits on clay soils that swell when they take on water and shrink back when they dry out. That movement transfers into whatever is built on top, and a parking lot is a large thin slab with nothing to resist it.
Sun does the other half. Heat and ultraviolet light make the binder in asphalt brittle over time, and brittle material cracks under movement that flexible material would have absorbed. The two work together, which is why cracking here is a maintenance reality rather than a sign somebody built the lot badly.
- Clay soils swell and shrink with moisture, and the slab above moves with them
- Sun makes the binder brittle, so it cracks rather than flexes
- Cracks open widest when the ground is driest, and a dry crack is what sealant needs to bond to
- Every crack left open is a route for the next round of water to get in
How the job runs
What happens on your property
- 01
We walk the lot
We look at what kind of cracking you actually have, because it decides whether this is the right work at all. You get the scope in writing, including anywhere we think repair is needed instead of sealant, and anywhere we would leave alone.
- 02
Sections and schedule, agreed first
Crack sealing runs in lines rather than across the whole surface, so it stages well. You get the sequence and the nights in writing before the first day, so you can pass it to tenants without translating it.
- 03
Clean out, then seal
A crack has to be clean and dry for sealant to bond to its sides. Loose material and vegetation come out first, because sealant laid over debris pulls away and reopens the route you paid to close.
- 04
Set, then reopen
The sealant has to cool and set before traffic. How long depends on the conditions that day, which is why we give you the window for your lot rather than a number from a brochure, then walk the finished work with you.
The two questions that decide the job
Driving on it, and working around your tenants
The same two questions decide every job on an occupied property, and they matter more than anything else on this page.
On drive-on time, we will not publish a figure. Sealant needs to cool and set, and how long that takes moves with air and surface temperature. What we will do is give you the window for your lot and the conditions we are working in, in writing, before the first day.
On scheduling, crack sealing is the easiest of these services to stage, because it runs in lines rather than covering the whole surface. Sections close in sequence, crews work nights and weekends, and most properties see a route change rather than a closure.
- Drive-on window given for your lot and your conditions, in writing, before the first day
- Runs in lines, so the lot stages in sections and stays usable
- Nights and weekends so the closed run is closed at the quietest time
- A call if the weather moves the schedule, rather than a crew that does not turn up
Questions
What property managers ask about crack sealing
What does crack sealing actually stop?
Water getting below the surface. A crack is a route from the top of your lot down into the base underneath, and a saturated base loses its ability to carry load. Sealing the crack closes the route. It does not put strength back into pavement that has already lost it, and it is worth being clear about that difference before you spend anything.
My lot has cracks in a pattern like scales. Can you seal those?
Usually not, and a contractor who offers to is selling you something that will not work. Interconnected cracking in a patch, sometimes called alligator cracking, is a sign the base under that area has already failed and the surface is flexing on top of it. Sealant goes into a crack that has two sides. That pattern has no sides left to seal, and it needs repair rather than sealant. We will tell you which one you have when we walk it.
How long before we can drive on it?
Sealant has to cool and set, and how long that takes depends on the air and surface temperature that day. We will tell you the window for your lot and the conditions we are working in, in writing, before the first day. We are not going to publish a number that is wrong for half the properties that read it.
Do you have to close the whole lot?
No. Crack sealing is done in runs rather than across the whole surface at once, so it stages well. Sections close in sequence and crews work nights and weekends, which on most commercial properties means tenants notice a route change rather than a closure.
Should this happen before sealcoating?
Yes, and it is the most common sequencing mistake in this trade. Sealcoat is a surface coating, not a filler, so applying it over open cracks hides them briefly and then they come back through the new coating. Cracks get sealed first, which is why the two are normally quoted together rather than one after the other.
How often do cracks need doing again?
Cracks are movement, and movement continues. Existing seals get inspected and new cracks appear as the lot ages, which is why this is a recurring item rather than a one-off. How quickly depends on the lot, the drainage and how much the ground under it moves, so we would rather look at yours than publish a figure.
Will the lot look better afterwards?
Not especially, and it is fair to expect that. Sealed cracks are visible lines across the surface. This is work you do because of what it prevents underneath, not because of how it looks on top. If appearance is the goal, sealcoating and restriping are the visible part, and crack sealing is what should happen before them.
Can you do this at the same time as other work?
Yes, and it is usually the sensible way to run it. Crack sealing, repairs, sealcoat and restriping are one sequence rather than four visits, and doing them on one mobilisation avoids paying to bring a crew back. Tell us what you are planning and we will put the order in the written scope.
Request a quote
Send us the lot and we will come walk it
Tell us the property and roughly how many spaces it has. We will walk it, tell you what kind of cracking you have and what order the work should happen in, and send back a written scope.
Rather talk it through? (512) 289-8415