Sealcoating in Tomah

Sealcoating in Tomah, Wisconsin.

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

Get a Free Estimate Call (715) 450-9897

4.7 from 21 Google reviews

About an hour and fifteen minutes southeast of Eau Claire on I-94 and I-90. 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 Tomah

The sealable surface in Tomah is spread out rather than stacked up: the VA campus covers 174 acres, the plants and the distribution buildings each sit on their own yard, and the district has eight elementary schools plus a middle and a high school. On properties like that the estimate is a measuring job before it's anything else, because square footage on a big yard is easy to be wrong about by eye. Sealer only goes on clean, dry pavement, so the sweeping and the crack work come first.

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 Tomah

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 Tomah

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 Tomah

What Tomah calls us about, answered straight.

More questions answered

How far southeast do you come?

Tomah is about 81 miles from Eau Claire, an hour and fifteen minutes down I-94 and then west on I-90, and 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.

Our yard takes semis all day. Is sealer even worth it out there?

On the truck court and the drive lanes, the repair matters more than the sealer, because what fails there is the base and not the top. Sealer earns its keep on the car lot and the aprons, where what's taking the surface apart is sun, oxidation and fuel drips. On a property like that the two get quoted together and done in that order.

Our school lots have to be done between school years. Is that enough time?

It usually is, and the part that decides it is the calendar rather than the work. Sealer needs warm, dry pavement and 24 to 48 hours before traffic goes back on; crack filling and repair have a wider window than that. Getting the lot walked and measured in the spring is what makes a summer date real.

How late in the year can you seal?

Roughly May through early October in Tomah 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 Tomah

Tomah is in Monroe County, a city of about 9,600 at the point where I-90 and I-94 divide, and that split is most of the reason the town looks the way it does. It's 81 miles from Eau Claire, about an hour and fifteen minutes, and 40 miles east of La Crosse. Exit 43 off I-90 is US 12 and Highway 16, and Highways 21 and 131 come through as well.

Freight is why the lots here are big. The city names Cardinal IG and Cardinal TG, Toro, Exopack, USEMCO, Meca Sportswear, Mars Pet Care and a Walmart distribution center among its employers, along with local and statewide trucking firms, and says outright that distribution companies locate in Tomah because the two interstates divide there. Ocean Spray's plant runs three lines and turns out 31 million pounds of sweetened dried cranberries and concentrate a year. Monroe County lists three business properties in the city, I-90 Corridor Land, Meadows Park and Forward Tomah Land, most of them inside tax increment districts.

The largest single campus is the Tomah VA Medical Center on East Veterans Street, 174 acres and 266 beds serving veterans across 16 counties in Wisconsin and Minnesota. Tomah Health, Gundersen and a Mayo clinic are also in town, the Walmart Supercenter is on West McCoy Boulevard a minute off the interstate, and the school district runs eight elementary schools, a middle school and the high school on Lincoln Avenue. Western Technical College has a campus on East Milwaukee Street, and Tomah sits between Fort McCoy and Volk Field.

Where we work in Tomah

I-90 Corridor Land
Meadows Park
Forward Tomah Land
West McCoy Boulevard
The I-90 and I-94 split

Around Tomah: Tomah VA Medical Center on East Veterans Street, Lake Tomah, The point where I-90 and I-94 divide, The Tomah Amtrak stop, The old Tomah Post Office.

9,574 people, 2024 Census estimate.

Monroe County is on the Driftless side of the state, the part the glaciers went around.

Other Work We Do in Tomah

Sealcoating in Nearby Towns

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