If you are going to have an asphalt parking lot at your company, then you need to make sure that you have it installed correctly and that you maintain it correctly. One of the parts of having that done is to make sure that your parking lot has been sealed correctly. There are a lot of reasons to get your asphalt parking lot sealed when it's installed and then on a regular basis thereafter. 

Petroleum Degradation

Asphalt is a petroleum product. Bitumen is one of the earliest products when the crude oil is pumped and refined. The bitumen is mixed with aggregate and turned into asphalt and then laid on your driveway. Because of the fact it is a petroleum product, other petroleum products can degrade and damage the asphalt. Since the asphalt is going to be your parking lot, it's going to be exposed to gas and oil, which will slowly but surely break down the asphalt and cause it to crack, crumble, and otherwise break down. A good sealant will protect your parking lot from all the drips and drops of gas and oil will not be able to degrade the asphalt and destroy your parking lot. 

Weather Damage

You might not think that drips of water can damage your parking lot, but it can. If there are cracks in your parking lot, the water can get into those little cracks and actually start to make them worse. One way that happens is because water, when it freezes, doesn't contract like most things do. Instead, the crystal matrix that is formed when the ice is being formed causes the ice to expand. When that happens, it starts to push things around so that there is enough space for the ice to form. When it gets into a crack and ice forms, it starts to push the crack wider, which lets water get further into the crack, and then when it freezes, it expands the crack again. The sealant can help keep water from getting into the areas and making cracks worse. There is also the fact that all the cracks in your parking lot will be repaired before the sealant is applied to your parking lot. 

If you are going to have an asphalt parking lot, you need to make sure that it's going to be in good shape for years to come. Getting it sealed will do that. For more information, contact a business such as AAA Paving and Sealing.