In the August/September issue of Pavement Maintenance & Reconstruction Girish Dubey, president of STAR Inc., discussed the importance of allowing sealer to properly cure in “How to Know When Your Sealcoat has Dried and Cured.” From that come these three simple steps to getting optimum performance of your sealer:
1. Mix sealer accurately according to the mix design as agreed for the project. Use the proper dilution with water, sand loading, additive content, etc.
2. Apply sealer at the proper coverage rate (expressed either in gallons/square yard or square feet/gallon) on a properly cleaned and repaired surface.
3. Allow sealer to cure “thoroughly” under a set of pavement and ambient weather conditions which will allow the coating to attain its optimal firmness. These “ideal” conditions are simply the ambient and pavement conditions that are specified by the sealer producer and accepted by the industry under which the sealer should be applied and allowed to cure.
To Learn More about Curing and Drying of Sealer and Paint…
Most contractors know that their toughest job-related decision is how to interpret weather conditions. If it’s raining the answer, unlike the sky, is clear - for the moment anyway. But are you missing a window of opportunity if you call off all work for the entire day? Making the wrong decision costs both time and money.
Contractors looking for insights into the curing/drying process for both sealer and paint can learn more from “How to Know ‘Weather’ to Sealcoat or Stripe” presented by Greg Driskell, Professional Pavement Products, at National Pavement Expo, Jan. 23-26 2013 in Nashville. This session will discuss the four primary factors that affect whether you should be applying paint or sealer to pavement. By understanding these factors and how they affect one another, you can improve your “go or no go” decision making. This session will also cover some basic common sense surface testing and troubleshooting techniques all sealcoaters and stripers should know.
Visit www.nationalpavementexpo.com for more information.
