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Sealcoating in New Richmond

Sealcoating in New Richmond, Wisconsin.

Parking lot sealcoating for commercial properties in New Richmond. Cracks filled hot first, edges cut in by hand, two coats where the traffic needs two, and the cure time in writing.

4.7 from 21 Google reviews

About an hour and fifteen minutes northwest of Eau Claire on I-94 and Highway 64. The estimate is free.

A large institutional parking lot freshly sealcoated in uniform black, still wet-looking, running up to the building and out to the grass edge.
4.7 Google ratingFrom 21 reviews
2-3 yrs Reseal cycleNorthwestern Wisconsin
400°F Crack fillerDirect-fire rubber
0 Coal tarAsphalt emulsion only

Working in New Richmond

The lots here are the hospital campus on Hospital Road, the Walmart lot on West Richmond Way, the technical college on South Knowles Avenue, and the plant and park pavement on the south side. New Richmond sits in the Twin Cities' orbit, and a management company on the Minnesota side often works to a no-coal-tar spec, because Minnesota banned the sale and use of coal tar sealer statewide in 2014. Wisconsin has no statewide ban and neither the city nor St. Croix County has passed one, so over here it comes down to what the owner's spec says. We run an asphalt emulsion either way.

From our jobs

Job Photos

Freshly sealed and striped school parking lot
A school lot, sealed and striped
A freshly sealcoated driveway winding up to a house in evening light
A sealed driveway, winding up to the house
A freshly sealcoated driveway running through the woods, caution tape across the entrance
A long wooded driveway, sealed and taped off
A crew member spraying sealcoat from the black tank rig
Sealer going down from the tank rig

All job photos

What makes a seal job last

Sealer doesn't stick to dirt. It doesn't stick to oil, it doesn't bridge an open crack, and it doesn't cure in the cold. Almost every failed driveway in this valley failed for one of those four reasons, and all four happen before the sealer ever comes off the truck. Which is why the part of this job that matters is the part that happens before anything looks different.

The cheap job

What a low bid usually buys

  • Blown off, maybe, and sealed straight over whatever is left
  • Cracks sprayed across rather than filled, so water still gets under
  • Sealer thinned with water to stretch the drum further
  • One thin coat, sprayed to the edges, apron included
  • Looks excellent for about six weeks

What we do

And why each step is there

  • Blown clean and edged, and oil spots primed so sealer can bond
  • Cracks over a quarter inch filled with hot rubber first
  • Sealer mixed to the manufacturer's spec, with the sand it calls for
  • Edges and aprons cut in by hand, two coats where traffic warrants
  • Left to cure properly, with the drive-on time in writing

The difference doesn't show that day. It shows in the second spring.

Does yours actually need sealing?

How we read a surface before quoting it

Some surfaces that look bad are fine, and some that look fine are not.

  • It has gone gray and chalky but it's smoothTextbook case. That's the wear layer gone and exactly what sealer replaces. Repairable
  • Thin cracks running with the drive, under a quarter inchSeal them now and they stay cheap. Left open, water gets under and freezes. Repairable
  • It was paved last year and still looks blackNew asphalt needs to cure before its first seal, usually 6 to 12 months. Too early is a real thing and we would rather book you for next season. Depends, send a photo
  • Cracked into squares, like dried mud, and it flexes underfootThat's the base failing, not the surface. Sealing it hides the problem for one season and wastes your money. Those areas get cut out and patched. Needs replacement
  • Potholes, or a low spot that holds water after rainRepair first, seal after. Standing water is usually a grade or a drainage problem and it'll take the new sealer with it. Needs replacement
  • Loose stone comes up when you scuff it with your shoeRaveling. Early on, sealer locks it back down. Advanced, it needs an overlay. This is the one worth having us look at rather than guessing. Depends, send a photo

Not sure which one you have? Send a photo of the worst area.

What Decides the Price in New Richmond

Residential sealcoating runs about $0.15 to $0.25 per square foot, the rate Black Widow has published for years. Everything else is measured rather than guessed at, and your number is fixed before work starts.

Small commercial lot

Roughly 8,000 to 20,000 sq ft

Measured on site

  • Church, clinic, small retail
  • Crack sealing usually included

Larger lot

20,000 sq ft and up

Measured on site

  • Quoted after a walk
  • Striping and patching priced separately

What moves it: how much crack filling it needs, whether there are areas that have to be cut out and patched first, how much hand cutting the edges take, and access. Anything we find that changes the number gets said before we start, not after.

How the Work Goes in New Richmond

The same six steps on a driveway and on a 40,000 square foot lot.

