There is no coverage rate for sealer. There is a coverage rate for a product, and the four data sheets read for this page fall into two ranges that do not touch: 25 to 45 square feet per gallon on one manufacturer's sheets, 50 to 60 on the other's. Worse, three of the four say square feet per gallon on a page that also tells you to add up to 40 gallons of water per hundred, and never say which gallon they meant.
Sealer, water and sand for two coats, by product
ft
ft
ft
%
gal
Both ends of the manufacturer's own published range are shown. They are not averaged, because an average of a published range is a figure nobody published, and on these sheets the range is up to 80% wide.
Specification summary
Generated from on .
Reopen that address to reproduce these figures exactly.
Entered
Result
Gallons of concentrate for two coats, by product
Worked example
A 50 ft by 20 ft driveway, SealMaster Coal Tar Pavement Sealer, two coats, 5% waste, in 5 gallon pails.
Area. 50 × 20 = 1,000 sq ft.
Published coverage. 50 to 60 sq ft per gallon over two coats.
Sealer. 1,000 ÷ 60 to 1,000 ÷ 50 = 16.7 to 20 gal.
With waste.17.5 to 21 gal, so 4 to 5 pails.
Water. The mix design adds 30 to 40 per hundred: 5.3 to 8.4 gal.
Sand. 300 to 500 per hundred: 53 to 105 lb.
Now switch the product to ACE Seal HD and run the same drive. Its own sheet gives 25 to 45 square feet per gallon, so the same 1,000 square feet takes 22.2 to 40 gallons: five to nine pails instead of four to five. Nothing about the driveway changed. Both figures come from the manufacturer of the product in the pail, and the only way to be right is to read the sheet for the thing you actually bought.
The formula
One division, run twice, because the published figure is a range and both ends are real:
gallow = A / chigh galhigh = A / clow water = gal × w/100
A
area in square feet
c
published coverage in sq ft per gallon, for TWO coats
w
water gallons per 100 gallons of sealer, from the same sheet
sand
pounds per 100 gallons of sealer, from the same sheet
2
coats. Every one of these sheets recommends two
Notice that the low gallon figure comes from the high coverage number and the other way round. That inversion is where hand arithmetic goes wrong, and it is why a page that prints one coverage figure and one answer is hiding the half of the range that costs you a return trip.
Why the product dropdown is not optional here
Most calculators on this site ask for dimensions and give an answer. This one refuses to answer until you say what is in the pail, and the reason is in the table below.
Four manufacturer data sheets were read for this page. Two of them, from one maker, publish 25 to 45 square feet per gallon over two coats. Two of them, from another, publish the equivalent of 50 to 60. The best case in the first pair is worse than the worst case in the second.
There is no honest way to reconcile that into a single number, so this page does not try. It carries all four, names the manufacturer beside each, and makes you pick.
The second reason is smaller to write and larger in effect. Every sheet also carries a mix design that adds water, between 15 and 40 gallons per hundred, and only one of the four says whether its coverage figure is for the concentrate or for the mixed material. That single unstated word is worth up to 40% of an order, and no calculator that prints one number can be telling you about it.
Four data sheets, and the two ranges that do not meet
Product
Manufacturer
Two coats, as published
For a 1,000 sq ft drive
Does the sheet say which gallon?
Water per 100 gal
Sand per 100 gal
SealMaster Coal Tar Pavement Sealer
SealMaster
50 to 60 sq ft/gal
17 to 20 gal
Not stated
30 to 40 gal
300 to 500 lb
SealMaster MasterSeal
SealMaster
50 to 60 sq ft/gal
17 to 20 gal
Yes, concentrate, per coat
15 to 25 gal
300 to 500 lb
ACE Seal HD, polymer modified
Asphalt Coating Engineering
25 to 45 sq ft/gal
22 to 40 gal
Not stated
20 to 30 gal
100 to 300 lb
ACE Nova Seal HD
Asphalt Coating Engineering
25 to 45 sq ft/gal
22 to 40 gal
Not stated
20 to 30 gal
100 to 300 lb
Read 2026-09-09. Coverage, water and sand quoted from each manufacturer's own sheet. The 1,000 sq ft column is this page dividing, and the basis column is this page reporting whether the sheet said.
Two published coverage ranges, and they do not overlap
Four manufacturer data sheets, all of them giving coverage for a two coat application on asphalt. Put them in one table and the problem is immediate:
Coverage for two coats, as each manufacturer publishes it
Product
Manufacturer
Two coats, as published
For a 1,000 sq ft drive
Does the sheet say which gallon?
