Most driveways require two coats of sealer. The first coat will cover roughly 70-80 sq ft per gallon. The second coat covers 100-120 sq ft per gallon because the asphalt's pores are already filled.
Running out of sealer when you are 90% done with a driveway is a nightmare. By the time you get back from the hardware store with another bucket, the edge has dried, and you will be left with a permanent, ugly seam where the new sealer meets the old.
Calculating exactly how much sealer you need before you start is critical.
Old, gray asphalt acts like a sponge. The sun has baked the oils out of it, leaving the surface porous and brittle. When you squeegee your first coat of sealer onto it, the asphalt drinks it up. You will likely only get 70 to 80 square feet of coverage per gallon.
However, the second coat goes on much faster and spreads much further. Because the pores are filled, the second coat simply glides over the surface. You can often get up to 120 square feet per gallon on the second pass.
Not all sealers spread the same way. The type of sealer you buy dictates your math.
Measure your driveway's length and width in feet and multiply them together. If you have a 1,000 sq ft driveway, and you want to put down two coats of standard asphalt emulsion:
Total area per coat = 1,000. Total area for two coats = 2,000 sq ft.
2,000 sq ft รท 75 sq ft per gallon = 26.6 gallons.
Since sealer is usually sold in 5-gallon buckets, you divide 26.6 by 5 to get 5.3 buckets. Always round up. You need to buy 6 buckets.
Our sealer calculator averages out the first and second coat coverage rates for you instantly based on your specific sealer type.
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