The coat itself takes an hour. Everything before it takes most of the day, and that part is what separates a finish that lasts three seasons from one that lifts off in sheets after the first winter.
What happens to your Edmonton driveway before any sealer goes on
Sealer bonds to asphalt, not to the film of dust, pollen and tyre rubber sitting on top of it. So the surface is blown clear, scrubbed where it needs it, and left dry. A coat applied over a rinsed but unscrubbed drive peels in patches the following spring.
Oil and transmission drips are treated separately. They soften the binder and no sealer sticks to them, so those areas are degreased and primed before anything else happens. Skipping this leaves bare circles exactly where a car parks.
Open cracks are sealed first as well, because sealer poured across one sinks into it and leaves a visible reopened line. That is its own job and it is quoted separately. If the surface has broken into connected pieces, a coat is cosmetic and the repairs come first.
Squeegee pass
How a coat runs
How your Edmonton driveway sealcoat is applied
Check the surface is worth coating
A sound drive takes a coat well. One that has gone to connected cracking will not, and that is said at the visit rather than after the money has changed hands.
Clean, degrease and seal cracks
Blown clear, scrubbed where needed, oil areas primed and open cracks filled. This stage is the bulk of the time on site.
Cut the edges by hand
The apron, the kerb line and the garage join are done by hand first, which is what stops the finish ending in a ragged line short of the concrete.
Coat and keep traffic off
Even passes across the body of the drive, then it is left alone. Turning a wheel on a coat that has not set leaves a scuff that stays.
After the coat
Living with a freshly sealed Edmonton driveway
Foot traffic is usually fine after a day and vehicles after two, but humidity matters more than the calendar. A cool damp week pushes both out, and the crew will say so rather than hand the drive back on a schedule.
The first few weeks are when scuffing happens. Power steering turned while stationary is the usual culprit, and it leaves crescent marks that look like damage but are only surface deep.
After that it is maintenance on a cycle rather than an event. Two to three years suits most drives, and recoating annually builds a layer thick enough to flake. A planned cycle costs less than reacting, and the figures are on their own page.
What Edmonton owners ask about driveway sealcoating
Because sealer bonds to asphalt and not to dust, pollen or tyre rubber. A coat over an unscrubbed surface sticks to the film instead of the drive and lifts off in sheets after the first winter.
Not directly. Oil softens the binder and nothing bonds to it, so those areas are degreased and primed first. Skipping that leaves bare circles exactly where the car parks.
Roughly a day for walking on and two for vehicles, though cool damp weather extends both. Curing depends on the air rather than on a fixed number of hours.
Power steering turned while the car is stationary. It scuffs the fresh coat and leaves crescent shapes that look like damage but are only in the top surface and fade.
No. Annual coating builds up a layer thick enough to crack and flake off on its own. Two to three years suits most Edmonton drives, and shaded ones can go longer than that.
It evens the colour and slows further oxidation, but it is a few millimetres thick. A surface that has lost its stone or broken into pieces needs repair rather than a coat.
Get your Edmonton driveway sealcoat quoted on its condition
We will look at the surface, say whether a coat is worth doing yet, and quote the crack work and the coating as separate lines so you can see what each is costing.
