Asphalt Sealcoating in Scranton, PA

Most Scranton driveways run $150 to $350 sealed, or roughly $0.15 to $0.30 per square foot, with crack filling billed at $1.50 to $3.00 per linear foot on top. A standard two-car drive with light cracking usually lands around $200 to $300 all-in. Big driveways, heavy cracking, or patch work push the number up, and we price it all line by line before any work starts.

In this climate it is structural protection, not cosmetics. Sealer blocks the water that freeze-thaw cycles use to tear asphalt apart, and it keeps road salt and UV from drying the surface brittle. A maintained driveway here can run 25-plus years; a bare one starts alligatoring in half that. The deep black look is a side effect. The waterproofing is the product.

Every two to three years. Scranton winters - plows, salt, and roughly 45 inches of snow with constant freeze-thaw swings - wear a coat down faster than milder climates do. If the surface has gone uniformly gray or water soaks in flat instead of beading, you are due. More often than every two years is overkill and just builds sealer layers.

24 to 48 hours after the final coat for vehicles, and about 4 to 6 hours for foot traffic in good drying weather. Hot, dry, breezy days cure fastest; cool or humid ones need the full 48. We cone off the driveway and give you a specific time based on that day's conditions, not a guess. Turning your wheels while parked is the big no for the first week.

Sealcoating runs May through mid-October, when temps hold above 50 degrees and the surface can dry. Crack filling runs later into fall, down to around 40 degrees, and October crack-fill is the single best pre-winter move you can make. The schedule fills fastest in September when everyone smells snow coming, so calling in summer gets you better dates and pricing.

Not right away - new asphalt needs a minimum of 90 days to cure, and a full season is better. Sealing too soon traps the fresh oils and leaves the surface soft and scuff-prone. If your driveway was paved this year, the honest schedule is crack-check it this fall and seal it next summer. Anyone pushing to seal fresh blacktop now is chasing your deposit, not your driveway's lifespan.

No - sealer coats the surface but cannot bridge an open crack, which is why cracks get hot rubber filler first and sealer second. Filled and sealed, a working crack stops growing and stays watertight through the freeze-thaw season. Alligatored areas where the asphalt has broken into plates are past both fixes and need patched. We will tell you which is which when we measure.

Yes, indirectly but relentlessly. Salt keeps water liquid at lower temperatures, which means more freeze-thaw cycles happening inside your pavement instead of on top of it, and brine wicks into unsealed asphalt and breaks down the binder. You cannot avoid salt in Scranton - the plows bring it to you. A sealed surface keeps the brine on top where it melts ice instead of soaking in.

Concentration, additives, and application. We buy commercial-grade asphalt emulsion by the tote, mix it with sand for traction and additives for cure and flexibility, and apply two even coats over properly prepped, crack-filled asphalt. DIY buckets are thinner material going over whatever prep a Saturday allows, and they typically last a season or two. Done right, ours holds two to three NEPA winters.

No - asphalt only. Sealcoating products, crack fillers, and patch methods for blacktop do not belong on concrete, and a crew that claims to do both well usually does one badly. If you have a concrete drive we are not your guys, and we will say so on the phone and save everybody the trip. Asphalt driveways, lots, and paths are the whole business.