Maintaining your commercial parking lot is crucial for a variety of reasons, ranging from the look and visual appeal of your business to whether or not your business is safe to go to.
Of course, it’s also a more complicated topic than it appears to be at first. There are many different ways commercial parking lots can be designed, maintained, and repaired, and there are a lot of factors that determine what’s best for each specific situation.
Today, we’re going to take an in-depth look at seal coating VS repaving.
What is Sealcoating?
Sealcoating is a fairly straightforward process. It’s when a special coating is applied to the surface of the pavement to function as a sort of shield. It’s not new pavement, and it doesn’t actually repair anything.
The Benefits of Sealcoating
Sealcoating might not be a form of repair, but it does provide a number of benefits that can save you tons of money in the long run.
1: Water Protection
Water is one of the biggest threats to your parking lot. It seeps into cracks, between gaps, and through the soil.
When it pushes its way through cracks, it can erode the pavement further and expand those cracks. If it gets beneath the pavement via the soil or through deeper cracks, it can erode or swell the ground and create potholes that are bad for your customers’ cars and also create major fall hazards.
Sealcoating your pavement prevents this since it creates an airtight, waterproof shield on top of the pavement.
2: Chemical Protection
Cars often leak brake fluid, oil, and fuel all over parking lots. Those corrosive chemicals break down your pavement and leave it far more susceptible to every other type of damage since it’s incredibly weakened.
Sealcoating your parking lot and properly maintaining it ensures that those corrosive chemicals can’t harm your pavement and cause major damage over time.
3: UV Protection
Everybody loves a bit of fun in the sun, but there are drawbacks, as well. Sunlight contains UV rays that slowly damage practically everything. This includes your parking lot.
As time goes on, UV rays will destroy the molecular structure of the pavement and cause it to break apart rapidly.
Sealcoating compounds are created to be UV–resistant and prevent this from happening.
What Doesn’t Sealcoating Do?
Sealcoating is a great option for your parking lot, but it’s not a cure-all solution.
You have to remember that this is a preventative measure. It’s simply a sealant applied to the surface of the existing pavement. It doesn’t fill in cracks, repair any existing damage, or anything like that.
In fact, if your parking lot is substantially damaged, a seal coating treatment might not even be effective until you have the problem area repaired. Sealcoating treatments need relatively intact surfaces to work effectively.
What is Repaving?
Repaving is exactly what it sounds like. It’s when a fresh batch of pavement is made and applied to the surface of your parking lot. This can be done as an extensive repair across the entire parking lot, or it can be done as patchwork to repair problem areas.
The Benefits of Repaving
Repaving is a solution that covers most of the weak spots of seal coating. It’s a completely different type of solution, but it’s complementary.
1: Fill and Repair Cracks
Cracks are the source of most parking lot damage. On top of being major weak spots in the structural integrity of the parking lot, they also allow water, snow, and other things to get between the pavement and the ground and cause even more damage.
Repaving your parking lot fills in those cracks and corrects the problem as if it never existed.
2: A Fresh Layer of Protection
As pavement wears out, it becomes more susceptible to damage. Repaving your parking lot provides you with a new, fresh layer of pavement that is as good as new and ready to take on years of daily wear and tear.
3: Reinforced Structural Integrity
The new layer of pavement will help reinforce the rest of the parking lot’s structure and keep it in good shape for years to come without you having to rip up the entire parking lot and build a new one from scratch.
4: Visual Enhancement
Your parking lot is the first thing customers see when they go to your business. When it’s old, cracked, and generally not well maintained, that can leave a bad first impression.
A new layer of pavement makes your parking lot look brand new, and as such, customers tend to look at your business in a far more positive light before they ever enter the business itself.
The Cons of Repaving
Repaving’s main con is that it’s still just a fresh layer of pavement. While it’ll be new and take a while to degrade, it’s not UV proof, it’s still affected by water, and there’s nothing protecting the new pavement from chemical spills from vehicles. This means that your new pavement could end up needing repairs earlier than expected.
What’s Better? Sealcoating VS Repaving
The truth is, this isn’t really a competition in most cases. In general, you really want a fresh pavement layer AND a seal coating treatment.
This ensures that you get all the benefits of properly repaving your parking lot, but the seal coating treatment will ensure that the new pavement is protected properly and more likely to last without any issues.
If you’re starting with a fairly damaged parking lot, it’s optimal to implement both solutions to get the best effects. Repaving it will repair the pavement and make it look great, and seal coating it will keep it looking fresh for years to come.
The only time it’s really beneficial to choose only one option is if you just got your pavement fixed up or it’s already in great condition and you simply want to get it sealcoated to ensure it stays that way.
Get Your Parking Lot Sealcoated and Repaved by Barnes Asphalt
If you need your parking lot seal coated, repaved, or both, reach out to Barnes Asphalt for reliable and professional parking lot repair services. Our experienced team is committed to delivering top-quality results that ensure your parking lot remains in excellent condition. We provide a comprehensive range of services including commercial paving services, residential paving services, asphalt paving, line striping, asphalt milling, and more. Whether you require full repaving or a protective seal coating, Barnes Asphalt has you covered. Don’t let your parking lot deteriorate – contact us today to schedule your pavement maintenance and parking lot repair services with a company you can trust.