Hot rubberized crack sealing in Serene Lakes.

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

A crack is a funnel. Water runs in, freezes overnight, expands about nine percent, and levers the crack wider. The next day more water fits, and the cycle repeats through both shoulders of winter. Sealing the crack shuts the funnel before the base underneath gets wet.

Up at the top of the range pavement spends more of the year covered than exposed. That sounds protective and is not. Snowmelt keeps the base saturated for weeks, and the surface cycles through freezing and thawing every clear day of the shoulder seasons.

How the job runs

Cracks get blown out with compressed air first so the sealant meets clean dry walls instead of dirt. Material goes in hot, flows down into the opening, and cools into a flexible seal. Wide or deep openings may take backer material so the sealant sits at the right depth.

Serene Lakes pavement specifically

Cabin drives and shared access roads make up nearly all of it. At this elevation the honest priority is crack work before the snow rather than a coating that has to cure in a window that barely opens.

Serene Lakes sits up on Donner Summit near Soda Springs, a cabin community built around the lakes at close to 6,900 feet.

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.

Serene Lakes sits at roughly 6,900 feet, and the pavement around it behaves accordingly. More on the area on our Serene Lakes service area page. We work the same corridor through Soda Springs, Norden, Kingvale, Donner Lake, and the pavement guides go deeper on the physics if you want it.

Questions