Water per 100 gal
Sand per 100 gal
SealMaster Coal Tar Pavement Sealer
SealMaster
50 to 60 sq ft/gal
17 to 20 gal
Not stated
30 to 40 gal
300 to 500 lb
SealMaster MasterSeal
SealMaster
50 to 60 sq ft/gal
17 to 20 gal
Yes, concentrate, per coat
15 to 25 gal
300 to 500 lb
ACE Seal HD, polymer modified
Asphalt Coating Engineering
25 to 45 sq ft/gal
22 to 40 gal
Not stated
20 to 30 gal
100 to 300 lb
ACE Nova Seal HD
Asphalt Coating Engineering
25 to 45 sq ft/gal
22 to 40 gal
Not stated
20 to 30 gal
100 to 300 lb
The ranges do not touch. The best case one manufacturer publishes, 45 square feet per gallon, is worse than the worst case the other publishes, 50. There is no figure that satisfies both sheets, so there is no such thing as a coverage rate for sealer. There is only a coverage rate for a product.
On a 1,000 square foot drive that is 22 to 40 gallons by one sheet and 17 to 20 by the other. The wide one is more than twice the narrow one at the top, and both are quoted by their manufacturer for the same job on the same surface.
Which is why the calculator above makes you pick a product before it will give you a number, and shows both ends of that product's own published range rather than an average of them. An average of a range this wide is a number nobody published.
The gallon nobody defines, which is worth up to 40% of the order
Every one of these sheets tells you to add water. Not a little:
For optimum results, mix SealMaster Pavement Sealer in accordance with the following mix design (based on 100 gallons for ease of calculation): SealMaster Coal Tar Pavement Sealer: 100 gallons. Water: 30 - 40 gallons. Sand: 300 - 500 lbs.
Normally 20 to 30 percent water is needed in the first coat and 20 to 25 percent in the second coat.
So there are two different gallons in play. The gallon of concentrate you buy in the pail, and the gallon of mixed material that goes on the drive. They differ by the water, which is up to 40 gallons in every hundred.
One sheet in four says which one it means. SealMaster MasterSeal writes it out:
One gallon of MasterSeal Concentrate will cover approximately 100-120 square feet (11.1 to 13.3 square yards) per coat when properly mixed and applied.
Concentrate. Per coat. Both stated, so the arithmetic is unambiguous: two coats at 100 to 120 per coat is 50 to 60 over the job, which is what the table above shows.
The other three write "square feet per gallon" on a page that also prints a mix design, and do not connect the two. If the figure is for concentrate, the mixed material stretches further and you buy what the sheet says. If it is for mixed material, you buy noticeably less concentrate than the sheet appears to say.
This page will not decide that for you, because guessing which gallon a manufacturer meant is exactly the kind of invention this site exists to avoid. The calculator treats the published figure as concentrate, says so on the row, and flags the products whose sheets leave it open. One phone call to the manufacturer settles it, and it is worth making before you buy a drum.
Two coats, and the second one is not a repeat of the first
Every sheet here recommends two coats, and it is worth understanding why the second is cheaper than the first rather than assuming it is half the job.
The first coat is absorbed. It goes into the pores of a surface that has been oxidising in the sun, and a rough or old drive drinks it. That is the porosity and roughness the sheets keep naming as the reason their coverage figure is a range rather than a number.
The second coat sits on the first. It is going onto sealer rather than into asphalt, so it spreads further for the same gallons.
The ACE sheet reflects this in its mix design: 20 to 30 percent water in the first coat and 20 to 25 in the second, which is a slightly stiffer second mix. It also asks for the second coat to be pulled across the direction of the first, which evens out the squeegee lines and is free.
The published coverage figures on this page are all for the two coats together, so the calculator does not double anything. If you find a figure quoted per coat, as MasterSeal's is, halve it before comparing.
What a pail actually covers, and why the shelf figure looks better
A 5 gallon pail at the top of the SealMaster range is 300 square feet over two coats. At the bottom of the ACE range it is 125. Same pail size, same job, and the difference is which product is in it.
Consumer pails often quote one coat. A driveway sealer sold at a home centre will happily print a square footage that assumes a single coat on a smooth surface, which is the most favourable case available. Two coats on a weathered drive is a different number and it is the number the professional sheets publish.
And the drive is rarely the rectangle you measured. Aprons, the flare at the street, the path to the door and the turning area are all sealed and none of them are in length times width. Run the circle mode for a turning bay, or add the pieces, rather than rounding the rectangle up and hoping.
