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Sealcoating in Rice Lake

Sealcoating in Rice Lake, Wisconsin.

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

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4.7 from 21 Google reviews

About an hour north of Eau Claire on Highway 53. 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 Rice Lake

The lots that need sealing here are the big ones: South Main Street retail from Cedar Mall down, the hospital campus on West Stout, the two campuses on College Drive, the plants in the business parks. A lot that size gets measured rather than estimated by eye, and the number is fixed before we start. There's no coal tar ban in Barron County, and we run an asphalt emulsion regardless.

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.
  • Thin cracks running with the drive, under a quarter inchSeal them now and they stay cheap. Left open, water gets under and freezes.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.

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

What Decides the Price in Rice Lake

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 Rice Lake

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.

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

Questions We Get in Rice Lake

What Rice Lake calls us about, answered straight.

More questions answered
How far up 53 will you come for a lot?
Rice Lake is about an hour north of Eau Claire on Highway 53, and for commercial lots we come up. Send the address and what the lot needs and we'll set up a time to walk it. The estimate is free.
Do you do the striping and the ADA stalls too, or just the sealing?
Both. The striping goes on after the sealer has cured, and ADA stalls and access aisles are laid out to the federal dimensions rather than eyeballed.
Can a clinic or plant lot get sealed without shutting the whole thing down?
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.
How late in the year can you seal?
Roughly May through early October in Rice Lake 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 Rice Lake

Rice Lake is the largest city in Barron County, about 9,000 people an hour north of Eau Claire on Highway 53. The retail runs along South Main Street, from Cedar Mall down through the chain restaurant pads, with downtown Main Street the older spine. The industry sits in three named parks and one very large plant.

The biggest lots in town belong to Rice Lake Weighing Systems, the scale manufacturer with its headquarters, main plant and metrology lab here and more than 600 people on the payroll, and to Marshfield Medical Center on West Stout Street, a full hospital campus with inpatient and outpatient buildings. College Drive carries two campuses side by side: Northwood Technical College and UW-Eau Claire Barron County, about 110 acres with six buildings.

The parks are where the newer commercial surface is. Rice Lake Business Park is 167 acres on the north side with highway access and the streets and utilities already in, CedarSide Business Park is 44 acres next to Northwood Tech, and the North Industrial Park at Lindy Street and Schwers Avenue is where Allram Lumber just broke ground. Menards is on Decker Drive.

Where we work in Rice Lake

  • South Main Street
  • Rice Lake Business Park
  • CedarSide Business Park
  • North Industrial Park
  • College Drive

Around Rice Lake: Cedar Mall, Marshfield Medical Center on West Stout Street, Northwood Technical College, UW-Eau Claire Barron County, City Hall on East Eau Claire Street.

8,971 people, 2024 Census estimate.

The state's geotechnical manual describes this corner of Wisconsin as silty glacial till with outwash sand and pockets of organic soil through it, so a lot can cross more than one kind of ground between its two ends.

Get a Free Estimate in Rice Lake

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 Rice Lake
  • 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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Everything about sealcoating, including how the work goes and what changes the price