Crack Filling

Seal Rite uses a hot pour crack and joint sealant. We have found that cold pours simply do not perform at a satisfactory level for us. This process usually goes hand and hand with sealcoating.

Purpose of Crack Filling

The intrusion of water into the pavement is bad news! Water destroys pavement. It erodes the properties of the rock and softens the subgrade (clay and soils), eventually resulting in potholes and pavement failures. When water enters a crack and freezes, it will expand, which causes the asphalt to expand and crack further, which eventually results in a pothole or further failures.

Most customers agree that black lines of crack fill in a roadway or parking lot are not attractive. They can look even worse than the cracks themselves (unless a fresh coat of sealer is applied for uniform color). The alternative of not crack sealing can be devastating economically in the long run when having to overlay your lot.

The Crack Fill Process

Generally, the cracks are cleaned to remove all loose debris. We recommend that cracked pavement be inspected every year. Any new cracks that have formed or old cracks that have re-opened should be filled. Colder temperatures actually promote better crack sealing because the asphalt is constricted, opening the crack wider and allowing more hot rubber to flow into the crack. Winter months can be good for crack sealing as long as it is dry. However, you don’t want to leave cracks open for freeze and thaw cycles.