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The 5 Biggest Mistakes About Sealcoating in Chicago We
Have Observed Over The Years.
This Page is Divided Into 2 Sections. The First For
Residential and the Second (further down) For Commercial.
The 5 biggest mistakes
homeowners make when hiring a contractor to sealcoat their driveway.
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Taking
the cheapest Price.
Now, I’m not here to tell you how to spend your money. If service and
quality are not overly important to you and your budget is tight, then by
all means take several bids and chose the contractor who shoots you the
lowest price.
But don’t kid yourself. Just like with everything else in life, price and
quality go hand in hand.
When you choose the lowest price you are choosing the contractor with the
least incentive to keep you happy. After all, you’ve already communicated
that price is all you really care about. Your decision to shop for the
lowest price stands as irrefutable evidence.
When you bought your last car, did you buy the cheapest one you could find?
Do you by generic food? Do you do most of your shopping at the Dollar Store?
Then what would possess you to hire the lowest priced contractor?
If it sounds too good to be true…. it is.
Most good contractors have similar costs. There are marginal differences but
if someone is 25% less you should ask them why? We all pay around the same
price for materials, labor, and insurance. The quickest way to bring our
costs down is to cut corners. Sad but true.
They are possibly not insured.
They are possibly not local.
They will possibly sealcoat your driveway too thin with watered down
materials and may not treat cracks.
YOU MAY NOT BE ABLE TO FIND THEM WHEN FUTURE PROBLEMS APPEAR. DON’T DO IT!!
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Hiring
an uninsured contractor.
Although you may not feel much can go wrong when having you driveway
sealcoated you definitely don’t want a contractor who’s uninsured. For
instance an unexpected rain storm can splash sealcoat material on a
homeowner’s garage door, siding, and concrete or brick sidewalk. Even though
a contractor can’t control the weather if they have the proper insurance you
will be protected.
A few years back in July we were very backed up with work and had a lot
of work scheduled for that day with 3 crews out in force to sealcoat some 25
driveways. The forecast as is typical in the middle of the summer was for a
30% chance of PM rain. On days like that we monitor the weather throughout
the day and there was nothing on the radar, so I sent the crews to work.
Around 3 PM I noticed a storm on the radar about 50 miles north basically
moving east. I called one of my crews and told them to finish up the job
they were on and go back to the yard. Not more than 15 minute later the
storm came south. The sealer was still wet by the garage doors that were not
getting any sun. Not only did the storm wash off wet sealer on the driveway,
but splashed black material on the 1 year old steel garage doors. Despite
our best effort in cleaning the doors it just wasn’t quite acceptable. This
was baked on vinyl siding and they didn’t want latex paint over the doors so
painting was not an option. These were custom doors costing over $3000 a
piece so we had to make an insurance claim to replace these doors. The claim
turned out to be just over $7000 since the door frames also had to be
replaced. No matter how careful a contractor is rain storms like this are
part of the business so you definitely don’t want to take the chance of
hiring someone without insurance.
-
Only
sealcoating your driveway when it is in need of repair or replacement.
Although sealcoating greatly enhances the appearance of your driveways as
well as giving significant protection against the elements, there is really
no structural benefit to just sealcoating your driveway. If your driveway
has low spots, unevenness, and badly cracked areas you probably have a base
problem and should repair damaged areas or possibly replace the entire
driveway.
-
Sealcoating your driveway too often.
Since residential driveways are generally low traffic areas a good sealcoat
job should last 2-3 years and that’s mainly since most driveways in Northern
climates get plowed and salted in the winter months. You don’t need to
sealcoat every year. Often when driveways get coated too often the sealer
builds up and may crack and peel.
-
Failing to check references.
Demand references. People you can call and interview about their experience.
And don’t just call the select list of people the contractor claims has
given permission. Demand a contact list of all the clients the contractor
has worked for in the last 3 to 6 months and call three or four at random.
Join and check the feedback on Angie’s List (www.angieslist.com). Membership
is around $50 a year and it gives you access to feedback on companies who
provide services to home owners. Angie’s List lets you look at detailed
feedback written by previous customers.
Check with the Better Business Bureau. See whether the contractor has had
several complaints lodged.
If a contractor is going to take care of you, his past clients will sing his
praises. If he isn’t going to, the stench of his past performance will stink
to high heaven. All you’ve got to do is a little due diligence.
5 biggest mistakes commercial
property owners and managers make when hiring a contractor to sealcoat their
parking lot.
-
Taking
the cheapest Price:
Now, I’m not here to tell you how to spend your money. If service and
quality are not overly important to you and your budget is tight, then by
all means take several bids and chose the contractor who shoots you the
lowest price.
