As we’ve mentioned briefly in previous articles, there are different kinds of materials that are used when paving driveways or other construction projects. However, solutions when complications arise should always be expected to be executed. Within the realm of durability, the span of keeping your driveway sealed will probably last for five to ten years.
Whether the material of your driveway is made of asphalt, or concrete, you’ll probably be expecting a range between $170 to $700. Depending on the material and the size of the driveway involved, the costs will all be determined and altered by those specifications. At the minimum end of the costs, homeowners may only expect to spend about $110 to $160. Within the realm of the maximum end for the costs, homeowners should not be surprised if their costs amount to $800 and could possibly estimate into $1500 instead.
Table of Contents
- Cost To Fill Cracks And Seal Driveway
- Cost To Seal Asphalt Driveway
- Cost To Seal Concrete Driveway
- Cost Of Cleaning Driveway Before Sealing Driveway
- Cost Of Repairs Before Sealing Driveway
- Cost of Resurfacing Driveway
- Why You’d Prefer Professional Assistance
- Minimum Costs
- Finding Multiple Estimates Through House Tipster
Cost To Fill Cracks And Seal Driveway
If you’re a homeowner, you should likely anticipate the day when you have cracks in your driveway. Best thing to do would be to make the accurate repairs, right? However, even with professional assistance with making repairs, you should also consider the possibility of sealing in your driveway. Keeping this option available for yourself will ultimately save you money and outweigh the additional costs that will be incurred should you neglect the quality of your driveway.
The range of sealing your blacktop driveway will probably cost about $0.06 to $2.10 per square foot. Although that is the estimated cost to expect, it is ultimately determined by the sealant and also the condition of your driveway. As a rule of thumb, homeowners will maintain better protection for their surfaces with higher-grade sealers. Thicker substances often provide an enhanced quality to the area, however, it is actually that much more difficult to spread it.
Cost To Seal Asphalt Driveway
If you’re having your asphalt driveway sealed, you’ll have the option of applying these choices in sealers. As mentioned in a previous article, asphalt is meant for northern climates. This is the reason why most homeowners choose a sealant to apply to their driveway. It is yet another utility that you should consider if your home is located in an area with extreme weather.
| Sealer Type | Estimated Cost Range Per Square Foot |
| Coal tar | $0.06-$0.11 per sq ft |
| Asphalt | $0.15-$0.20 per sq ft |
| Oil-based | $0.15-$0.20 per sq ft |
| Acrylic | $0.20-$0.35 per sq ft |
| Eco-friendly | $0.25-$0.38 per sq ft |
| Fill and seal | $0.35-$0.50 per sq ft |
Homeowners should also keep in mind that it’s a better idea to reseal the driveway multiple times every year. Even with the highest quality of sealer, homeowners are advised to reseal their driveways, ensuring the best condition for the area. The cost of hiring a professional to seal in your blacktop driveway will probably range between $0.60 and $1.75 per square foot. But it really depends on the amount of labor that might go into the task, which includes the cleaning, the patching, and the edging before your driveway can get sealed. This price will also adjust depending on the shape and slope of your driveway.
Coal Tar
Probably the most effective, yet least costly alternative, the coal tar sealer was designed to enhance the protection against UV light. Although it is probably the most recurrent option, coal tar is known for its high levels of VOC. Keep in mind that this is a sealer that might be banned in your area. An estimated range behind this sealer will probably cost around $0.06 to $0.11 per square foot.
Asphalt
There are two kinds of sealers to look out for. Homeowners can use synthetic fast-drying types or emulsion types. A synthetic variant will probably need to be replaced every two to three years and will cost about $0.10 per square foot. While the emulsion variant can last longer than four years and will probably cost about $0.08 to $0.10 per square foot. Essentially, this is the same kind of material used for the driveway it’s being applied to, except it’s in a liquid form. Both types of the asphalt sealant will fill the narrow crevices in your driveway.
