About Sarah Leech Expertise Our family asphalt business has been proudly installing and sealcoating driveways and commercial parking lots for over 40 years. I welcome any and all questions about the asphalt sealcoating and/or asphalt paving of your driveway and/or parking lot. How to's for do it yourself sealcoaters, professional advice for your commercial parking lots, what products and tools to use; and what not to use. Tips, tricks and general useful knowledge in an area where most people don't know where to look for help!
Experience I grew up in the family business of asphalt paving. For 11 years I was the VP of the family asphalt business and now at 34, I own my own company, ASAP Asphalt Sealing And Paving Co. Currently, ASAP Asphalt is one of the largest asphalt sealcoating companies in Western PA!
Organizations Peters Township Chamber of Commerce
Building Trades Association
Education/Credentials Graduated from Peters Township High School 1992
BA in Psychology from Slippery Rock University 1997
National Pavement Expo Convention 2006
Awards and Honors Member of Manchester Who's Who
Past/Present Clients Babies-R-Us
The Home Depot,
Liberty Mutual,
Consol Development,
PNC Bank,
Kohl's,
Sheraton,
Red Roof Inn,
Michael's,
I have a bid for seal coating my new 2000 sq.ft. asphalt driveway. The bid is a 2 step process. The first application would be a primer/tack coat. It says it will help improve adhesion and wear resistance. The second application is a sand slurry type/rubber fortified industrial strength gas resistance sealer. They also offer and upgrade on the seal coat by using armorflex.
This bid is 2x's the other bid that I got I was wondering if it's worth the extra money to go with the two step process.
Answer Hi Mike!
A primer coat does help improve adhesion and wear resistance. And a slurry coat of sealer is much thicker than regular sealer alone. So, the easiest answer to this question is that YES, it's worth the extra money.
So, it makes sense that the bid is 2x the other bid, because you are not really comparing apples to apples. We are talking apples and oranges here.
My personal opinion is that I love to see sealcoaters who are actually offering better products than just 'slapping' sealer on your driveway. This contractor obviously knows what he is doing, knows about his products, and is willing to charge accordingly for his services--rather than just doing what everyone else does, or underbidding people just to get the job. We install a primer coat on all of our jobs, and it's something that sets us apart from the rest.
I still have to say that it's up to you to decide if it's worth the extra money, but in my professional opinion--I would definitely say so. The sealer is going to last longer, wear better, protect your asphalt more--and the contractor installing it sounds like a real class act.
Let me know how it turns out!
Sarah Leech
ASAP Asphalt Sealing And Paving Co.
"We're Kickin' Asphalt!"
