Cracks closed. Black again.
Two coats of seal over hot-filled cracks, the edges cut by hand where the asphalt meets your concrete. Send the address: we measure the driveway from the air and email you an estimate, and we come by for a look only when you ask. Nobody knocks.
Driveways get sealed in summer, on neighborhood days, when the crew is already working near you. The estimate comes any time of year.
- Measured from aboveAn estimate by email from the aerial image, then the final quote after a look, only when you ask and we are nearby.
- Two coats, cut in by handHot rubber in the cracks first. A clean line where the drive meets the concrete.
- Summer neighborhood daysYour street gets its day when the crew is already nearby.
- In writing, three timesThe estimate and the final quote, the week-before list, and a sheet at the door the day we leave.
- Idaho contractor registration
What seal coat doesSun turns asphalt gray. Water and ice take it apart.
Asphalt is stone held together by a binder. Sun and air slowly harden that binder at the surface until it turns brittle and starts to wear away with the fine sand, and that is the gray. A worn surface opens up and cracks, and that lets water in. In a Treasure Valley winter, water that sits in a crack freezes and thaws over and over, and the crack gets wider. A seal coat closes the surface and sheds water off the top, and hot rubber in the cracks stops them taking water in.
Sealing slows that wear, and slowing the wear is what keeps the expensive job, an overlay, further off. It does not put the binder back, does not make the asphalt flexible again, does not fix a crack or level a dip, and does not help a driveway that is already breaking up.
One section of a driveway through a year, then a summer afternoon: the weather's passes above, ours below. Drawn far thicker than life: a seal coat is about the thickness of a business card per coat, and the rubber in the crack, black on a real drive, is drawn lighter so it reads against the coat. The gray is the work of sun and air on the surface.
Not every driveway needs it this year. Local operators quote resealing anywhere from every two years to every five. We look at yours on the aerial image, and on the ground if you ask, and say what we see, including "wait a year" when that is the truth. Sealing too often is its own problem: the coats build up and can peel. And a seal coat is not a repair: a drive that is alligatored or sinking needs more than a coat, and we will say so instead of coating over it.
Measured from above, confirmed on the groundThe estimate comes from the air. The final quote comes after a look, when you ask.
Send the address. We trace the driveway on the aerial image and count the square feet, the same way we measure a parking lot, and email you an estimate: seal coat by the square foot, which is accurate from above, and crack fill as its own line, by the foot with a likely range, because cracks do not show from the air.
Want it exact? Reply and ask us to come look. We stop by when the crew is already nearby, on a neighborhood day or a job close by, never a special trip and no appointment to keep, and you do not need to be home. Then the final written quote comes by email. Phone photos of the cracks, sent in reply, speed it up.
Drag the two grips, or use the sliders, to see how a driveway adds up. The house and the lot are invented. No price here: the estimate we send comes from your driveway.
Cracks and the oil spot are drawn as examples. The aerial image gives the outline and the square feet; the cracks are confirmed on the ground. A shop apron or an RV pad counts on top of the drive.
How the day goesClean, prime, fill, two coats, a hand-cut edge.
One crew, one day on your drive, in this order. Each pass only works if the one before it was done right, which is why the coats go on last and the edge is cut by hand.
- 01Clean
Blown and swept down to bare asphalt, with the dirt out of the cracks, so the coat bonds to pavement and not to dust.
- 02Prime the oil spots
Sealer will not stick to oil. Where the cars drip, the spots get a primer first.
- 03Hot rubber in the cracks
Hot pour rubber, flush with the surface, in every crack wide enough to take it, so the cracks stop taking water in. The filled line shows through the coat afterward; that is normal, and the estimate says so.
- 04Two coats, not one
Two thin coats, squeegeed and sprayed with sand in the mix, from the garage down to the street. Once the first has set, the second goes over it. Two thin coats cure; one thick one stays soft and tracks.
- 05The edge, cut by hand
Where the drive meets the garage slab, the walk and the curb, the line is brushed in by hand and the concrete stays concrete. A hand-cut edge looks a little different from the rest; that is the hand work, not a miss.
- 06Cones up, then it cures
The drive rests with cones at the street. Feet first, cars later, and we tell you when, before we come and again when we leave.
New asphalt needs most of a year before its first seal coat; sealing it too soon softens it. A driveway paved this year is a job for next summer, and we will say so.
What you get from usWalked through it, in writing, three times.
A driveway is a small job with a lot of ways to go wrong, and nearly every one is prevented by a sentence sent before the day or a promise kept after it. So this is what we send, and when.
Honestmarks the things a contractor usually leaves unsaid.
- An itemized estimate from the air, by email. Cleaning, oil spot primer, two coats by the square foot, hand-cut edges, and crack fill as its own line, by the foot with a likely range.
- The final quote after a look, when you ask. Reply to the estimate and we stop by when the crew is nearby, no appointment and no need to be home, then put the final number in writing.
- HonestThe price on the final quote is the price. Nothing changes on the day without your yes.
- HonestWhat sealing does and does not do, in plain words. It slows the aging. It does not fix a crack, level a dip or make the asphalt flexible again, and the filled cracks will show through.
- HonestWhat we need from you, up front. The week-before list comes with the estimate, not the night before, so nothing surprises you.