But don’t kid yourself. Just like with everything else in life, price and
quality go hand in hand.
When you choose the lowest price you are choosing the contractor with the
least incentive to keep you happy. After all, you’ve already communicated
that price is all you really care about. Your decision to shop for the
lowest price stands as irrefutable evidence.
When you bought your last car, did you buy the cheapest one you could find?
Do you by generic food? Do you do most of your shopping at the Dollar Store?
Then what would possess you to hire the lowest priced contractor?
If it sounds too good to be true…. it is.
Most good contractors have similar costs. There are marginal differences but
if someone is 25% less you should ask them why? We all pay around the same
price for materials, labor, and insurance. The quickest way to bring our
costs down is to cut corners. Sad but true.
They are possibly not insured.
They are possibly not local.
They will possibly sealcoat your driveway too thin with watered down
materials and may not treat cracks.
There are many factors to consider when getting bids to have a commercial
property sealcoated. Are all the contractors making apples to apples bids?
Is the contractor bidding 1 or 2 coats? Many commercial parking lots receive
a lot of traffic and a1 coat application often will not last very long and
isn’t consistent with manufacturers specifications. Will the coating be
spray, brush or squeegee applied? Is sealing of major cracks included in the
bid? Are they using a hot cracksealant or cold pour crack filler? How are
they preparing the cracks prior to crack sealing? Recommend that the
contractors bidding on your parking lot itemize everything they are doing.
How much for 1 coat, how much for 2nd coats, how much for crack filling, how
much for patching, etc. Also make sure they’re specifying materials used as
well as method of application.
IF YOU CHOOSE THE LOW BID YOU MAY NOT FIND THEM WHEN PROBLEMS APPEAR. DON’T
DO IT!!
-
Not
keeping traffic off the freshly sealcoated parking area long enough:
Sealcoated material needs sufficient time to cure. (Ideally 24 hours,
but at least 8-12 hours under ideal weather conditions including several
hours of sunlight.) If a parking lot is opened to traffic, before the
material has fully cured the coating will wear off prematurely. You may
consider doing the job in sections. If your business will suffer
significantly by keeping traffic off the lot for a sufficient amount of time
you may be better off not sealcoating and just perform crack filling,
patching and restriping in your pavement maintenance program.
Several years ago a paving contractor we subcontract out a lot of work
from signed a contract to sealcoat several 24 hour convenient stores. They
wanted them started after 11PM. So we did the jobs and they were opening up
the lots to traffic by 6AM. Needles to say they called a few weeks later
saying the jobs are already wearing off. We tried explaining that we can’t
baby sit the parking lot after we leave the job and that they need to keep
traffic off for longer. They didn’t believe us and refused to pay for the
entire bill. We learned and expensive lesson. Since that job; on all my
contracts we will guarantee all 2 coat jobs against abnormal wear provided
the owners keep traffic off for the recommended 24 hour time period.
-
Not
confirming that your contractor is properly insured.
Although you may not feel much can go wrong when having your parking lot
sealcoated you definitely don’t want a contractor who’s uninsured. For
instance an unexpected rain storm can splash sealcoat material on the
building’s garage door’s, siding, and concrete or brick sidewalk. Even
though a contractor can’t control the weather if they have the proper
insurance you will be protected.
-
Failing to check references.
Demand references. People you can call and interview about their experience.
And don’t just call the select list of people the contractor claims has
given permission. Demand a contact list of all the clients the contractor
has worked for in the last 3 to 6 months and call three or four at random.
Join and check the feedback on Angie’s List (www.angieslist.com).
Membership is around $50 a year and it gives you access to feedback on
companies who provide services to home owners. Angie’s List lets you look at
detailed feedback written by previous customers.
Check with the Better Business Bureau. See whether the contractor has had
several complaints lodged.
If a contractor is going to take care of you, his past clients will sing his
praises. If he isn’t going to, the stench of his past performance will stink
to high heaven. All you’ve got to do is a little due diligence.
-
Not
maintaining your lot frequently enough.
It’s an inconvenience to many commercial property owners to close off
sections of their parking lot for maintenance. In addition your parking lot
is not an income producer so many property owners don’t want to maintain it
every year or 2. However, when asphalt cracks water and ice penetrate into
the pavement, which causes more cracking and eventually pavement failure.
Cracks should be treated with a hot crack sealant and proper prep work every
year or 2 to prevent water infiltration. Parking lots should also be seal
coated every 2-3 years (possibly more often on very high traffic areas) to
keep the surface smooth for easier cleaning, black to absorb heat and melt
snow and ice faster and to maintain good appearance. Damaged areas and catch
basins should be hot patched as soon as significant damage or potholes
occur.
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