Hot rubberized crack sealing in Hirschdale.

What the work involves

Cracks get cleaned out and filled with hot rubberized sealant that stays flexible through the freeze and thaw cycles. It is the highest-value pavement work at this elevation, because it stops water before water becomes ice inside your pavement.

Why it matters at this elevation

Hot rubberized sealant stays flexible, which is the whole reason it works here. Pavement expands in the afternoon sun and contracts on cold nights, so cracks open and close constantly. A rigid filler breaks its bond the first hard winter. Flexible sealant moves with the pavement and keeps holding.

Down at this elevation the ground releases its moisture earlier than the higher communities do, so scheduling has a little more room. That is a real advantage and also a trap, because pavement here still spends months crossing the freeze line at night and thawing every afternoon.

How the job runs

The kettle work looks simple and the preparation is where the job is won. A crack full of pine needles, old failed filler, or moisture will not hold a bond no matter how good the rubber is. Clean and dry first, then hot material, then let it set.

Hirschdale pavement specifically

Small residential and light commercial pavement. Modest scale and an early season make this the kind of place that gets scheduled at the front of the year rather than squeezed in at the end.

Hirschdale is a small community in the Truckee River canyon east of town, down along the Interstate 80 corridor toward the state line. The canyon runs lower and warmer than Truckee proper, so the snow leaves sooner and the pavement dries earlier.

Sealing cracks on this pavement is the cheapest work available and the work that buys the most time. It is also the easiest thing to keep putting off.

Hirschdale sits at roughly 5,500 feet, and the pavement around it behaves accordingly. More on the area on our Hirschdale service area page. We work the same corridor through Floriston, Truckee, Glenshire, Boca, and the pavement guides go deeper on the physics if you want it.

Questions