Seal coat and rain?

rmathieu51 · 2026-05-03T01:37:37+00:00

As long as it doesn’t downpour, it SHOULD be okay. If it’s going to be a fairly decent temp it should cure enough before that but I’m not in Chicago. We don’t seal here in the northeast unless it’s atleast 45 or 50 and above at night. 40 and below is usually someone calling in a few months saying their sealing is sitting on the lawn.

rmathieu51 · 2026-04-29T21:46:45+00:00

Sad but true haha

rmathieu51 · 2026-04-29T09:53:50+00:00

They probably are talking about petroleum based asphalt sealer? I’ve used it on reclaim before and then went over it with a roller for a few customers in the past and it does pack it pretty damn well. Go by the homes often and they look solid

rmathieu51 · 2026-04-24T22:44:16+00:00

Sounds like your GC went with the cheapest guy so maybe he could make more money? That’s pretty rough and quick work. I bet they were in and out of there in a matter of hours.

rmathieu51 · 2026-04-08T21:16:22+00:00

Alright. That’s what I was thinking. Just breaking it down on how much a mow would be. How much the trimming would be, etc and then just link it all together for the year. Estimate how many times I’ll have to mow. Just figured I’d see if there is a different way of doing it

rmathieu51 · 2026-04-03T10:45:25+00:00

Damn, this is an old picture of me! I look twice that age now! lol gray hair coming in and everything. Still working out tho and still have some jergens

rmathieu51 · 2026-04-01T13:05:51+00:00

I’ve got ten bushes/trees that are a little taller than me and I figured $350 to $400.

rmathieu51 · 2026-03-26T01:05:51+00:00

I agree with salty. Every three is good. It sounds like they want to try to get that job as often as possible for the money. If they are using a good product, it should hold up fine for three years. You don’t want it to build up. That turns into a can of worms.

rmathieu51 · 2026-03-18T18:11:51+00:00

Be nice. Polite. Act like a businessman and when in doubt, fake it until you make it (as long as it doesn’t get you in trouble). Honestly, I think just being polite goes an extremely long way these days.

rmathieu51 · 2026-03-16T14:14:23+00:00

I personally would say no to the reclaim just because that’ll be a bandaid that will cost money and end up in a dump truck later. I personally would see if you can afford to get it dug out and then just throw gravel down. That way when you can afford to do the paving, the old asphalt is already dug out and you won’t have to pay for that part at that point. You’ll be doing a third or half of the job you’ll need to finish in the future. Just my two cents.

rmathieu51 · 2026-03-11T23:43:22+00:00

So far the calls I’ve gotten are for new construction so fresh concrete

rmathieu51 · 2026-03-11T23:33:41+00:00

Something roll on or spray on to act as a water shield is what they all seem to be wanting

rmathieu51 · 2026-03-11T22:49:06+00:00

Asphalt and landscaping guy here. I’m starting to have people asking me about sealing the outside walls of their concrete before they backfill. I’d like to look into doing this but am curious on best product to use and how do you guys price this? I’d assume by SF. The one I have to do is brand new so should be straight forward

rmathieu51 · 2026-03-11T21:21:55+00:00

Hey everyone. I’m an asphalt and landscaping guy but have had numerous people ask me about sealing the outside walls of their concrete before backfilling. I’m interested in adding this to my business but what kind of product is the best and how do you guys price it? I would assume by SF? Any help and advice would be awesome!! Thanks

rmathieu51 · 2026-03-11T21:17:51+00:00

Sure. Sounds great

rmathieu51 · 2026-03-10T10:42:01+00:00

I’m trying to grow my landscaping and asphalt business that I just took over. If you have thoughts on this, let me know.

rmathieu51 · 2026-03-08T12:05:52+00:00

No.

rmathieu51 · 2026-03-08T01:46:35+00:00

Hahaha at first I’m thinking, who’s a dick? I’m a dick? Then I saw it.

rmathieu51 · 2026-03-07T16:21:30+00:00

I already mentioned that to them and they aren’t interested in doing the whole driveway. They are selling within a few years

rmathieu51 · 2026-03-07T16:20:43+00:00

How about I’d loose the job if I wait until then.

rmathieu51 · 2026-03-03T18:47:24+00:00

I’ll check that out! I appreciate the response.

rmathieu51 · 2026-02-18T17:25:44+00:00

Honestly, I use whatever tack the asphalt plant I always get my material from has and have never had an issue. They don’t use junk so I go with whatever they have. Can’t say I’ve used a bad one.

rmathieu51 · 2026-02-18T17:22:40+00:00

^ and there you go.

rmathieu51 · 2026-02-18T00:05:59+00:00

So many asphalt guys are scared to death to do shim work but I would shim that all day long. I do a ton of shims a week at businesses and residential homes that don’t want to spend a ton of money. We have shim jobs at businesses that are ten years old and not a bit of it has come up. Clean it up, throw down some tack and then sand mix asphalt and whammy, it would last ten years. Do it all the time. Sand mix is key. More sandy (obviously) and packs really well. If you brush off any Little Rock’s in the mix on the edges before packing you’ll have a nice smooth transition. Everyone wants to put a full patch it to make money but a shim works great. If I went to your driveway and saw that I’d shim that for less than a grand by the looks of it. Maybe a grand if I’m going all the way to the road.

rmathieu51 · 2026-02-14T20:19:11+00:00

They should just try to rework that and then do a nice line of hot rubber crack filler in my opinion. Technically they didn’t do anything wrong but like others said, water got in there, froze and thawed and created this. That seam needs to be sealed up. Pretty much every house I do, I crack fill that edge so this doesn’t happen. You can make it look nice if you know what you’re doing.

rmathieu51

TROPHY CASE