Sealing works. Sealing every year does not.

What sealer actually does

Asphalt is aggregate held together by bitumen. Sunlight and oxygen break the bitumen down over time — that is why an old driveway turns grey and the surface stones start to shed. Sealer replaces the lost surface binder and puts a barrier between the asphalt and the elements.

It also fills hairline cracks and keeps water out of them, which matters far more than colour. Water in a crack freezes, expands, and turns a hairline into a pothole over two or three winters. Everything sealing buys you comes down to keeping water on top of the driveway instead of inside it.

Timing, which is where most people get it wrong

Never seal a brand-new driveway. Fresh asphalt needs six to twelve months to cure while the lighter oils work their way out. Seal it early and you trap them, leaving a soft, tacky surface that scuffs and tracks into the house.

Every three to four years after that is the right interval in the GTA climate. Annual sealing does not double the protection; it builds up a thick brittle film that cracks and peels on its own.

Late spring through early fall, on a dry surface, with no rain forecast for 24 hours and overnight temperatures staying above about 10°C. Sealer applied too cold never cures properly.

When we will decline the job

If your driveway has widespread alligator cracking, soft spots or standing water, sealing it is cosmetic. It will look excellent for about six weeks and then continue failing at exactly the rate it was already failing.

That is a $900 job we will turn down and tell you to spend the money on the section rebuild instead. It is not generosity — a sealed driveway that fails anyway generates the review that costs us the next ten customers.

Questions