Oil-Based
Ranging about $0.15 to $0.20 per square foot, this sealing option will probably remain less typically used than the other sealers. This material can actually last your driveway up to about four years and is less hazardous to the ecosystem. If you’re a homeowner that lives in an area that bans coal tar sealants, this will be the second-best option for you.
Latex Acrylic
A more modern option in the world of sealers, the latex acrylic is meant to be non-toxic and won’t stain as easily as the other sealers mentioned above. Blending both synthetic and acrylic matter, this is a sealant that is estimated to cost about $0.20 to $0.35 per square foot. It is a challenge to spread this material on your driveway but it’s an excellent decision to use these sealants for deep cracks, holes, and pits.
Eco-Friendly
Out of the other sealants, the eco-friendly asphalt sealant will probably seem one of the more costly alternatives. Costing about $0.25 to $0.38 per square foot, it is the safest sealant to use that causes the least amount of harm to the environment. It also has the added benefit of spanning five years in duration.
Fill And Seal
Homeowners should all remember that the fill and seal option is for driveways that are in a worsened condition. Using this very viscous sealant, blended with some aggregates, it’s a material that fills in pretty sizable cracks and holes. You should expect to spend about $0.35 to $0.50 per square foot for a fill and seal. Should your professionals apply this choice, they should also know to cover the sealer with a top coat once it finishes drying.
Cost To Seal Concrete Driveway
Unlike asphalt driveways, you should expect to either use these four main types of reactive penetrating sealers for a concrete driveway or four main types of topical coats. Although there are some sealers that can be done by the homeowner, there are particular ones that should be accomplished with expert hands.
| Reactive Penetrating Sealers | Duration |
| Siloxane | 3-5 years |
| Silane | 10-25 years |
| Silicate | 10-25 years |
| Siliconate | 10-25 years |
Concrete-based sealers will provide a defensive layer against water, oil, salt, mold, and many other contaminants. It is also the route that homeowners will opt when they want to enhance the strength of their surface. This is especially the case for homeowners that live in areas with fluctuating freezing and thawing rotations in the climate.
| Topical Coats | Duration |
| Acrylic | 1-3 years |
| Epoxy | 5-10 years |
| Urethane | 5-10 years |
| Blended/Hybrid | 5-10 years |
The difference between reactive penetrating sealers and topical coats is the appeal and ornamental qualities that topical coats have to offer. Topical coats also provide better defense against moisture stains, chemical contaminants, grease, gas, and oils. Keep in mind that homeowners will have much more longevity for their concrete driveways with either option but topical coats have weighted benefits.
As a rule of thumb, homeowners should understand that the best kind of sealer for concrete driveways are the ones that best stave away stains and prevent discoloration. The byproduct of concrete is its porousness. Its expansion and emphasis on the surface of your driveway can be quite constant. An estimate to all these choices will range from $0.15 to $0.70 per square foot.
Before the process can take place, your professional will assess what other services may need to be done, to properly seal in your driveway. Unless you want further damages down the line, you should have these auspicious services done.
Cost Of Cleaning Driveway Before Sealing Driveway
Sealing professionals will usually bring a trimmer or shovel to cut away the weeds that may be protruding within the driveway. You can also find some service specialists that will bring in a pressure washer to thoroughly clean your asphalt or concrete. Although there may be some contractors that will include this service into the estimates, there may be some that will not. In the case that your professional does not include the cost, you should expect a range between $0.27 to $0.39 per square foot for your professional to pressure wash the driveway.
Cost Of Repairs Before Sealing Driveway
Keep in mind that sealing can’t start until cracks or holes are repaired. Sealing in the driveway doesn’t correct physical damage, rather it prevents further damage from occurring in the near future. To have these clefts filled and repaired, small patch jobs will probably need to be done. Asphalt will cost about $3 per square foot, while concrete will cost about $4 per square foot.
Cost of Resurfacing Driveway
Other than sealing in the driveway, homeowners also have the option in resurfacing their driveway instead. Although sealing your driveway helps maintain its condition and should be done every five years or so, you should keep in mind that resurfacing a driveway should be done every 15 to 20 years. This is because resurfacing will help solve any moderately complicated issues.
