Home·Crack Sealing
Crack sealing that fills
bottom to top.
We rout the crack wider and deeper before anything goes into it, so hot rubberized sealant bonds to clean walls and fills the full depth — not a bead laid over the top that lets go the first winter.
How a crack seal goes
Rout it, clean it,
fill it from the bottom.
- 1
Rout the crack
A router cuts the crack into a clean, squared channel, wider and deeper than what we started with. That is what makes room to fill the full depth, and it exposes fresh sidewalls for the sealant to bond to.
- 2
Blow it clean
A channel full of dust, grit, and pine debris gives the sealant dirt to stick to instead of asphalt. It gets blown out before anything goes in.
- 3
Pressure-fill it
Hot rubberized material pumped in under pressure, so it reaches the bottom of the channel rather than bridging across the top of it.
- 4
Then coat, if that is the plan
Crack work always comes before a sealcoat. A coating rolled over an open crack splits along that same line within a season.
Why we rout the crack first
A crack in its natural state is narrow, ragged, and packed with dirt and pine debris. Pour hot sealant into that and it bridges across the top without ever reaching the bottom, and what it bonds to is dust rather than asphalt. It looks finished the day it is done and pulls out by spring.
Routing changes three things at once. It makes room to fill from the bottom up, so there is material where the movement actually happens. It cuts fresh sidewalls, and hot rubberized sealant bonds to clean asphalt rather than to the oxidized faces of a crack that has been open for years. And it creates a properly shaped reservoir, so the sealant can stretch and compress as the pavement opens and closes with temperature instead of tearing away from the edge.
Routing means another machine, another pass, and more time on the job. It is also the difference between crack sealing that holds for years and crack sealing you buy again next season. It is a step most crews skip. We do not.
What skipping it actually costs
Water in the base is how mountain asphalt dies. It is not the crack on the surface that ruins the pavement, it is what the crack lets through: saturated base, frost heave under the slab, and then alligatoring and potholes that no surface treatment can fix. At that point you are not buying maintenance any more, you are buying removal and replacement.
More on the mechanism in what happens at the pavement base and freeze-thaw damage explained.
Where it fits in the season
Sealant needs a dry crack and warm pavement to set up properly, which puts most of this work between late spring and early fall up here. If a sealcoat is part of the plan, the crack work goes first so the coating goes over a closed surface.
Common questions
Does every crack get routed?
No. Hairline cracking that a sealcoat will cover does not need a router. The cracks that do are the working ones — the cracks that open and close with the seasons and keep coming back wider each year.
What is the difference between crack sealing and crack filling?
Filling is putting material in a crack. Sealing is preparing the crack so the material bonds and flexes with the pavement. The full comparison is in our guide on crack sealing versus crack filling.
Will the sealed cracks be visible?
Yes. Hot rubberized sealant leaves a black line along every crack that was treated, slightly proud of the surface where the channel was cut. That is what a real crack seal looks like. A sealcoat over the top afterward evens out the color.
How long does it last?
A routed and pressure-filled crack holds for years, and it moves with the pavement rather than fighting it. What shortens it is skipping the preparation, sealing a wet or dirty crack, or waiting until the crack has already let enough water through to soften the base.
Do you do the work yourselves?
Yes. Our own crew does the work, out of the Truckee yard. That is also why the schedule is what it is in summer, and why the work looks the same from one year to the next.
More in the pavement FAQ and the guides.