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your jobs better than your competitors! |
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1. Drying Times |
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Nothing is more critical to a good sealcoating job and yet more abused than the time of drying between coats and the time of dryng before traffic is allowed. Improper dry
times lead to a bluish tint on the sealer, premature wear, excessive tire marking, tracking, and shoe pickup.
As contractors we are always in a hurry to finish; however, the
sealer can only perform well when used properly. You must allow adequate dry times between coats. The water must leave the 1st coat in order for proper curing. If a
second coat is applied while the coating is tacky, the water from the 1st coat is trapped. Trapped water leads to a soft coating and to
the blue coloring some experience
during hot, humid days. As a rule of thumb, we would go to second coat/second day rule when temperatures exceed 90F and humidity exceeds 70%. After the second coat
is finished, try to get as much drying time as possible before traffic is allowed on the surface. Require 24 hours if you warranty your work. 2 - 4,000 pound vehicles will tear
up any coating if not allowed to properly cure. You’re asking too much out of the coating to accept less cure time. We do realize that
in this day and age, many property owners
won’t allow this time. You must explain the consequences so the property owner understands the coatings’ limitations and that his decision of allowig traffic too soon will
hurt the performance and longevity of the sealer. |
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2. Cooling the Surface before application |
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Most do not even attempt to cool the surface before application. However, when the coating hits a hot pavement it can actually dry too
fast. The coating should be formed
in a well organized manner so that all the particles form an interlocking network,
which gives it strength. When the surface is too hot, the coating is formed too quickly
when water flash evaporates. The organized coating formation is now a chaotic formation and the interlocking does not occur, thus a
weakened coating. A fog coat of water
should be applied to the surface
on hot (greater than 80 F) to cool the surface. |
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3. Be Neat |
| Finish the job with absolute
neatness.
At the end of the driveway or the entrance where you are finishing up, string a line between the sides. Trim up to the string line for a
neat finish. Cover cars, sidewalks, bushes, garage doors, etc. before spraying, especially when the wind is strong. Watch where you
are stepping at all times. |
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