60 degrees F and asphalt sealer

[Kirk G]

OK, I know this has NOTHING to do with rocketry, but I'm curious what the general opinion is on this topic.

You're planning to buy a 5 gallon bucket of asphalt sealer to spread over your driveway, and it comes in three different grades at a Home Improvement/Lumber store.... 1 year , 4 year or 7 year warranty. Prices reflect this too...$13, 15 or 29 buck a bucket.

So, you invest in a few at $15 or so and read the fine print. They say that it must be over 60 F when you apply it, and rain not to be expected for 48 to 72 hours.

You stir it up and it seems pretty watery, but you pour it out and push it around with a squee-gee until it runs out and begins to dry. Meanwhile, your scalp stars to sweat, and it feels pretty humid around your driveway. You sweat out your shirt and your hands and back ache from this "broom action" for an hour or two in the afternoon heat.

Now, I've been careful to wait until a day or two when the afternoon temperature climbs to 66 F... and avoid the on-coming rain showers due in two days.


But someone brings up the question, do you wait until the air temp climbs above 60 F.... or the ground temp of your black asphalt is above 60F or....does the entire day and night HAVE to remain above 60F to apply?

These are three very different conditions that the instructions are not clear on.

The final bucket went down on Friday, when it got up to 76 F, but showers came after midnight, and now the deep cracks have a whitish film over them, as they may not have cured completely before the rain came.

Comments?

Advice?

 

[dixontj93060]

Advice? Don't apply in SE Ohio in November . No really, nice warm ground is best for that job.

 

[shreadvector]

My entire city has been filling cracks as needed, adding gravel as needed to some streets and applying new sealant to all streets for the last month or two. They have been running behind schedule and we got hit with a few days of rain and cooler temperatures that set them further behind schedule. It definitely does not 'cure' or harden when it gets cool at night, which is why they were supposed to do the sealing early in the day and when they did my street at 3 to 4 pm it was way too late for a proper cure by the time it got dark and started to cool down.

As with all products, they should have a web or telephone contact for Technical Support and they can best answer your questions.

 

[tomsteve]

from the latexite site, assuming that's what ya bought:

For early spring or late fall applications we strongly recommend the night time temperature is above 55 degrees F. Applying patch products or sealer when these conditions aren’t present decreases the product’s ability to properly cure and they may track!

 

[Pat_B]

I always do my sealing too late in the year and have ran into problems. I do all my own crack work then hire a guy to do the sealcoating.

Here's some tips- buy a landscape torch that you can hook up to a 20gal tank of propane and go over those wet sections. It'll dry them out, but there will be discoloration. Be sure to fill the cracks with a crack sealer rather than allowing the thin asphalt sealer to get in there and puddle. Buy a bag of sand that you can sprinkle in any areas where there's puddling. There's some rubber crack sealer available that comes in a rope that you light with a match and let drip into the cracks, and it hardens in 10 minutes. That too keeps the asphalt sealer out of those deep areas.

Finally, in your situation, get your leaf blower out and spend an hour or so going over your driveway. The wind will accelerate the drying more than anything if the sun isn't out.