Eau Claire, WI · Northwestern Wisconsin Open now (715) 450-9897
(715) 450-9897

Crack Filling and Sealing in Stillwater

Crack Filling and Sealing in Stillwater, Minnesota.

Hot rubber crack filling for parking lots in Stillwater. Routed where it needs it, filled at 400 degrees, priced by the foot of crack rather than by the acre.

Get a Free Estimate Call (715) 450-9897

4.7 from 21 Google reviews

About an hour and a half west of Eau Claire on I-94 and north on Highway 36. The estimate is free.

A web of freshly filled cracks running across a parking lot, the rubber still glossy.
4.7 Google ratingFrom 21 reviews
400°F Applied atDirect-fire rubber
9% Water expandsEvery time it freezes

Working in Stillwater

The ground here is sandy glacial outwash, excessively drained sand and sandy loam, and MnDOT has wanted 30 to 36 inches of frost-free material under asphalt since 1995. Downtown carries the oldest surfaces in the city, and it's where the crack list runs longest. Wide cracks get routed to a clean face first, then hot rubber at 400 degrees, which bonds to the walls and stays flexible through the winter where cold pour lifts out in strips by spring. Spring and early fall are the months for it.

From our jobs

Job Photos

The crack crew's trucks and melter working a tree-lined road, road work sign up
The crack crew working a town road
The company flatbed and the yellow crack-seal melter on a road shoulder, two crew in hi-vis working ahead of it
The melter on site, crew working ahead of it

All job photos

Hot rubber vs. cold pour

The stuff in a jug at the hardware store is cold pour. It goes in as a liquid, dries, shrinks, and sits in the crack like a rubber band laid in a trench. It's not bonded to anything. The first hard freeze pulls the crack open, the filler has nothing holding it to the walls, and it lifts out in a strip. Most people have seen this happen and assumed it was a bad batch. Hot-applied rubber goes in at around 400 degrees. At that temperature it's thin enough to run down into the crack instead of bridging it, and hot enough to melt into the asphalt faces on either side. When it cools it has bonded to the walls of the crack, so when the crack moves, the filler moves with it.

Cold pour

The jug from the hardware store, and what a cheap quote uses

  • Sits in the crack rather than bonding to it
  • Shrinks as it cures, leaving a channel down the middle
  • Pulls out in strips after the first hard winter
  • Cheap enough that it gets redone every year, which isn't cheap

Hot-applied rubber

What comes off our kettle

  • Flows to the bottom of the crack at 400 degrees
  • Melts into the asphalt faces and bonds to both walls
  • Stays flexible, so it moves when the crack moves
  • Holds for years, not for one season

This is the one place where the cheaper option isn't a smaller version of the right one. It's a different product doing a different thing.

What Decides the Price in Stillwater

Priced by the foot of crack, not by the area of the surface, because that's what actually drives the work. Usually done as part of a sealcoating job, where it costs less than it would on its own.

Commercial lot

Per linear foot

Measured on site

  • Depends on crack width, depth and how much routing it needs
  • Most lots are quoted as a lump sum after a walk

Cracks wider than about an inch and a half, or ones that have broken into a network, are past filling. Those get cut out and patched rather than filled with something that will not hold.

How the Work Goes in Stillwater

Done before sealer, always: sealer can't bridge an open crack.

Clean the crack out

Blown out with compressed air, vegetation and old failed filler removed. Rubber won't bond to dirt any more than sealer will.

Rout the wide ones

Wide or heavily worked cracks get cut to a consistent reservoir so the filler has a proper shape to sit in. Not every crack needs it; the ones that do are the ones that have already failed once.

Fill hot

Direct-fire kettle, rubber at 400 degrees, wanded into the crack until it's full from the bottom up rather than skinned over at the top.

Squeegee and let it set

Struck off flush or slightly banded over, depending on the surface. Sets hard enough to drive on in under an hour in most conditions.

Booking the last of the sealcoating season now · Call (715) 450-9897

Questions We Get in Stillwater

What Stillwater calls us about, answered straight.

