As an asphalt maintenance contractor, you're bombarded with questions about sealcoating and crack filling prices every time you talk to prospective clients. But since no two parking lots are alike, so you're always left scratching your head when it's time to give your client an estimate. To make it easier for new contractors like you, we at Asphalt Kingdom have come up with a blog post about the factors you must consider when pricing a crack sealing job. Let's get started.
Surface Preparation
The primary thing to consider when determining the price of a crack sealing job is the length of time you're going to need to clean and prepare the surface. Let’s say you’re working on a vast parking lot with thousands of feet of dirty cracks. You have to clean out all that dirt, debris, and vegetation before using a gas-powered blower to remove fine dust. After piling up all that dirt and debris, you have to load them on your truck and take them away.
You're going to spend several hours cleaning the area before you can finally start applying asphalt crack filler itself. This requires a lot of work compared to working on a small residential driveway.
The Amount of Crack Sealing Material You're Going to Use
The second thing you must consider when determining the price of an asphalt repair job is the amount of material you're going to use. Massive and old parking lots tend to have larger, more extensive fissures, so you're likely going to use up a few blocks of asphalt crack filler to finish the job.
Some parking lots and driveways even have large, deep cracks which can easily use up a block or two of crack filler. To save on cost, make sure to fill up the hollow spot with sand before adding half an inch of crack sealer.
Manpower Cost
Labor cost is another crucial factor in determining the price of a crack sealing job, so carefully consider the number of people you will assign to the job site. More laborers simply mean that the price for the job is going to be a lot higher.
If you want to cut down on labor costs, make sure to work smart and think of ways to boost your team’s efficiency. For example, invest in and use a gas-powered asphalt crack cleaner machine instead of a wire street brush when repairing a massive parking lot. You can also use a crack sealing machine instead of breaking your back manually applying crack fill.
The Type of Material You Are Using
Does the price you charge change depending on the crack sealing material you're using?
The answer is yes.
Let's say you're repairing a parking lot with extensive cracking, and you need to use hot pour rubberized crack filler to seal them up. A box of hot rubber crack filler definitely costs more than a gallon of liquid cold pour crack filler, so you'll need to charge your customers more. Plus, you will need a crack fill melter kettle to apply the product so that adds up to the total cost, whereas you'll only need elbow grease to seal the asphalt with cold pour crack sealant.
Let's use asphalt sealcoating as another example. There are four types of asphalt sealers available for contractors right now: asphalt emulsion, coal tar emulsion, gilsonite, and acrylic asphalt sealers. These products have different prices, with asphalt emulsion typically the most affordable option.
With that in mind, you'll be able to charge your customers less if you're using asphalt emulsion and charge more if you're using other types of sealers.
The prices of crack filler and other asphalt maintenance materials also vary between brands and retailers, so consider that when computing the final price.
Conclusion:
These are the primary considerations for contractors when pricing crack sealing jobs. We hope that you've learned a lot with this blog and that you're going to put them into practice the next time you're creating a proposal for a new customer.
Asphalt Kingdom has more in store for you! We have a FREE pricing course on how you can price your jobs and ensure your profits. Simply check out our resources page for helpful videos, blogs, and marketing support materials.
New to the asphalt maintenance world and looking for resources to learn everything you need about it? Then read the Asphalt Kingdom Build Your Own Business Blueprint to get all the information you need to get your sealcoating and crack repair business off the ground.
