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Pricing... i.e. how much will it cost
me?
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To be fair about pricing I have to estimate every driveway separately.
The reason, some driveways need more work than others. Grass or weeds may be growing
through the cracks. I clean all cracks and apply weed & grass killer where needed, to help prevent re-growth. Small
potholes or cave-ins may be present. The cracks could be at the front of the driveway or on the sides of the house.
Tire impressions are another factor to look at. Holes that have been made from sharp objects like chairs, bicycles and
motorcycle stands. Grass may have grown over the edges of driveway as much as 6 inches and needs to be trimmed back.
Mud has to be removed and the area cleaned before applying sealer. Sides of house, stonewalls, walkways, fences and
sidewalks have to be protected against over spray of sealer.
Any over-spray on the grass will grow out. This sealer doesn’t kill the grass; it seems to make it grow.
Everyone is aware of petroleum prices
rising, and that affects us because we use petroleum
products in our asphalt rejuvenation
sealer. Our materials prices have absolutely sky rocketed, along with gas and oil prices. But we’ve tried to be
competitive even though we
PAY MORE THAN TRIPLE
for the products we use!
THAT'S
RIGHT, we pay more
than TRIPLE for ARS
or Liquid Asphalt with
GILSONITE
than those who use coal tar
emulsion products.
We do not price our
work based only on the square foot. As
in any job well-done, preparation is key. It usually takes us more time to
trim the grass from the edges, to clean the driveway,
and to fill the cracks, than
it takes us to apply the Sealcoating!
Also, the total cost will
depend on how old a driveway is and how dried out it is. We may not be able to
offer you the lowest price estimate you may receive,
especially when competing against cheaper water base
emulsion products. But we don’t know of any
other local
Sealcoating contractor that does as
complete
a job as we do, using the highest quality and
most advanced product on the market
today.
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BEWARE OF "FLY-BY-NIGHT SEALERS"
Every spring and fall, unscrupulous itinerants will try to take
advantage of unsuspecting homeowners by offering their services door
to door.
These people are known for their inferior workmanship and for
using substandard or bogus materials.
Essentially the sales pitch goes
"Good afternoon. We've just completed a job around the corner and have
enough material left on the truck to do your driveway. Because of the
proximity of your house and the fact that we have the materials and
manpower at hand, we can make you a special, low offer." While you
could receive such an offer from an established, legitimate
contractor, chances are good that you are dealing with someone who
will not use sealer at all, but try to dupe you by using used motor
oil or something similar. The first rain will wash off the "sealer"
and you will be left with nothing but a mess in your yard. Most
legitimate contractors will have a company sign on the doors of their
trucks and many are members of either state or national asphalt paving
associations. Their company names will probably appear in the Yellow
Pages.
As always, you can phone the Better Business
Bureau, local government consumer affairs offices or the police to see
if complaints have been filed against a firm you are considering. A
good contractor will not resent being checked out, but an inferior one
or a fly-by-night artist will probably move on as soon as you reach
for the phone book.
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