Freshly sealed black parking lot with new white stall lines in front of Los Dos Compadres Mexican Restaurant in DeLand, Florida

Parking Lot Sealcoating and StripingLos Dos Compadres, DeLand

A restaurant lot on a busy DeLand road, sealed from our own rig and striped fresh. The work in progress, the finished lot and the cracks that sealer will not hide are all below.

Location: DeLand, Volusia County
Property: Los Dos Compadres Mexican Restaurant
Scope: Sealcoat and restripe
Equipment: Our own sealcoat rig

The Reason

Why does a restaurant parking lot need sealcoating?

Because the lot is the first thing a customer sees, and Florida sun turns black asphalt gray and brittle faster than most owners expect. Sealcoat puts a protective layer back on top before the surface starts to come apart.

Asphalt is held together by a binder that the sun slowly bakes out. As it goes, the surface fades, loose stone starts to show, and rain finds its way into small cracks. A restaurant lot takes all of that plus the daily load of cars swinging in and out of the same few spaces at lunch and again at dinner. The finished photo shows the payoff. An even black surface from the road edge to the patio, with crisp white lines leading straight toward the front door. It reads as a place somebody looks after.

That is the kind of job M&S Asphalt Paving does for business owners around DeLand who want the lot to match the dining room. The full process on bigger commercial properties is on our asphalt sealcoating page.

Sealed black parking lot with fresh white stall lines along the patio of Los Dos Compadres Mexican Restaurant in DeLand, Florida

The Work

How is sealcoat put down on a lot this size?

From a tank trailer, a hose and a squeegee. On a lot this size, the edges and the entrance get done by hand.

The yellow trailer in this photo is ours, with the M&S name on the tank. It carries the sealer, a pump and a hose reel, so the crew can pull a line to any corner of the lot without moving the rig. At the entrance a crew member works the sealer across the surface with a long squeegee, pushing it down into the texture of the old asphalt instead of letting it sit on top. The yellow warning pad at the walkway is left clean. Details like that are what separate a tidy seal job from one the owner has to apologize for.

Weather sets the schedule. Sealer needs dry pavement going down and dry hours afterward, and a Florida afternoon storm can wash a fresh coat right off. So we watch the forecast and aim for a stretch of weather that gives the coat time to set. On a business that has to keep serving customers, we also plan the order of the work with the owner before the first coat goes down.

M&S Asphalt Paving crew member spreading sealcoat with a squeegee at the entrance of the Los Dos Compadres parking lot in DeLand, beside the M&S tank trailer — During sealcoating

Sealer To Stripes

What did the lot look like during and after the work?

Four frames: sealer going down at the entrance, then the finished lot from the road, the side drive past the sign, and the back row of new stalls. The third one is the most honest photo on this page.

Crew member spreading sealcoat with a squeegee at the Los Dos Compadres parking lot entrance in DeLand, Florida, next to the M&S tank trailer — During: sealer going down at the entrance, with our tank trailer parked by the patio. The darker, glossy patches are fresh coat that has not had time to dry.

Sealed and striped parking lot in front of Los Dos Compadres Mexican Restaurant in DeLand, Florida — After: the lot from the road edge, sealed black with fresh stall lines and a bright edge line. The patio sits right on the lot, so the finish is on show all day.

Sealed drive past the Los Dos Compadres sign in DeLand, Florida, with cracks visible through the new coat — After: the drive past the sign. The seal is even, and the old cracks still show through it, which is exactly what sealcoat does and does not do.

New white stall lines on the freshly sealed back lot at Los Dos Compadres in DeLand, Florida — After: new stall lines across the back of the lot, painted over the fresh seal. Straight, evenly spaced, and easy to read from the drive.

The Limit

Does sealcoating fix the cracks in a parking lot?

No. Sealcoat is a thin protective coat, and it follows the surface it goes on. Cracks that are there before the seal are still there after it.

This photo shows that honestly. The drive past the sign is freshly sealed and a uniform black, and the crack pattern underneath still shows through clearly. In the turning lane the cracks join up into small connected blocks. That is the part of a lot that takes the most twisting from tires, since every car swings in off the road at the same spot. Sealer slows the damage by keeping water and sun off the surface. It does not glue a cracked mat back together.

The fix for cracks is a separate step. Wider cracks get cleaned out and filled before a seal goes on, so water stays out of the base. Areas where the cracks have already joined into a pattern are a patching decision, and our crack filling and repairs page walks through how we tell the two apart. On a lot like this one, sealing now and budgeting repairs for the worst spots later is a sensible way to spread the cost over time.

Sealed entrance drive past the Los Dos Compadres Mexican Restaurant sign in DeLand, Florida, with old cracks still visible through the new coat

The Lines

When should a lot be restriped, and how long until cars can park?

Every time it gets sealed, because sealcoat covers the old paint. A sealed surface generally needs about 24 hours before cars return, with the exact window depending on the sun and humidity that day.

The back row shows it. New stall lines, evenly spaced and square to each other, painted over the fresh seal and bright enough to read from across the lot. The layout has to be recorded before the seal goes down, because once the surface is black there is nothing left to follow. Skip that step and the new lines land wherever somebody guesses they used to be.

Restriping is also the moment to fix a layout that never worked well. Stalls that are too tight, a missing accessible space, arrows that send cars the wrong way around the building. If your lot needs more than paint, our commercial asphalt services cover the bigger fixes, and the curb and concrete work on another DeLand lot shows what happens around the edges.

Fresh white parking stall lines on a newly sealed lot at Los Dos Compadres in DeLand, Florida, with a red pickup parked on the grass

Want to see another DeLand lot?

The DeLand curb and concrete job shows another side of lot upkeep, with new curb formed and poured around the islands of a retail lot on a highway frontage.

DeLand curb and concrete Back to all work

Is your parking lot due for a fresh seal and new lines?

Call and tell us about the lot. Faded lines, gray asphalt, cracks starting at the entrance. We come out, look at what the surface actually needs, and give you a straight price on sealing and striping.

Call us today (386) 215-7466

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