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Porter Sealcoating & Paving · Published August 6, 2026
If you landed here because your driveway or parking lot is starting to look tired, here is the direct answer: most asphalt surfaces need a fresh sealcoat every 3 to 5 years, not every year and not every decade. Where you fall in that range depends on how the surface gets used, not a date on a calendar. Below is what actually moves that number, how to tell your asphalt is due, and why the prep work under the sealer matters more than the sealer itself.
Light use, good drainage, and shade stretch that toward 5 years. Heavy traffic, full sun, and standing water pull it back toward 3.
Sealcoat wears out from use and exposure, not from age by itself. Two driveways poured the same year can be on completely different schedules five years later depending on what each one deals with every day.
Shade is mostly a good thing since it slows how fast the sun dries out the sealer. The catch is that shaded, damp spots are also where moss and algae take hold. A shaded driveway growing moss is a reason to move the timeline up, not stretch it out, since moss holds moisture against the surface long after everything around it has dried.
Asphalt is held together by a binder: the tar-like glue that keeps the rock and sand in the mix from separating. That binder has three enemies. Water works into hairline cracks and pore space, then freezes and expands over winter, which is how small cracks become big ones. Sun and oxygen dry the binder out over time until it turns gray and brittle. Oil and gas drips from vehicles will dissolve the binder on contact if left to sit. Sealcoat is a barrier coat applied over cured asphalt that blocks all three. That is the entire job of asphalt sealcoating: keep water, sun, and petroleum off the binder for as long as the coat holds, which is what puts a number on that 3 to 5 year window in the first place.
Sealer needs dry weather and warm pavement to cure properly, which narrows the real window here to late spring through early fall. Mid-summer is the most dependable stretch. Schedule too early and a spring rain can wash out fresh sealer before it sets. Wait too long and you are racing the first fall storms. That window is short, and every driveway and lot in the region is chasing the same six to eight weeks, so jobs booked in March and April get first pick. Call in August wanting it done that same month and you may be looking at the following spring instead. If your asphalt is already showing wear, it is worth getting on a schedule before summer fills up.
You do not have to guess. Three things to check.
Color. Fresh sealcoat is a deep, even black. As it wears, it fades to gray, usually starting in the tire tracks before spreading across the whole surface. Gray asphalt is not failing yet, but it is unprotected.
Cracks. Hairline cracks you can barely catch with a fingernail are still cheap to fix. Left alone, they widen, let water in, and turn into the alligator cracking a fresh coat will not fix.
Water. On a dry day, pour a cup of water on the surface. On a healthy seal it beads up and sits on top. If it soaks in and darkens the asphalt like a sponge, the protective layer is gone and water is already reaching the binder.
Sealer only bonds to a clean surface, so the finished job is only as good as what happens before any sealer comes out of the barrel. A rushed job pressure-washes or blows off the loose debris and calls that ready. That traps moss, dirt, and oil staining under the new coat, which is where it peels first, often within a season. A proper job runs machine scrubbers over the entire surface to break up what a hose cannot touch, hand-edges the perimeter, and fills cracks first, the same crack filling and repair work we handle on its own. Only then does the sealer go down. It takes longer than skipping straight to sealing, and it is the difference between a coat that holds for the full 3 to 5 years and one that is peeling by next spring.
“We had three companies give us an estimate to sealcoat our 5-year-old driveway that included some seam and alligator crack sealing… We really like the prep work they did to clean the driveway with motorized brushes… They were on time, quick, and did an excellent job leaving the site looking perfect.”
Tony Silva · Google review
A driveway sealcoat is a realistic weekend project if you are willing to do the prep properly: degreasing oil spots, filling cracks with the right filler and letting it cure, scrubbing (not just rinsing) the whole surface, and picking a stretch of dry days with pavement warm enough for the coat to cure. Where DIY starts to struggle is scale and equipment. A squeegee and a few buckets is manageable on a two-car driveway. Scrubbing an acre of commercial lot by hand, or holding a consistent thickness across a long private road with a spray rig, is where a push broom and a big-box sealer stop being the right tool. That is the point where machine scrubbers and spray equipment earn their keep instead of costing you a weekend.
The asphalt will tell you when it is due long before it actually fails: fading color, hairline cracks, water that soaks in instead of beading. See what a finished scrub-and-seal job looks like in our before-and-after photos. If you would rather skip the ladder and have it done right, that is what our sealcoating crew handles every week across the Portland metro, Southwest Washington, and the Gorge.
Free estimates for sealcoating, crack repair, and full resurfacing across the Portland metro.
Tell us about your driveway or lot, roughly how big it is, and what it’s showing you (fading, cracks, water soaking in). We’ll follow up within 1 business day.
Tell us a little about the project and we’ll take it from there.
