Late Season Sealing update, what you need to do.

[Jim Farrell, Blastcrete Equipment Company]

Helo Pavemanpro’s, Wow, what a season 2009 turned out to be! Between an entire month and a half of mid season rain, the economy forcing buyers to be skittish and putting most work on hold, increased taxes, and more of the same they are saying for 2010? But i am not a politician, i am not qualified to predict any movement in the economy, but i do know what hundreds and hundreds of professional pavement maintenance contractors are saying and feeling right now! Most are hanging on by digging in and cutting costs, curbing unnecessary spending, and most of all keeping faith in our capitalistic foundation and constitution. One contractor told me that we have so many people out of work and the labor pool was tremendous this summer, the fuel prices were steady and reasonable and there was no industry shortages anywhere. However, their was limited work in most areas early to mid summer, but picked up in late summer. In talking with a midsized pavement maintenance contractor, he said i just dug in and bid work as i found it by driving around looking for it! Amazing to me Pavemanpro’s. I was so intrigued by his ability to be positive in these uncertain and tough times. His ability to take what ever was handed to him straight on. I told him that he was not alone and many contractors have banded together to discuss the present and the future of our industry thru professional sites as pavemanpro!. I know i have in the past stated in my articles to you that the pavement maintenance industry is basically recession proof. And i was right! You have proved yourselves by the way you handled this ugly 2009 season and most have so far survived the BS and are now in the final stretch going into winter. Late season sealing is a completely different. You are now having to watch the days low temp predictions more closely than ever. You should be adding up to 3% Fass-Dri/ FSA additive to your sealer now that the lower temps have set in. Sealing in the Fall is iffy at best when the temps drop below 50. Additives can extend your season greatly but there are a couple procedures you should follow. 1. Never put on two coats back to back in cold weather! I have always put one coat on and thin so it dries, and come back the next day if necessary for the other coat. I know it is a pain, but you need the money, but do not want to be redoing it in the spring! 2. It might behove you to add a little more water thining the mix with the addition of Fass-Dri or FSA additive as it will hydrate out the water and help cure the sealer film. If your mix is too thick it will be a tracking nightmare. Thin to win in the cold. In some of my articles here on pavemanpro, i address some of these issues. 3. Start you day early and end your day early! You are sealing in the sun only for optimum results this time of year. 4. It may not be freezing yet, but sealer is temperature sensitive, and you should be parking your rigs inside starting right now.. keep the sealer as warm as you can. I was honored to be featured in the October 2009 Additive issue of APE magazine. I am on the cover with all our fine additives. Thank-you APE for the feature. I also will be a featured speaker on the use of additives and seal-coating basics at the NPE show in Nashville this year thru pavement maintenance. If any of you pavemanpros will be attending, come to the additive seminar and participate in a forum of contractors who can ask questions and i will do my best to explain in plain terms what additives do for the sealer and for the contractor. Maintenance Inc. will also have a booth and i will be there to talk one on one with anyone wanting to further discuss the business of additives and pavement maintenance. Thanks to Pavement maintenance magazine for the invite to speak, i am honored to be involved with the trade show as a speaker/exhibitor. If any of you have never attended one of our industry shows, i suggest you do so this year in Nashville. We are in weird troublesome times and you need to find out whats happening to our industry and what the outlook of the sealing economy in the USA could look like in 2010. Hope all of you can attend this vital industry show. If anyone of you pavemanpro’s need more info on additives for fall applications contact your sealer supplier/ distributor and they can work with you on how much Fass-DRI /FSA additive you will be needing in your sealer this time of year. or call 800-892-6701 and we will be happy to answer any of your questions and direct you to a Maintenance inc. stocking distributor in your area. I want to give a big thanks to Brett Neal for his development/ implementation of the pavemanpro website and allowing me to interact with all you great pavemanpros,Thanks Brett. i am honored to be talking with all of you. I will be writing more as the hunting season and (LEAF DROPPING) season progresses. FYI/ If anyone needs tickets for the NPE exhibit floor email me or call maintenance inc. and i will make sure you get free exhibit show floor tix!! Talk with you all soon! Mark McLeod

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