We look at it and price it

Free, and on site for anything commercial. If the surface has gone past what sealer can help, we say so then rather than taking the job.

Clean and prep

Blown down, edges trimmed back where grass has crept in, oil and fuel spots primed. Sealer won't bond to any of those, and skipping this is the single most common reason a job fails early.

Crack filling, hot

Anything over about a quarter inch gets direct-fire rubber at 400 degrees, which flows into the crack and bonds to its walls. Cold pourable filler sits on top and pulls away by the second winter.

Cut in by hand

Edges, garage aprons, around drains and islands. Hand work, because a spray wand at the edge either misses it or covers your concrete.

Sealcoat, twice on high-wear areas

Turnarounds, entrances and drive lanes wear faster than the rest and get two. The rest of the lot gets one, because a second coat there adds no life.

Cure time, in writing

Usually 24 hours before a car and 48 before anything heavy or before turning the wheels while stopped. It depends on the temperature and humidity that afternoon, so we'll give you the real number that day.

Questions We Get in New Richmond

What New Richmond calls us about, answered straight.

More questions answered
How far is New Richmond from you?
About 69 miles, an hour and fifteen minutes, out I-94 and then north on Highway 64. For commercial lots we come. Send the address and what the lot needs and we'll set up a time to walk it. The estimate is free.
Does pavement work go out as a formal bid for a school district?
Yes. You get a written scope with the quantities and a fixed number, in the form the district needs to put in front of a board. Quantities are what let a board compare one number against another, so the scope lists them area by area rather than as a lump.
How late in the year can you seal?
Roughly May through early October in New Richmond and the surrounding area, and it depends more on overnight lows than on the daytime high. Sealer needs warm pavement and a dry cure, so late-season jobs depend on the weather holding.
Do you use coal tar?
No. Coal tar sealer is perfectly legal in Eau Claire and a good deal of this region still uses it, which is exactly why it's worth asking. We run an asphalt emulsion instead, Pitch Black, by choice. The reason is the science rather than the rulebook. The US Geological Survey sampled streams around Milwaukee and traced somewhere between 42 and 94 percent of the PAHs in the sediment back to coal tar sealant dust. Minnesota banned the stuff statewide in 2014. We would rather not put it on a driveway that drains toward the Chippewa.
Can you seal a lot without closing it?
Sealed asphalt needs 24 to 48 hours before traffic goes back on it. On a lot that can't close, where that time comes from is part of what the estimate works out, so tell us which hours and which areas you can't lose.

The Lots and Surfaces in New Richmond

New Richmond is a city of about 10,900 in St. Croix County, north of the interstate where Highway 64 running east and west meets Highway 65 running north and south through town as Knowles Avenue. It's 69 driving miles from Eau Claire, about an hour and fifteen, out I-94 and then north. Highway 64 is an expressway with at-grade intersections until 145th Street in the city and a two-lane surface road from there in, which is worth knowing if you're routing a truck. The Willow River runs through the city.

The industrial ground is one park, one big plant and an airport. The New Richmond Business and Technical Park runs about 107 acres off Highway 65 on the south side, inside a tax increment district, with water, sewer, electric, natural gas and telecom in, rail under two miles off and the airport three. Syntegon builds packaging machinery at 155 West 3rd Street, a plant that has been through two owners before this one and employs more than 270 people. New Richmond Regional Airport has 123 privately owned hangars, more than any other airport in Wisconsin, better than 275 based aircraft, a jet center and roughly 35,000 to 40,000 operations a year.

The retail and institutional lots are on the two highways. West Richmond Way carries a Walmart Supercenter with a walk-in clinic inside the building, and South Knowles Avenue carries Northwood Technical College's New Richmond campus. Westfields Hospital and Clinic is a full medical campus on Hospital Road with an emergency department, primary and specialty clinics, a pharmacy, inpatient care and maternity. The school district has three elementary schools, a middle school and a high school on East Richmond Way with about 1,100 students, and a 2024 referendum paid for additions, renovations and site work across three of those buildings.

Where we work in New Richmond

  • New Richmond Business and Technical Park
  • West Richmond Way
  • South Knowles Avenue
  • New Richmond Regional Airport

Around New Richmond: New Richmond Regional Airport, The Willow River through town, Mary Park on Mary Park Lake, Freedom Park, The New Richmond West Side Historic District.

10,879 people, 2024 Census estimate.

Wisconsin is split into five frost zones for WisDOT's frozen road declaration, which goes out once the ground has frozen at least 18 inches deep. That's the number that matters to a lot: how far down the frost gets, not how cold the air is.

Get a Free Estimate in New Richmond

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 New Richmond
  • 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.

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