← Asphalt sealcoating bid calculator
Enough to cover the gallons and the hours on that lot, not enough to match the cheapest postcard on the block. An 800 sq ft oxidized driveway with oil spots and forty feet of cracks is not the same job as a tight pad that was sealed last year, and a flat “cents per square foot” price cannot see the difference.
Open the free bid calculatorStart with the square feet and how many coats you will actually put down. The first coat on oxidized asphalt drinks sealer — often around 80 to 90 square feet per gallon. The second coat is thinner because the first already filled the texture. Two coats is two crew passes, not a nicer name for one. A spray rig is faster labor than a squeegee; it is not free material.
Oil spots need primer, not more sealer poured on top of a stain that will bleed through. Cracks are linear feet of filler and scrape time. Parking-lot striping is a second trade on the same visit: stalls, paint, and stencil time. If those lines are “included” in a $0.18-per-foot special on an 800 sq ft driveway, they are unpaid. That special is $144. The walk-away on a typical oxidized two-coat driveway with a short drive is often well above that.
Miles are a round trip. Eight miles at 35 mph is not “in the neighborhood”; it is almost half an hour on the clock before you blow off the lot. A trip / truck fee exists because the first hour of a tiny apron still required the tanker, the insurance, and the setup. If on-site time would land under your minimum, charge the minimum.
A crew paid $24 often costs more than $31 once employer taxes, workers’ compensation (this is outdoor chemical work), liability, and paid time off are counted. Overhead sits on top of that direct cost. Margin is a share of the price the customer sees, not a markup you add last and forget. The walk-away number is total cost: below it the stop makes nothing, even before you pay yourself.
This is not a manufacturer yield, not a pavement-condition rating, and not a finding that a lot is ready to coat. Coal-tar and asphalt-emulsion sealers are not interchangeable, and some places ban one of them. The starting coverage figures are ballpark numbers so a contractor can see the shape of a bid. Replace them with yields from your own jobs, confirm condition on the lot, and have a qualified professional review anything that has to be signed or insured.
Price this lot in the calculator
Charge the hours and gallons the stop will actually take — square feet times coats and coverage, plus oil-spot primer, crack fill, striping, travel, and a trip fee — then divide cost by one minus your target margin. A flat cents-per-square-foot price hides the difference between a tight driveway and an oxidized parking lot.
Condition, coats, oil, and cracks. Failing asphalt drinks the first coat. Two coats is two passes, not a nicer name for one. Oil spots need primer and cracks are linear feet. A neighborhood special that ignores those lines is how a crew works a half day for a one-hour price.
No. Starting coverage figures are editable ballpark numbers, not a product data sheet, a VOC approval, or a finding that any lot is ready to coat. Confirm sealer type, local rules, and condition on site.