You guys were a wealth of knowledge when I was building my fence so I figure I will ask some questions about my next project which is sealing my driveway.
First off, is the stuff at Lowes or Home Depot the same as a contractor would use?
Second, is there one brand that works better than the others?
Third, My heavy truck has made ruts in the driveway and where the front wheels sit has sunk even more. Is the "Patch" stuff they sell gonna hold up if I fill the ruts and cracks with it before I seal it?

I just hate to waste my time and then two months later it starts to deteriorate.

Thanks in advance

 

thats a great post. my drive way is sinking under my front tires too. I just use them as bump stops to let me know when I am close enough to the fence though

 

Blacktop?
I had a blacktop drive at my old house, first time I bought the cheap sealer from home depot, lasted a year or so, it was very thin, runny.
Second time I bought the more expensive stuff and it lasted a lot longer and did a lot better job of sealing and smoothing the surface, it was a lot thicker
than the cheap stuff.
A friend of mines parents had a contractor do theirs and it was way better
than mine, have you got any bids from contractors?
I never got any ruts deep enough to need work. But a car leaked ATF on it and ate a hole in it, this was before any sealer. Used mortar cement to patch the hole, worked good but it was only the size of a cofee cup.

 

Thanks. I don't want to waste my time sealing it if it's not going to last. I'd rather just leave it as is and maybe get a concrete driveway put in next year.

 

just did the lot at my office with the " airport grade " sealer from that orange depot......... thicker than most and cost like it should last. does not go far on a roung driveway, Imagine it would go further the smoother it got. get a mixer for the screw gun and just mix it like mad. then dump the pail on the drive and slop it around withthe squeegie style spreader. prepare to go back to get more, Cause you will run out.

 

Seriously, don't use any of the stuff you can get from Home Depot or Lowes or anything like that. Sealling your asphalt is any excellent idea though. Look for some local paving asphalt producers or "asphalt emulsion" producers in your area. You want to find a company that produces a good slurry seal. I deal with a few companies here in California that make their own brand of seal. Hanson Aggregates (We rent property from them) make a product called Satin Seal. Our customers such as Diversified Asphalt make Armor Coat and Vulcan (used to be Industrial Asphalt) make Hunt Seal. We haul all of their base stock into their facilities.

I'd bet donut's to dollars that there is a simular company near you. Every one of these companies should be able to sell it by the 5 gallon pail; but of course you also pay for said pail. Now what I've done is get my own 55 gallon drum with no top. That way I only pay for the product. I just slip over the top of the drum a plastic bag and duct tape the beans out if it. Now it can be used pure. Or you can mix in water. But never less then an 80/20 mixure. It get to thin. A 55 gallon drum should do about 1000 sf. If you double coat, figure 40 gals for every 1000 sf, each coat.

As for application, use a kitchen type of broom for edging and in tight areas. Then use either a sqweegy (sp) for a smooth finish or a thick bristle push broom for a courser finish. Never "push" the push broom or sqweegy. Always use a pulling motion, working the product side to side; allowing the product to flow. Kinda like stuccoing or glueing a floor for vinyl or linoleum. Now if you have some crackes, fill with this same sealer first. Let is set or dry. Then seal the whole driveway.

 

Oh, I didn't mention the prep. Clean the driveway well. Maybe even spray clean with water. Of course let it dry. Now remember, asphalt pavement is porious and water soaks in. So if you use water and it looks dry an hour later, it usually isn't. Let it dry completely. Several hours usually. I usually like to if possible, to clean late in the day before; so when work starts the next morning everything is ok.

 

Something else I didn't mention. This stuff is heavy. Depending on the actual formula a producer uses, it's around 10 lbs per gallon. So when you fill a 55 drum, well, lets just say it is heavy. I use a 5 gal pail and just dip it into the drum.

 

That's good info there. Honestly, I don't know if it's worth all the trouble when My heavy truck will probably just make it sink again. I may just start saving for a concrete driveway......

 

what ya need is wider tires, to spread the weight/..... 37 13.50's should do fine

 

And / or air down!!!!!!!

 

What did you use to pave your driveway with? If your truck sinks in it, they must of use "cold-mix" and not "hot-mix". Cold mix is a whole different animal. The batch plants use a "cutback" asphalt oil to mix with the sand and aggregate. "Cutback" asphalt oil is a blend of fuel oils or diesels and hot asphalt oil. So what this does is to help the paveing mix stay soft when cold longer. It never really get rock hard. In fact most county and state road agencies stock pile on the side of roads out in the outskirts. That way they can do easier temperary road repairs.

"Hot-mix" on the other hand is hot liquid asphalt that is batched with the sand and aggregate at temps above 300 degrees. This stuff needs to be layed on the surface and compacted before it cools off. It will get rock hard. Hence to importance of compacting before it cools down. If the lower layer and the upper layer cools before compaction, the middle (which is still hot, hence plyable) will squesh out and cause the upper crust and lower crust to break. Kinda like an Oreo cookie if you smash it between your hands. Anyways, enough of my babbleing. If hot mix was used, you shouldn't have any sinking issues........ well, actually, maybe you could. Now we need to discuss the base under the pavement.......heck, that's a whole different, long story...........

 

I couldn't tell you what was used as the driveway was there when I bought the house but it was only one year old at the time. The driveway isn't sinking really badly but there are shallow ruts where water sits and surrounding those ruts are lots of cracks. I think if I try to seal it without doing a bunch of work first that it is going to look worse than it does now. I flat out do not trust trying to do any repairs with the patch products at the hardware store. Maybe I should just look into getting it recovered with a new layer of asphalt. Or will it not stick properly to the old layer?????

 

Sounds like what you have are call birdbaths, for obvious reasons. Those are usually not a failure of the paving asphalt, but the failure of the base under the pavement. Majority of pot holes (bird baths are just the begining) are because the base gets saturated with water. And the pressure caused by traffic causes an hydraulic effect with the base. Which evenually causes the pavement to give way.

The best and most expensive way is to replace the whole thing.

Then the next level down would be doing a re-cap over the whole surface. But that route will need a pavement reinforcement fabric properly applied over the effect areas before the new layer of asphalt. It'll help keep "reflective" cracking from coming throu to the new layer. And yes, new asphalt can be applied over old asphalt. It's done all the time by cities, county's, states and even by the feds on military property. A tack oil, or glue coat basicly, is use between the two layers.

The next type of repair could just be doing dig outs in the effected areas; recompacting a new base and patching with asphalt pavement. Then re-sealing the whole thing for uniformity.

But if the bird baths are shallow and the cracking is minimal; do a crack fill and re-seal the whole thing. Using a good sealer that isn't thinned out with too much water will keep water from penetrating the asphalt, even if it does sit. Don't get me wrong, this isn't a permenate solution, but you WILL get a longer life span out of the current driveway.

 

I'd have it done professionally, that is much better material than you can buy. By the way, they will all be water based now, make sure it is compateable.