Adding an additive to your sealer? The real cost in the tank and on the ground.

[Jim Farrell, Blastcrete Equipment Company]

Well pavemanpros, Nashville was a great show this year! I welcomed a couple new manufacturers on the scene who are making asphalt based sealers. Pitch Black from Albany NY. and Seal-tite from Missouri. Both companies were well represented with informative owners and staff, had beautiful booths and lots of info. on their sealers. Welcome to the Pavemanpro arena. I gave my additive seminar and had so many questions to answer, but they gave me only an hour and a half to present a lifetime of information!! Wow the time just flew.. one of my points that i did not have much time to elaborate on due to the time constraints was the ACTUAL COST of adding an additive to your sealer, and the true added cost to the square foot price on the pavement. I also will have this formula in the March issue of Pavement for all to see. Paveman pro’s here, will get an advanced look at the cost breakdown in actual numbers. The formula i used are based on my calling many contractors nationwide getting an average cost of a gallon of sealer, pail of additive. I did not figure any sand, there is such a range and cost swing for sand. So you will have to add your sand in the mix with what you are paying. This formula is how i determined my cost as a sealing contractor for many years.

FORMULA:
Based on ADDITIVE cost of $80.00 pail.
Based on SEALER cost of $1.90 a gallon raw.
Material diluted 30% water.
Sealer applied at .15 gallon per square yard.
Based on a typical 550 agitated sealer rig.
Note (RTU) ready to use sealer.
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NO ADDITIVE

400 gal. raw sealer @ $1.90= $760.00
120 gal. water @ 0.00 =$0.00
Total gallons (RTU) sealer 520 gals.
Total cost of $760.00
520 gals. divided by .15 = 3,466 sq.yds. divided by 9 = 31,194 sq.ft.
$760.00 divided by 31,194 sq. ft. = .0244 or a material cost of 2,44 cents per sq.ft.
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1% ADDITIVE ADDED

400 gals. raw sealer @ $190 gal. = $760.00
120 gals. water @ $0.00
4 gals. additive @ $16.00 gal. = $64.00
Total gallons (RTU) sealer= 524 gals.
Total cost of $824.00
524 gals. divided by .15 gals = 3,493 sq.yds. divided by 9 = 31,437 sq.ft.
$824 divided by 31,437 sq.ft. = .0262 or a material cost of 2.8 cents per sq. ft.
Additional cost of only 18/100 of one penny per sq.ft. over no additive.
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2% ADDITIVE ADDED

400 gal. raw sealer @$1.90 gal. = $760.00
120 gals. water @ 0.00
8 gals. additive @ $16.00 gal.= $128.00
Total gals. (RTU) sealer = 528 gals.
Total cost of $888.00
528 gals. divided by .15 = 3,520 sq.yds. divided by 9 = 31,680 sq.ft.
$888.00 divided by 31,680 sq.ft. = .0280 or a material cost of 2.8 cent a sq.ft.
Additional cost of only 36/100 of one penny over no additive.

NOTE: Certain additives require a 1 to 1 dillution prior to adding to the sealer tank.

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You can see that the addition of an additive is not going to break the bank, and will give your customer a better quality job. The addition of an additive makes sense and is truly an insignificant cost to the benefits you get from an additive fortified sealer mix design. Well there you have a sneak peak at the true cost of adding an additive to your sealer. If you are not currently incorporating additives and want to know more about it call your sealer manufacturer or distributor, or call Maintenance Inc. for a distributor nearest you. 800-892-6701 or look us up online at http://www.maintinc.com and we will be happy to point you in the right direction.
Mark McLeod/ Maintenance Inc.

[Anonymous]

GREAT BREAKDOWN. LOTS OF THANKS.

WE ARE FAIRLY NEW TO THE COAT TAR SEALING BUSINESS. WE ARE CURRENTLY BUILDING A 1500 GALLON SEAL RIG ON A 06 INTERNATIONAL 4300, 33000GVW TRUCK FLATBED CHASSIS.

THOUGH, NEW TO COAL TAR, WE ARE NOT NEW TO PAVEMENT SEALING, HAVEING BEEN IN THIS BUSINESS FOR ALMOST 20 YEARS.

YOU HELP IS APPRECIATED. COULD YOU PROVIDE A OUTLINE OF THE ADVANTAGES OF USING ADDITITIVES, WHAT THE DIFFERENCES ARE BETWEEN YOUR VARIOUS ADDITIVE PRODUCTS AND WHAT CONDITIONS MAY WARRANT WHEN EACH WOULD BE BEST TO BE USED?

CAN FASS-DRY REALLY ALLOW YOU TO OPEN AREAS TO TRAFFIC IN AS LITTLE AS 4 HOURS? UNDER WHAT CONDITIONS? WHAT IS THE AVERAGE CURE TIME ON A OVERNIGHT AT APORX 75 DEGREES F.?

WE ARE LOCATED IN THE GREATER TORONTO AREA.

