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Driveway Sealants
Applying a sealant to protect your driveway
from cracking in cold, wet weather is simple
and cost-saving preventive maintenance. You
can also use the sealer to add color or glitter
to fancy up your home.
Here are some tips to get you
started:
- Pick a sealer for your type of driveway (concrete
or asphalt), although many will seal either
type. Most sealers are clear, but you might
consider one with color or glitter.
- Determine how much sealant to buy. Sealant
comes in various sizes, the larger ones being
5 gallon buckets that typically cover 300
square feet. You may need more sealant if
your driveway has a rough surface or if you
will need to apply a second coat.
- Buy a squeegee to apply the sealant. The
other side of the squeegee should have a
brush for driving the sealant into cracks.
- Inspect the surface to confirm that any cracks
are less than about an eighth of an inch
in width. Fill any large cracks before sealing
the drive. Crack filler ranges from liquids
designed to fill small cracks to coarse,
to a caulk-like putty for medium cracks,
to aggregate filler (sometimes called cold
patch) for large cracks. Check the manufacturer's
recommendations for what tools may be needed.
- Clear your driveway of oils stains, debris,
and leaves and keep pets away.
- Wear old clothes and shoes. Some people wrap
their shoes in plastic bags (from the grocery
store) that they throw away after the job
is done.
The application of the sealant
is quite simple.
Pour out some sealant onto the
driveway and
spread it with the squeegee as
uniformly
as possible. Once the sealant
is spread out,
use the brush side of the squeegee
to force
the sealant into the smaller
cracks and to
remove any ridges. Repeat the
process until
you have covered the area you
want to seal.
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