Crack sealing in Ottawa

A crack in a commercial lot is a way for water to get in. Once water is inside the pavement and the base beneath it, freeze-thaw cycles do the rest. Crack sealing is one of the least expensive things that can be done to a lot and one of the most useful, provided it is done at the right time on the right cracks.

What is included

The cleaning is the part that decides whether the work lasts. Cracks are routed or cleaned out, blown clear, and dried before any material goes in. The sealant is then placed so it bonds to the sides of the crack and stays slightly proud of the surface, which lets it flex with the pavement instead of being pulled apart.

Working joints, edge cracks along curbs and islands, and the cracks that open seasonally across drive lanes are the usual candidates. Areas of alligator cracking are noted and reported, because those are a base problem and sealing them is not the answer.

• Routing and cleaning of open working cracks
• Drying before sealant placement
• Sealant placed to bond and flex with the pavement
• Edge and joint cracks along curbs and islands
• Failed areas noted and reported rather than sealed over

How the work is planned

Sealing is scheduled around the lot rather than the other way around. Cracks are worked in sections so that a route stays open, and the sealed areas are coned off until the material has set enough to take traffic. On a busy plaza, that usually means early morning or after hours.

Where a lot has both cracks and drainage problems, the drainage comes first. Sealing a crack in a section that still holds water buys very little, because the water is arriving from somewhere else.

Timing in Ottawa

Late season is the practical window. By then the cracks have opened to their widest, and the surface is still warm enough for the sealant to bond. Sealing in cold weather reduces adhesion and the work does not last the winter it is meant to protect.

Freeze-thaw and plow traffic

Every winter, water sits in an open crack, freezes, expands and opens it a little more. A plow blade crossing a wide crack can lift the edge beside it. Sealing interrupts that cycle at the point where it is cheapest to interrupt it. It does not stop cracking, and it does not restore a surface that is already failing, but it slows the rate at which a sound surface deteriorates.

Maintenance, not replacement

Crack sealing is maintenance. It keeps a lot in service longer and it makes the case for an overlay or a reconstruction later rather than sooner. What it cannot do is stand in for structural work where the base has already failed, and it is worth being clear about which situation a lot is in before the work is scheduled.