As a rental property owner, you know that property maintenance is a crucial part of ensuring that your tenants remain happy. While items such as heating, air conditioning, and plumbing likely take up much of your time, you shouldn't ignore the importance of your parking and driving surfaces. Allowing these critical elements of your property to fall into disrepair may be a costly mistake.

If you've been allowing your tenants to live with an old, worn-down asphalt driveway or parking lot, then it may be time to restore your property to its former glory. Keep reading to discover three reasons why asphalt sealing needs to be a core part of your property maintenance plan.

1. Fewer Long-Term Repair Costs

Driving surfaces are a significant source of potential liability issues for any rental properties. Potholes, cracks, and other serious problems can potentially damage your tenants' vehicles or even lead to injuries. Once these problems begin to develop, they can be expensive and time-consuming to repair. In some cases, you may have no choice except to replace whole sections of asphalt.

Seal coating helps to reduce your long-term costs by protecting your asphalt. By regularly sealing your asphalt, you can reinforce it against damage from the elements. Maintaining your sealcoating keeps water from infiltrating below the driving surface, ultimately stopping a variety of costly problems, such as frost heaves.

2. Safer Driving Surfaces

For properties in areas with snow, sealed asphalt can help to keep your driving surfaces safer during the winter. Since water does not penetrate sealed asphalt, you will not need to suffer the cycle of melting and refreezing ice. Once you clear your driving surface, meltwater should cleanly run off and prevent the need for constant deicing.

In severe weather, sealed asphalt will also better resist damage caused by salt and ice melt. This higher level of resistance means that you can use salt to clear ice from your driving surfaces without worrying about causing additional damage. With unsealed asphalt, you will likely need to warn your tenants to avoid these products since they may seep below the surface of the driveway or parking lot.

3. Less Risk of Tenant Damage

Do you worry about tenants spilling oil, coolant, or other chemicals onto your parking surfaces? Although many property owners ban car maintenance, leaks and other problems can sometimes make spills unavoidable. Fluids from vehicles can leave unsightly stains, but regular sealcoating can help to protect your driveway from oil and other spills.

It can be easy to ignore asphalt that's beginning to look a little worn or faded, but sealing old asphalt carries many practical benefits. Taking care of this relatively inexpensive maintenance task on your properties can save you money for years to come.