Why this is worth five minutes of your time
Sealer is the entire product you are buying. Two quotes for "sealcoating" can mean two different materials applied at two different rates, and the cheaper one is sometimes cheaper because there is less of it or because it is thinned. You do not need to become an expert. You do need to be able to ask what is going on your property and get a straight answer.
Coal tar
The traditional heavy-duty option, valued for durability and for resisting fuel and oil — which is why it has historically been used on commercial pavement and around vehicle traffic. It is also the one with the strongest smell during application and the one facing restrictions in some jurisdictions, so local rules can decide the question for you regardless of the technical merits.
Asphalt emulsion
An asphalt-based sealer with a much lower odour and a friendlier profile to work around, which is a genuine advantage on a residential driveway where people and pets have to live with the surface immediately afterwards. It is widely used on residential work for exactly that reason.
Acrylic
The premium end: engineered coatings that hold colour well and weather well, at a higher material cost. They come into their own where appearance is doing real work — a property where the surface is part of the presentation — or where a specific performance characteristic is needed.
The questions worth asking any contractor
Which family are you using on my surface, and why that one? How many coats, and applied at what rate? Is it being thinned, and if so how much? How long until I can walk on it and drive on it? What are you doing about the oil stains before you start? None of those are awkward questions, and a contractor who is unhappy to answer them has told you something useful.
What we do
We will tell you which sealer we are proposing for your surface and why before we apply it, and we would rather have that conversation than have you assume. Ask us at the estimate — that is what it is for.
If you are comparing two quotes and they are not the same number, the material and the application rate are usually where the difference lives. Ask both contractors those five questions before you decide.