There are cost factors that will change the overall price of this service, however, the range in question for resurfacing a driveway will total from $4 to $8 per square foot. This should only be seen as an option, however, if any of the damage should be perfunctory. Resurfacing a driveway is essentially resetting the layers on the surface by removing the old portion and applying a new one.
Why You’d Prefer Professional Assistance
Although this job can be done by the homeowner, it’s best to rely on professional assistance instead. Depending on the many different complications that could arise, a professional sealer will have the means and capability to adapt to any occasion. In these cases, you should also reign in the fact that some of these sealers are best handled by experts. Only a few of the sealants mentioned above are meant to be handled without the need of experience.
What is most convenient about these specialists is the equipment and tools they bring to the job. The professional you decide to hire will probably haul in their own squeegees, seal coats, fillers, and paintbrushes. Some of which you’d most likely have to purchase yourself.
There is a simple convenience that comes with a professional to assist you. Sealing specialists will have several options in sealing and the costs associated with these methods could be requested along with your initial sealing job.
| Patios | $100 |
| Walkways | $100 |
| Sports Areas | $700-$1000 |
| Parking Lots | $7000-$10000 per acre |
Patios
There is a wide range of patios that give you a sorted arrangement in either concrete or asphalt. Ranging about $100 to seal, professionals will suggest you maintain a sealing job with this route since it probably will only need one coat of sealant. It's quite the estimate to submit that patios are actually rather quite easy to sustain, due to the fact that there is no need for heavy traffic to go through.
Walkways
Similar to patios, the walkways essentially cost the same price. Sealing a walkway is rather inexpensive and keeps your feet from being injured. Like the patios in your home, the walkways probably ascertain a minutiae of traffic compared to the other portions of your home.
Sports Areas
Whether you're an enthusiast for basketball, tennis, or just about any sport you cant think of, the court will need to be sealed properly. The cost entirely depends on how large your sports area is going to end up being. Estimated to cost about $700 to $1000, your recreational area can measure to be about 2000 to 4000 square feet.
Parking Lots
Probably the most expensive on this list but only used for commercial purposes, your sealing professional will probably charge you around $7000 to $10000 per acre. Keep in mind that as a business owner, you're going to want to consider this service in high regard. This is because you may have a rather large parking lot, befitting 40000 square feet of space.
Minimum Costs
Most professionals in this industry will require a minimum service fee. Your specialist will have the cost range to account for all the prices for the paperwork, insurance, travel, equipment, materials, and anything else required for the job. Remember that homeowners will probably spend about 50 to 70 percent of your budget on labor costs.
Protection Of The Nearby Areas
To prevent any of the materials mentioned above from sneaking up to your areas that you’d want unaffected, you’ll have to spend about $30 as an hourly rate. Using poly sheets, tape, gloves, and eyewear, your professional will lend a hand by keeping a sort of barricade around your garden or concrete sidewalks. Homeowners should keep in mind that sealants can work for asphalt shingles or even indoor concrete foundations and basements. The advantages for keeping a sealant are quite protean and will help water-proof the most obscure places in your home.
Finding Multiple Estimates Through House Tipster
Most of the complications that might incur with your driveway will happen due to the elements. To properly safeguard this part of your home, homeowners should have the right set of hands and the right mind to help you with the task. So many projects can wrought error upon error, and the mistakes can eventually lead to higher and higher costs.
If you’re precarious whether you can pull the project off, find out about the estimates and the reviews through House Tipster. The features we have to offer allow you to browse through various different home improvement and construction projects. You’ll have so much ease in finding a service professional that meets both your standards and your budget.
By having this web tool available, any and all inquiries you may have can be answered in a manner of minutes. Whether you’re curious about the estimates or scheduling issues, our chat system will give you the ability to communicate with your intended professional.
Featured Photo By Alex Simpson On Unsplash
