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Sealcoating of residential driveways is the way most contractors get into the sealcoating business. It's also a business many contractors rely on for steady cash flow throughout the season as homeowners generally pay their bills in a timely manner.

But sealcoating residential driveways takes a little more care than sealcoating of larger pavements. Why? Because a man's home is his castle, so homeowners are finicky about how their driveway looks. Plus, sealcoating of driveways is done in a much smaller area with other neighboring structures often in the way of your work. Contractors need to pay special attention to neighbor's houses, patios, garages, gazebos, and sun porches so they don't inadvertently get sealer on them.

Most driveway sealcoating is done by hand, either spray or squeegee. A recent informal survey conducted via Pavement's e-mail newsletter found that most contractors (59%) rely on spraying as their only sealcoat method. Another 8% use spray as either the first or second coat of a two-coat application. Much of the suggestions in this article, then, apply to spray sealcoating, but many of them can apply to sealcoating by squeegee as well.

As you will notice in the article, a good deal of our sealcoating work involves preparing the job for the sealer. This includes protecting areas from getting sealer on them. The reason for that should be obvious: You can do the best marketing, use the best sealer, and produce the best sealcoating job on the driveway, but if you leave sealer on the house, concrete, a neighbor's building or simply track it onto a concrete sidewalk, all your good efforts will be for naught. You might get paid for that job but you won't get called back for the next one. And repeat business is the built-in benefit of residential sealcoating.

At the Yard

Readying your equipment should be the first step to a productive day, and while each contractor will have different steps to take, it's essential to create a start-of-the day equipment checklist. You or your workers should work through the checklist each morning, making sure not to leave the yard until the list is completed. The list should include not only the equipment you will use on the job but also the trucks you will drive, including fuel and tire checks.