More questions answered
How far is it from Eau Claire, and do you come this far for a lot?
About 74 miles and an hour and a half: I-94 west, then north on Highway 36. For commercial lots we come out. Send the address and what the lot needs and we'll set up a time to walk it. The estimate is free.
Does county work have to go out as a formal bid?
Yes, and it comes back in that form. You get a written scope with the quantities measured and a fixed number, which is what a county board or a facilities committee needs in front of it.
How much does crack filling cost?
It is priced by the linear foot of crack rather than by the size of the surface, so a big driveway with four cracks costs less than a small one that has opened up all over. Width matters too: anything wide enough to need routing out first takes longer. On a driveway it is usually included up to a point when it is done with a sealcoat rather than billed on its own.
Why does the temperature of the crack filler matter?
At 400 degrees the rubber is thin enough to reach the bottom of the crack and hot enough to melt into the asphalt on both sides, so it bonds. Cold pour filler can't do either, which is why it lifts out in strips after a winter.
Should I fill cracks before sealcoating or after?
Before, always. Sealer is a thin wear layer and it can't bridge an open crack. Sealing over one changes its color and nothing else, and the crack reappears through the new surface within weeks.
Is there a crack too big to fill?
Yes. Past about an inch and a half, or once cracking has broken into a network of squares, filling won't hold because the surface around it is moving independently. Those areas get cut out and patched instead.
When is the best time of year for crack filling?
Spring or early fall in Stillwater and the surrounding area is ideal, because cracks are at a middling width. In high summer they're at their tightest and in deep winter they're at their widest, and filling at either extreme means the filler is working against the movement rather than with it.

The Lots and Surfaces in Stillwater

Stillwater is the Washington County seat, on the St. Croix River, about 19,000 people and roughly 74 miles from Eau Claire: I-94 west and then north on Highway 36. Highways 36, 95 and 96 all run through it. The old downtown is down on the river and the newer commercial ground is out west along 36.

The county holds the biggest institutional ground in town. The Washington County Government Center on 62nd Street North is the main campus for county government, and the courthouse carries community corrections and the Tenth Judicial District courts. Lakeview Hospital is on Churchill Street West and City Hall is on 4th Street North.

The retail is on Highway 36. Stillwater Marketplace on Market Drive runs 13.6 acres and about 100,922 square feet of retail anchored by Cub Foods and Target, built in phases between 1996 and 2000, and Valley Ridge Center on 36 is another 82,289 square feet on 8.32 acres. West Stillwater has a business park area along Curve Crest Boulevard and Tower Drive, zoned business park office with Highway 36 access. Downtown is a parking question more than a retail corridor: the city runs a paid ramp of 248 spaces a block west of Main Street plus roughly 760 surface spaces, most of them along the river.

Where we work in Stillwater

  • Curve Crest Boulevard
  • Tower Drive
  • Market Drive
  • The Highway 36 corridor
  • Downtown Main Street

Around Stillwater: The Stillwater Lift Bridge, Lowell Park on the riverfront, The Washington County Government Center on 62nd Street North, Lakeview Hospital on Churchill Street West, The Warden's House Museum.

19,386 people, 2024 Census estimate.

The ground around here is sandy glacial outwash, excessively drained, sand and sandy loam textures. MnDOT has wanted 30 to 36 inches of frost-free material under asphalt since 1995, and it rates silt as the worst soil there is for frost heave.

Get a Free Estimate in Stillwater

Tell us what it looks like and we'll come measure it. You get a written price before anything starts.

(715) 450-9897
  • Free on commercial lots and properties in Stillwater
  • A photo of the problem helps, and it can go in the message
  • Surfaces that are not ready yet get told so at the estimate

Get an estimate

Send the form and we'll call you back. The estimate is free.

What can we help with?

By submitting, you agree to be contacted about your crack filling and sealing job. Text messages only go out if you checked the box above. We don't sell your info, ever.

Other Work We Do in Stillwater

Crack Filling and Sealing in Nearby Towns

Everything about crack filling and sealing, including how the work goes and what changes the price