SealMaster Carolinas is seeing a substantial increase in the number of commercial parking lots and residential driveways undergoing pavement maintenance. Seal coating, among other asphalt maintenance initiatives, extends the life of your asphalt surface. With demand so high for pavement maintenance from businesses, gated communities, apartment communities, and residential property owners, pavement maintenance contractors have a workload they are pleased to have. But how do you know that the contractor you have chosen is qualified? How do you know that their workmanship is backed by some of the best pavement maintenance products in the industry? Furthermore, how can you be certain they are following manufacturer’s specifications prior to and during installation?
This can be hard to determine as an end user, especially with the plethora of choices available. We think it is imperative that we share with you how to avoid a substandard pavement maintenance installation by using an actual receipt provided to an end user in our territory a year ago. Identifying information of the end user has been obscured from the document. Let’s dissect this receipt in steps and provide you with useful information when either seeking pavement maintenance for your property or if you are solicited.
P1. The SealMaster banner you see here is used by the National Office
headquartered in Sandusky, OH and the many franchises in the United States and around the globe. There are other identifying banners as well. We can assure you that none of them are defaced in the manner in which you see in exhibit P1. SealMaster, whether national or in your area, does not hire contractors to place their business name on the SealMaster logo. And as an added measure, SealMaster is a manufacturer and supplier of pavement products and equipment. We do not install, except in instances a demonstration of our fine products and equipment is being done. We do not have contractors that represent us or install pavement sealers for us under the SealMaster name.
What should you do if you encounter such representation at your property? Call your local SealMaster branch and inquire. Get the name, address, and phone number, if possible, of the person representing and give to the branch manager. He or she will verify the information for you and provide you with instruction on what to do next.
P2. Liquid Road is one of SealMaster’s premium sealer products. We are extremely selective about where and who installs this product. Thus, Liquid Road is not readily available at our storefront locations. It is highly unlikely that a contractor shows up at your business or residence with a few hundred gallons of our Liquid Road product ready to
One of these stuffed in the back of a pick-up won’t get you a Liquid Road installation!
install on your parking lot or driveway. The link above will provide you with more information on this “next generation” product.
What should you do if you encounter a Liquid Road installer outside of your local SealMaster? Ask the contractor which manufacturing facility he purchased the Liquid Road Material. Call your local SealMaster storefront and confer with the manager about what you’ve learned. Be sure to have all relevant contact information of the contractor when calling.
P3. The small print here in this exhibit outlines the contractor’s workmanship. The most noted item here is the 6 year guarantee. We think very highly of our products and equipment. When a contractor follows the mix design and installation specifications of our products, it will indeed last a number of years under certain ideal conditions. It is, however, a stretch to guarantee 6 year workmanship on any sealer application.
What should you do when an installer gives you a 6 year guarantee? Tell the installer that you understand the guarantee. Politely ask what the industry standard guarantee is and why this company’s guarantee is much higher than the industry standard. Compare with other contractors in your area and make a sound decision.
P4. In this exhibit, you find the name of the company. Compare this name with the company you see in exhibit P1. We have two different entities here. Actually, there are three if you count that they have defaced our company logo with their business name. It is rather difficult to determine who is actually doing the work on your property.
What should you do when you have multiple companies represented? Ask the installer to verify which company is the correct company to identify as doing the work. Once this is determined, consult your local SealMaster and inquire of this company. Chances are we will know of this company. It is wise not to allow any work to be done until you have spoken with your local SealMaster representative.
P5. The scope of work here is short in detail. However, the installer has listed what will be done and what products will be used. Most often, there will be products listed that you may not be familiar with.
What you should do when details are listed about what will be done to your property? Always ask your installer to see specification sheets and Material Safety Data Sheets on the products they will be using. If they are provided, be sure to verify the source of the information. Also be sure to ask and verify that the mix design outlined in the specification is being adhered to and that the installation is per the specification. If your contractor can not prove to you that these principles are followed, do not allow work on your property.
This list is not all inclusive of situations you may encounter when trying to avoid a pavement maintenance scam. However, we are confident that it will help you get a quality installation. It is important to understand that good work isn’t cheap and cheap work isn’t good! Settling on huge savings when maintaining your asphalt can turn into a huge expenditure in the future.
Contact your local SealMaster for any questions or concerns you may have related to pavement maintenance products and equipment and product specifications.
SealMaster® Carolinas 
Hi Bob. Thank you for your contact. I have forwarded your request to our Corporate Offices. We will be in touch.
Pingback: Best Practices To Avoid Seal Coating Scams | Ascended Thoughts
Pingback: CAA Trade Show Great Networking Event | SealMaster® Carolinas
Great blog! This ranked very high for a keyword search we were doing. To be quite frank, most of these scams are only able to be perpetrated due to the availability of materials to these fly by night outfits. If the manufactures refused the sale of product to anyone who did not possess the proper equipment to perform the work these companies would grow tired of going to the local big box retailer and mixing up 5 gallon pails and dumping them in their tank. Once the manufacturers and distributors band together and refuse sale to companies working out of drums, totes (Stop selling them to get people in the business on a shoe string), buckets and kitty litter pails you will see an overhaul of the industry and your gallons of product sold actually increase versus decrease. You are stuck in a holding pattern as companies who have been in business for a long time but lack the proper sales training are unable to sell the client on relative value and instead get down into the gutter and compete on price. In the end the manufacture loses gallons sold, the contractor loses profits as they are not sophisticated enough to sell properly and the property manager continues to lose faith that sealcoating is a beneficial part of a PM Plan because the sealcoating projects wear off in 6 months. Its simple economics of supply and demand.
Awesome points Steven. Will share your message with our team.