[Jim Farrell, Blastcrete Equipment Company]

MR BRADSHAW, THANKYOU FOR YOUR QUESTION REGARDING ADDITIVES AND THEIR USE. I EXPECT THAT YOU HAVE BEEN APPLYING AN OIL BASE PRODUCT (CUTBACK) SEALER FOR THOSE PAST YEARS. COAL-TAR IS A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT SEALER, CONCENTRATE SEALER IS CUT WITH WATER. ALWAYS REMEMBER EACH JOB YOU SEAL, THE SEALER MUST HYDRATE THE WATER OUT FIRST TO COMPLETE THE CURING PROCESS. AMBIENT TEMPERATURE IS CRITICAL WHEN SEALING WITH A WATER BASE SEALER. ASPHALT BASED SEALERS ARE IN THE SAME CATAGORY AS COAL-TAR IN THAT THEY ALL MUST HYDRATE THE WATER OUT. MOISTURE AND HUMIDITY ALL ARE A FACTOR IN THE CURING PROCESS. FOR EXAMPLE IF THE HUMIDITY IS AT 70% THERE IS ONLY 30% ROOM IN THE AIR TO ABSORB THE MOISTURE. PICKING DAYS WITH LOWER HUMIDITY WOULD BE GREAT IF YOU CAN WAIT TILL THE HUMIDITY IS LOW TO SEAL HOWEVER, THAT IS NOT GOING TO HAPPEN. YOU NEED TO WORK EVERYDAY AND THATS WHERE THE RIGHT ADDITIVE COME INTO PLAY. SOME FACTORS YOU MUST CONSIDER WHEN INCORPORATING AN ADDITIVE. 1.MIX DESIGN, 2. SAND LOAD, 3.SIZE OF YOUR AGGREGATE,4. WATER CUT PERCENTAGE,5. AMBIENT AND PAVEMENT SURFACE TEMPERATURE, 6.POROSITY OF THE PAVEMENT. AN ADDITIVE SHOULD BE USED IN EVERY LOAD ALL YEAR LONG. WE MANUFACTURER FSA OUR ORIGINAL AND BEST SELLING ADDITIVE FOR COALTAR. FSA IMPROVES THE FLEXIBILITY OF THE SEALER FILM, AND HARDENS THE FILM TO REDUCE TRACKING AND TIRE CUTTING AND BEST OF ALL REDUCES THE CURING TIME BY 50% OR MORE. THIS WOULD BE AN EXCELLENT ADDITION TO YOUR EVERYDAY MIX. FSA DOES NOT THICKEN THE MIX. IF YOU ARE ADDING SAND TO YOUR MIX, I SUGGEST FSA-PLUS OR TARGEL-PLUS FOR SAND SUSPENSION AND BOTH PRODUCTS HAVE OUR FASS-DRI ADDED IN THEM. I RECOMMEND 1% TYPICALLY ON A 1 TO 2 PER GALLON SAND LOAD. IF YOU ARE RUNNING A HEAVIER LOAD, UP TO 2% OF THESE ADDITIVE PER 100 GALS. OF RAW SEALER.
NOW, IF YOU ARE DOING WORK ON MARGINAL WEATHER DAYS, AND OR NIGHT WORK, I RECOMMEND THE ADDITION OF OUR FASS-DRI CONCENTRATE TO GIVE IT A KICK. YOU WILL BE SURPRISED HOW THIS ADDITION OF FASS-DRI PSA WILL QUICKEN THE CURE TIME OF YOUR SEALER FILM. CONTRACTORS ARE ALWAYS TELLING OUR DISTRIBUTORS OUR FASS-DRI PSA HAS NOT ONLY ALLOWED THEM TO SEAL AT NIGHT, BUT HAS ALLOWED THEM TO SEAL EARLIER AND LATER INTO THE SEASON. YOU MENTIONED THAT YOU MAY BE SEALING AT AN OVERNIGHT TEMP OF 75 DEGREES, THIS IS AN IDEAL TEMP FOR CURING, HOWEVER YOU MUST WATCH THE HUMIDITY.. IF YOU ARE EXPERIENCING HIGHER HUMIDITY YOU MAY NEED TO ADD A BIT MORE(1%) FASS-DRI PSA TO INSURE THE CURING PROCESS IS SUCCESSFUL. YOU ARE CHEMICALLY CURING THE SEALER FILM. WHEN I SAID I HAVE SEEN COMMERCIAL LOTS OPEN TO TRAFIC IN AS LITTLE A 4 HOURS, THE AMBIENT TEMPS WERE WARM AND SUNNY. BUT THE LOTS WERE OPENED WITH SUCCESS. THE ADDITIVES ALSO ALLOWED THE CONTRACTOR TO STRIPE THE LOT WITHN 2 HOURS UNDER THOSE CONDITIONS. COOLER CONDITIONS I RECOMMEND FASS-DRI PSA.AND FOR YOUR EVERYDAY ADDITIVE FSA,-FSA-PLUS-OR TARGEL-PLUS. THEY ALL WORK WELL IN COAL-TAR. IF YOU NEED TO DISCUSS OUR ADDITIVES AND THE BENIFITS OF THEM FEEL FREE TO CALL US 800-892-6701 AND I WILL BE HAPPY TO DISCUSS YOUR QUESTIONS IN MORE DEPTH. THANKS FOR YOUR QUESTIONS AND I LOOK FORWARD TO DISCUSSING MAINTENANCE INC ADDITIVES WITH YOU.

[Anonymous]

THANKS. LOTS OF INFO. WILL REVIEW AND GIVE YOU A CALL IF I NEED FURTHER CLARIFICATION.

WE HAVE BEEN SUB-CONTRACTING COAL TAR SEALING OUT TO ANOTHER CONTRACTOR FOR ALMOST 15 YEARS, BUT DECIDED WITH THE INCREASED COST OF ASPHALT CUTBACK SEALER, DUE TO OIL PRICES RISING DRAMATICALLY THE LAST 3 YEARS, NOW WAS THE BEST TIME TO CHANGE OVER TO COAL TAR.

THANKS FOR THE HELP.

[Anonymous]

When you break down the additional cost of additive it doesn’t look like a lot per square foot. However if you look at the total cost by percentage, you are looking at an 8.5% increase for 1% and around a 17% increase on cost of sealer for 2%.

Saturday I out down $5400 worth of sealer (our cost) and if I used 2% it would have cost me roughly an additional $918. To me that is significant, but I have to look at weather conditions to see if the additive let me stripe sooner, get on the lot quicker etc.

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