How to price sealcoating per square foot

The fastest way to lose money on sealcoating is to copy the number everyone else in town seems to charge. Your sealer, your dilution, your crew and your drive time aren't theirs. Build the square-foot price from your own costs once, and then you'll know what a lot is worth to you before you pull in.

Measure the paved area

Measure what you'll actually coat:

Break the lot into rectangles and triangles and add them up, or measure it on a satellite view and check it with a wheel on site.
Subtract islands, concrete pads, sidewalks and anything that isn't asphalt.
Note what slows you down: lots of islands and curbs means more edging by hand.

Walk it for condition too. Heavy oxidation and raveling can mean a thirstier surface that takes more material. Oil spots need treatment or primer so the sealer bonds. Cracks need sealing first. Alligator cracking means base failure, and sealcoat won't fix it.

Check whether your state or city restricts coal-tar sealer before you pick a product. Several states, including Washington and Minnesota, and many local governments ban or limit it.

Sealer and supplies

Work out material from the product's data sheet and your own mix:

Coverage rate: the square feet per gallon of mixed material the manufacturer calls for, at your application method.
Coats: most lots get two.
Gallons of mixed material = square feet × coats ÷ coverage rate.
Concentrate = mixed gallons, less the water and sand in your mix design.
Material cost = concentrate × your price per gallon, plus sand and additive.

A worked example with made-up numbers. Use your data sheet and your supplier prices:

20,000 sq ft, 2 coats, 80 sq ft per mixed gallon: 20,000 × 2 ÷ 80 = 500 mixed gallons.
Mixed at 70% concentrate: 350 gallons of concentrate.
At $2.50 per gallon plus $150 for sand and additive: $875 + $150 = $1,025.

Then add crack sealant (linear feet × your pounds per foot × price), oil spot primer, and striping paint if it's on the same visit.

Crew, equipment and overhead

Crew time: prep and cleaning, crack sealing, edging, the coats themselves, dry time between coats, and cleanup. Use your crew's actual square feet per hour on a lot like this one.
Labor cost = hours × crew size × your burdened hourly rate.
Equipment: your spray rig or squeegee machine, blower, crack sealing kettle and truck, at a daily or hourly rate.
Traffic control: cones, barricades and signs if the lot stays open.
Equipment transport and setup, and drive time.

Say the crew and equipment on that 20,000 sq ft lot come to $1,600, and crack sealing, primer and the trip add $500. With the $1,025 of sealer, direct cost is $3,125.

The margin, then the price per square foot

Decide the margin you need to cover overhead and leave a profit, then:

Price = direct cost ÷ (1 − margin)

At a 45% margin: $3,125 ÷ 0.55 = $5,682, or about $0.28 per square foot.

Run your own numbers on a small driveway and a large lot. The square-foot price will be very different, because the trip and the minimum crew time don't shrink with the job. That's why most sealcoating contractors have a job minimum.

Present it

Give a total, and the square footage it's based on. Customers compare per-foot prices, but the total protects you if they measure differently.
List the coats, the product type and crack sealing as separate items.
Put exclusions in writing: deep crack repair, base failures, oil spot removal beyond priming, striping if it isn't included.
Put a time limit on the price. Sealer prices change.

Pavr is estimating software for paving, sealcoating, striping and concrete contractors. Draw the lot on the satellite view and the square footage is there when you price the sealcoat. Try it free → Comparing the tools that price this work? Pavr vs Bitumio covers the sealcoat and striping side, prices included.