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(715) 450-9897

Sealcoating in River Falls

Sealcoating in River Falls, Wisconsin.

Parking lot sealcoating for commercial properties in River Falls. 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 and twenty minutes west of Eau Claire on I-94 and Highway 35. 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 River Falls

The sealable pavement here is the campus, the hospital on East Division Street and the corporate parks northwest of town. A campus gets measured area by area, because a student lot, a staff lot and a service drive are in different shape and carry different traffic, and one number over a whole property hides which areas actually need the work. A management spec written in the Twin Cities often carries a no-coal-tar line, because Minnesota banned the sale and use of coal tar sealer statewide in 2014; Wisconsin has no statewide ban and neither River Falls nor either of its counties has passed one. We run an asphalt emulsion, so that spec line reads the same here as it does across the river.

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 River Falls

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 River Falls

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 River Falls

What River Falls calls us about, answered straight.

More questions answered
River Falls is off the interstate. Do you still come out here?
Yes, for commercial lots. It's about 63 miles from Eau Claire, an hour and twenty out I-94 and down Highway 35, and the city itself is about five minutes off the interstate. Send the address and what the lot needs and we'll set up a time to walk it. The estimate is free.
The campus is a lot of separate lots. Does the whole thing get one number?
You get a number per area, not a lump. A student lot, a staff lot and a service drive carry different traffic and are in different shape, so each one gets measured and quantified on its own. That's what lets a purchasing office put this year's areas through and hold the rest.
How late in the year can you seal?
Roughly May through early October in River Falls 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 River Falls

River Falls is a city of about 17,800 straddling the Pierce and St. Croix county line, on the Kinnickinnic River south of the interstate. It's about 63 miles from Eau Claire, an hour and twenty minutes out I-94 and down Highway 35, and the city puts itself five minutes off the interstate and thirty from downtown St. Paul. Highways 29, 35 and 65 all serve it. The University of Wisconsin-River Falls is here, with about 5,300 students.

Four named parks hold the industrial ground. Mann Valley Corporate Park on the northwest side is the biggest inside the city limits, more than 200 acres zoned for office and light industrial with a single 155-acre lot in it. Sterling Ponds Corporate Park has four lots left over 15 acres, Whitetail Ridge Corporate Park has two lots over 12.5 acres with roughly a dozen businesses and an estimated 400 employees already on it, and the older River Falls Industrial Park has a three-acre lot and an area zoned heavy industrial. The Radio Road interchange, built in 2014, puts all of them straight onto Highway 35.

The rest of the commercial surface is the campus and the hospital. UW-River Falls runs about 5,300 students and opened a science and technology center in 2026, the largest construction project in the university's history. Allina Health's River Falls Area Hospital is on East Division Street, with two more clinics in town. River Falls High School is on Cemetery Road with about 1,100 students, and Chippewa Valley Technical College has a branch campus here. Foley United, Interfacial Solutions and Rush River Brewing are among the businesses the city puts on its own site.

Where we work in River Falls

  • Mann Valley Corporate Park
  • Sterling Ponds Corporate Park
  • Whitetail Ridge Corporate Park
  • River Falls Industrial Park
  • The UW-River Falls campus

Around River Falls: The Kinnickinnic River through downtown, Glen Park and the swinging bridge, Hoffman Park, The Falls Theater, The Falcon Center on the UW-River Falls campus.

17,802 people, 2024 Census estimate.

The Pierce County soil survey puts the largest areas of sandy outwash in the valley of the Kinnickinnic, and Waukesha silt loam, a terrace soil laid down as stream terrace and outwash, occurs principally in the township of River Falls. Sand and silt loam don't hold water the same way, and a lot can have both under it.

Get a Free Estimate in River Falls

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 River Falls
  • 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

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