There is no shortage of companies sealing driveways around Raleigh, and from the street their work all looks the same on day one. The difference shows a year or two later. These questions tell you, before you sign, which kind of job you are buying. Each one comes with what a straight answer sounds like.
The best question, and the one a pushy seller handles worst. A straight answer looks at the drive and might say no: it was sealed recently and still beads water, or it is too new, or it is concrete and does not need sealcoating at all. Around the Triangle, where most newer drives are concrete, a contractor who tries to sell you sealer for a concrete slab has told you everything you need to know.
You want it in writing: cleaning, edging, crack filling, how small patches are handled, how many coats, and on a lot, whether the lines go back. Our answer is one price per square foot that already covers sealing, crack filling, small patches and restriping the existing layout. Whatever the structure, it should be clear enough that the number on the invoice is the number on the quote.
Sealer is not crack filler. A straight answer says cracks get cleaned out and filled with a proper crack product before any sealer goes down, and that wide or deep ones are handled differently from hairlines. If the answer is that the sealer will take care of them, walk away.
Summer afternoons here bring frequent thunderstorms. A good answer covers how the call is made on the day, what happens to the schedule, and what they do if rain hits a coat that has not dried. You are listening for "we move the day and it costs you nothing" and "if it washes off we put it right". A contractor who says they have never been rained on has not been doing it long around Raleigh.
Plenty of sealing outfits only seal, which gives them every reason to coat a drive that really needs patching or replacing. Ask what they would do with the sunken spot by the garage or the alligator cracking at the bottom. Paving and repair under the same roof means the honest answer does not cost the person giving it a sale. That is the reason we do all three.
Ask who will actually be on your property. Many companies, us included, use local independent contractors, and that is normal; what matters is that one business stands behind the quote and answers the phone. For paving, ask about permits. The City of Raleigh requires a permit before a driveway is replaced, even like for like, and Cary requires one for new, modified or replaced driveways onto town streets. Sealing in place does not typically trigger that, but a contractor quoting paving should know the rules for your town.
Straight answers: walk on it after four to eight hours, drive on it after 24 to 48, depending on heat, shade and humidity, and expect a coat to last about two to three years on a house drive. If someone promises five years from one coat, or tells you to seal again next year, ask why.
Things do go wrong on driveways: a storm arrives early, a sprinkler zone gets missed, a crack opens again over the winter. What matters is who you call and what they do. A straight answer names a phone number that is answered, says somebody will come and look, and explains in plain terms what is and is not covered, in writing, before you sign. Be wary of anyone vague on this, and equally wary of a promise that sounds too broad to keep, such as a guarantee that cracks will never come back. The ground under Triangle drives moves, and an honest contractor says so.
If it does not need it, or it is concrete, you hear so. One written price per square foot covers sealing, crack filling, small patches and putting lot lines back. Cracks are filled first. Storms move the day at no cost. Paving and repair are quoted per job when sealer is not the answer. The work is done by local independent contractors with one business answering for it. And you get the exact drying window for your drive when it is booked.
For how a price is put together, read the cost guide.
