One of the things we get asked the most is how soon should I or can I seal my brand new driveway?
There are actually two correct answers to this question but I’m going to suggest following this one only.
The number one answer you may have heard or that I’m going to give you is to wait 1 YEAR. Many will say you want to let the asphalt sit for 12 months or experience all four seasons. Which there is some truth too but it is not why I’m recommending you wait a year. First off the one thing most people don’t fully understand is when your driveway is installed late in the fall, as soon as those winter months hit and we’re hovering below freezing temperatures for months on end the curing process of your asphalt gets put on hold. Now when Spring picks back up and things warm up your driveway is right back to where it was before it froze on the curing calendar. That’s why it’s not uncommon for a tire to sink in or jack stand on a 90° in July even though your driveway was paved last August or September. Even though it was close to that 1 year on the calendar. The oils in the asphalt are still present and when that driveway starts to heat back up the pavement becomes a little “soft” similar to when it was first layed. If you had paved your driveway in early spring this is less of a concern as your driveway would see much hotter temperatures and would be further along in the curing process come winter back into Spring. So then why the magical 1 YEAR recommendation from our company if the calendar date isn’t always an exact?
The number one reason we’ll tell you to wait a year is for your personal protection. Almost every paving company in the area provides a 1 year warranty on their work. So if anything fails or isn’t to your liking within that first year most will make good on the situation. What they WON’T do is help you out if you were to seal your driveway within the warranty period. Sealing your driveway within the first year WILL VOID your warranty with most companies. And that is the only reason we suggest you wait. I’ll do a part two next week “how to know when my driveway is ready to be sealed.”
