Your company just completed a parking lot maintenance project that included all the usual suspects: asphalt patching, hot rubber crack sealing, sealcoating and line striping and when you finished it looked like a million bucks. The next day you get a call from your customer and he tells you, "It looks like hell, the cracks are all white and the sealer must not have held up!".
You know it looked great because you took a couple pictures of it and it was mostly dry when you left and the weather was perfect. You immediately run over to look at the project again and find that the cracks are full of a white chalky residue (even brown in some areas), but almost all of the unfilled cracks are white and it's making the entire job look bad.
If you are a veteran sealcoater you knew this is what you would find before getting there, but if you are new to this challenge you need to be prepared for this when you first talk with your customer and even before visiting.
If you have not seen this before then you will learn that the white chalky residue is actually a deposit of mineral salts or calcium carbonate in the groundwater. The moisture from the evening which seeped up from the ground left the cracks wet even after they had appeared to be fully dry when your company performed the work. The moisture deposited this residue on top of the sealed surface and as it dried again the next morning the white chalky residue remained. You can run your finger nail across it and it flakes away and beneath it is a surface that has clearly been sealed properly.
The problem, however, is that you did not prepare your customer for this before it happened which is what an experienced professional will do for many similar and probable outcomes like this one. Now you must work to educate your customer that this is what took place and that it's all fully protected with sealer.
Make sure you take the time to educate your customers ahead of time, it will save you a lot of time and headaches in the end.
And if you're in need of some quality crack fillers or line striping paint, be sure to check out our full line of products.
White Stains on Newly Sealcoated Asphalt Parking Lots or Driveways
You know it looked great because you took a couple pictures of it and it was mostly dry when you left and the weather was perfect. You immediately run over to look at the project again and find that the cracks are full of a white chalky residue (even brown in some areas), but almost all of the unfilled cracks are white and it's making the entire job look bad.
If you are a veteran sealcoater you knew this is what you would find before getting there, but if you are new to this challenge you need to be prepared for this when you first talk with your customer and even before visiting.
If you have not seen this before then you will learn that the white chalky residue is actually a deposit of mineral salts or calcium carbonate in the groundwater. The moisture from the evening which seeped up from the ground left the cracks wet even after they had appeared to be fully dry when your company performed the work. The moisture deposited this residue on top of the sealed surface and as it dried again the next morning the white chalky residue remained. You can run your finger nail across it and it flakes away and beneath it is a surface that has clearly been sealed properly.
The problem, however, is that you did not prepare your customer for this before it happened which is what an experienced professional will do for many similar and probable outcomes like this one. Now you must work to educate your customer that this is what took place and that it's all fully protected with sealer.
Make sure you take the time to educate your customers ahead of time, it will save you a lot of time and headaches in the end.
And if you're in need of some quality crack fillers or line striping paint, be sure to check out our full line of products.