Author Topic: Concern about resealing company not power washing before sealing  (Read 2145 times)

webguy

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Concern about resealing company not power washing before sealing
« on: September 14, 2018, 09:41:35 AM »
Hey guys,

We just had our driveway resealed by a company today. This is the first time I've had a driveway resealed and so have very little experience with the process. I'm relatively happy with the job but one concern is that they didn't power wash the driveway with water before they sealed it.  They scrubbed it with a wire brush and blew it off with a blower.

We had some kids driveway chalk on there which didn't come off with the brush/blower, so I went out there and asked them about it before they sealed. At first they said it's fine to just seal over it, but when I expressed some concern they said they'd brush it again, which didn't work. I went back out and explained it comes off easily with water, and helped them to go round and spot spray it with a hose and dry it up with the towel/blower. Most of it came off but they missed a few spots and sealed over it.  During the process I scrubbed some of the water with a towel and it got pretty dirty, demonstrating that the driveway wasn't very clean.  They said they don't power wash as they need the driveway dry to seal it.

My concern is that the sealant isn't going to bond well and won't last, but don't know enough about resealing to know whether this is a big deal.  Everywhere I look online says to power wash before sealing.  Anyone on here have any thoughts or insight on whether my concern is valid?

Thanks in advance.

GuitarStv

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Re: Concern about resealing company not power washing before sealing
« Reply #1 on: September 14, 2018, 10:59:35 AM »
Does sealing an asphalt driveway actually do anything to extend it's life?  I'd figure that if it did sealing asphalt roads would be regularly done too . . . but it isn't.

matchewed

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Re: Concern about resealing company not power washing before sealing
« Reply #2 on: September 14, 2018, 11:26:12 AM »
Does sealing an asphalt driveway actually do anything to extend it's life?  I'd figure that if it did sealing asphalt roads would be regularly done too . . . but it isn't.

Arguably roads get a bit less traffic than a driveway. From what I've looked into sealing a driveway can extend the life as long as it is in relatively good condition to begin with.

robartsd

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Re: Concern about resealing company not power washing before sealing
« Reply #3 on: September 14, 2018, 11:32:16 AM »
Arguably roads get a bit less traffic than a driveway. From what I've looked into sealing a driveway can extend the life as long as it is in relatively good condition to begin with.
I think you meant the opposite. I'm guessing that sealing helps protect from deterioration due to wet weather, but does not help protect from physical wear due to traffic.

webguy

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Re: Concern about resealing company not power washing before sealing
« Reply #4 on: September 14, 2018, 12:16:31 PM »
I didn't really want to debate the merits of resealing, I'm more interested in whether my concern regarding not power washing the driveway was a valid one.

The main reason we had it sealed was because we had a lot of cracks that needed to be filled and the previous owner didn't fill them. In my opinion it looks pretty bad to have a bunch of thick wiggly black lines all over the driveway. Adding the sealant helps it to look better after filling the cracks.

bognish

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Re: Concern about resealing company not power washing before sealing
« Reply #5 on: September 14, 2018, 01:15:27 PM »
The street I live on has had cracks filled and been resealed twice in the time I have lived there. They have never done any washing prior to sealing. Not sure if that translates to driveways, but I wouldn't be worried.

Fishindude

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Re: Concern about resealing company not power washing before sealing
« Reply #6 on: September 14, 2018, 02:53:36 PM »
Sealing your driveway will definitely extend it's life.   Asphalt is somewhat porous and becomes more so as it ages and weathers.   The sealer closes up the surface and the small cracks that would allow water infiltration which will gradually break up the asphalt as it goes thru freeze / thaw cycles.

Around here the highway crews routinely go around sealing the cracks in our asphalt highways.  They don't seal the whole road surface because it would cost a small fortune, require road closure, etc.   It's easy enough to seal your couple thousand square feet of asphalt driveway and then stay off of it for a couple days.   Not so easy with miles and miles of road.

Cranky

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Re: Concern about resealing company not power washing before sealing
« Reply #7 on: September 14, 2018, 05:26:35 PM »
I don’t honk I’ve ever seen anyone powerwash a driveway or parking lot before resealed my. We’re talking about black asphalt, yes?

The point is to smooth over the cracks so it’s easy to clear snow?

Fishindude

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Re: Concern about resealing company not power washing before sealing
« Reply #8 on: September 15, 2018, 08:36:52 AM »
Unless it's covered in mud or something, no need to power wash beforehand.

worms

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Re: Concern about resealing company not power washing before sealing
« Reply #9 on: September 16, 2018, 04:09:51 AM »
Around here we do re-seal roads routinely, it extends the life between full resurfacing and keeps a larger proportion of the network in driveable condition for the amount of money available.  There are counter arguments that it simply delays the inevitable and that if we were able to take a rational asset-value/depreciation approach to roads we would resurface every time.  However, that is not the way that public finances work.

If I was sealing a cracked surface, the last thing I would want to do is force water down into the cracks with a power hose and then seal the water in where it will freeze, expand and cause greater damage, but if you live in a warmer location that may be less of an issue.