- The date, a backup rain date and the arrival window.
- The prep list, as a checklist.
- Cars out of the garage and off the drive before we come. A car left in the garage is stuck there until the drive cures.
- Pets inside or in the back yard.
- The sprinkler zones that reach the drive off ahead of the day, the pressurized irrigation timer included, and left off until the sheet says.
- The drive clear: planters, cans, the hoop, toys. If it is trash day, the can goes across the street.
- Mow and trim the edges a day or two before. Rinse any fertilizer off the drive a few days before.
- You do not need to be home. If we need a gate code, it goes in the email.
- Tell the household, the landscaper and the cleaners. Move deliveries. Tell a neighbor who shares the drive.
- A text the day before. The arrival time and the weather call: on, or moved to the backup date.
- HonestWe make the weather call, and we own it. If rain we did not see coming reaches the drive before it cures, we come back and redo the damaged part at no charge.
- A printed sheet at the door when the crew leaves, and the same by email. The stay-off times for your job (feet first, cars later, heavy things, trailers and the RV last), when the sprinklers go back on, turn the wheel only while rolling for the first week, wipe your shoes before going in.
- HonestWhat is normal and what is not. Normal: light scuffs for the first weeks, overlap lines that fade, shade patches that darken after a few days of sun, the crack filler showing, the hand-cut edge looking different from the rest. Not normal: peeling or bare spots. Those mean call us.
- HonestA check-in the next day, with before and after photos. If anything landed where it should not have, on concrete, grass or the house, we come back and clean it.
Neighborhood daysA truck full of hot rubber and sealer should not cross the valley for one driveway.
So driveways get done in summer on neighborhood days: when a street has a few asphalt drives asking, or the crew is already on a lot nearby, your driveway gets its turn the same week. Summer, because sealer needs warm days and warm nights to cure, and in Idaho that means June into September. You can get the estimate any time of year; the work waits for the season.
And the acreage and the lanes between the towns. If the driveway is in Ada or Canyon county, send it.
The more asphalt drives on one street, the easier the day is to book. Each house gets its own estimate and its own say; nobody is signed up by a neighbor.
If the HOA is sealing its private streets or a shared lane, the driveways can ride along the same week. The manager asks from the main page, and each owner decides for their own drive.
Straight answersThe questions a homeowner asks first.
Short, and true as far as we can say it. Anything we cannot tell from the aerial image, we say so in the estimate, and a look settles it.
Will someone knock on my door?
No. The Idaho Attorney General has warned Treasure Valley homeowners about paving crews that turn up with "leftover asphalt" and a price good for today. We do not go door to door. The estimate and the final quote come in writing, by email, and you decide at your own table with nothing signed on the doorstep. If we come by for a look, it is because you asked.
Our Idaho contractor registration is . Check it before you hire anyone, us included.
Do you need to see it first?
Not for the estimate: that comes from the aerial image, with the seal coat by the square foot and the crack fill by the foot as a range, since cracks do not show from the air. If you want the number exact, reply and ask us to look. We stop by when the crew is already nearby, you do not need to be home, and the final quote follows by email. Phone photos of the cracks get you most of the way there.
Is it worth sealing?
If the asphalt is sound, yes: the coat closes the surface and sheds water off the top, the filled cracks stop taking water in, and the driveway goes black again. It slows the aging; it does not put the binder back or make the asphalt flexible again. If the surface is already alligatored or sinking, no, and we say so, in the estimate or after the look, instead of coating over it. If it was sealed recently, the honest answer may be "wait a year."
How long until I can drive on it?
Feet before cars, and heavy things, trailers and the RV last. Dry to the touch is not cured. The sheet at the door and the email carry the times for your job; we tell you exactly when, in writing.
What if it rains?
Sealer goes on dry pavement and needs dry hours after, so we watch the forecast and make the call. The text the day before says on, or moved to the backup date you already have. In Boise the bigger risk is a cold night, which is why driveways are summer work. And the call is ours to own: if rain we did not see coming reaches the drive before it cures, we come back and redo the damaged part at no charge.
What happens at the concrete?
Asphalt sealer is for asphalt. The garage slab, the walk and the curb stay as they are: the edge is cut in by hand with a brush, and anything that needs masking gets masked. A driveway that is all concrete is not our work, and the form says so if you pick Concrete.
Can you do the RV pad or the shop apron too?
Yes, if it is asphalt. Send it with the drive. If you want lines on it, a no parking hatch in front of the shop door or an edge line on the pad, that is our day job: parking lots are what we do most.
Who is Hatchmark?
A new parking lot striping and seal coating company in Boise, two people and one small crew. Lots are the main work. Driveways are the summer work on the same streets, done with the same crew and the same materials. The main page shows the lot side, bids and all.
Get an estimate by emailFour questions. The estimate comes by email.
The address is the one we need: it is what we measure. Asphalt only; a concrete driveway needs a different sealer, and that is not our work.
What comes back. The estimate: the square feet we measured, the job line by line with crack fill by the foot as a range, what sealing does and does not do, and the week-before list. Then it is your call, by reply: book it, or ask us to come look first.
Managing a commercial lot? The bid form is on the main page.