The waste allowance here defaults to 5% and is ours. It covers what stays in the pail, the squeegee, the edge you cut in twice and the bit that goes on the garage floor.
Sand and water are materials too, and they are not on the invoice
A sealcoat order is not just sealer. Every mix design here adds sand by weight, and the quantities are not trivial: 300 to 500 pounds per hundred gallons on the SealMaster designs, up to 300 on the ACE ones on top of the 3 lb per gallon already in the product.
The sand is what makes the surface non-skid, and it is also what gives the cured film its body. Leaving it out produces a shinier drive that wears through faster and is slippery wet. It is a specification, not a filler.
The calculator scales the sheet's own sand and water figures with the sealer, so the shopping list comes out complete. What it cannot do is tell you the sand grade: ACE names #30 manufactured silica sand and SealMaster says sand without qualifying it, so ask.
And the water is free, which is exactly why it gets over-added. The mix designs give a range and the top of it is the top, not a suggestion. Past it the film is thinner, the coverage looks wonderful and the job fails early.
When you may seal, where the two manufacturers disagree again
New asphalt has to cure before it is sealed, and the two makers do not agree on how long by anything like a small margin:
New asphalt surfaces must cure a minimum of four weeks under ideal weather conditions before application.
New asphalt surfaces should be allowed to cure a minimum of seven days before application, three to six months is recommended.
Four weeks against seven days, with three to six months recommended in the second. That is not a rounding difference, and it is the same question about the same material. Read the sheet for the product in your pail, and when in doubt take the longer figure, because sealing uncured asphalt traps the light ends that are still leaving it.
They do agree on the weather:
Temperatures must be above 50°F both during application and for a period of at least 24 hours after application. Do not apply when rain is imminent or forecast.
Above 50 degrees during application and for 24 hours after, and no rain forecast. Both sheets also want two to four hours between coats, and the ACE one asks for the second coat to run across the first:
Two coats applied evenly over the entire surface are recommended. Apply by squeegee, brush, or mechanical spray. Apply second coat in cross direction of the first coat if this is practical.
One more line worth reading before you order anything at all:
Sealer is not designed to increase the structural characteristics of the asphalt.
Sealer is a coating. It does not carry load, it does not bridge a failed base, and a drive that is breaking up needs the broken part cut out and replaced first. Sealing over it buys you a black photograph of the same problem.
The sheets, and why these four
Read 2026-09-09. All four are the manufacturer's own document for a named product, which is the bar this site uses everywhere. A coverage figure repeated on a retailer listing or a contractor's blog is not a source, it is a copy.
SealMaster Coal Tar Pavement Sealer, product page, SealMaster, coverage and mix design as published on the product page. Gives 50 to 60 square feet per gallon for two coats, and a mix design adding 30 to 40 gallons of water and 300 to 500 lb of sand per 100 gallons of sealer. It does not say whether the coverage figure is before or after that water.
SealMaster MasterSeal, product page, SealMaster, coverage and mix design as published on the product page. The only one of the four that states the basis: one gallon of CONCENTRATE covers 100 to 120 square feet PER COAT. Mix design adds 15 to 25 gallons of water and 300 to 500 lb of sand per 100 gallons.
ACE SEAL HD Material Data Sheet, product number 1003, spec 37-4, Asphalt Coating Engineering, polymer modified asphalt sealer. Gives 25 to 45 square feet per gallon for a two coat application, and a mix design adding 20 to 30 percent water to the first coat and 20 to 25 percent to the second. It does not say which gallon.
Two of the four are from one manufacturer and two from another, which is a thin base and the page says so rather than presenting it as a survey. What it is enough for is the finding: the published ranges do not overlap, and only one sheet states its basis. Adding a fifth product would not make those two things less true.
Coal tar sealers are restricted in some places. SealMaster's own page carries a disclaimer that products on it are not available at all locations and have been banned in some cities. Check locally before specifying one; the asphalt emulsion products are the usual alternative and are in the table above.
Frequently asked questions
How much sealer do I need for a 1,000 square foot driveway?
Between 17 and 40 gallons for two coats, depending entirely on which product you buy. SealMaster publishes 50 to 60 square feet per gallon over two coats, which is 17 to 20 gallons. Asphalt Coating Engineering publishes 25 to 45 for its two sealers, which is 22 to 40. Both are the manufacturer's own figures for their own product.
How many square feet does a 5 gallon bucket of driveway sealer cover?
At the published two-coat rates on this page, between 125 and 300 square feet. That is a factor of 2.4 across four data sheets, so the honest answer is to read the sheet for the product you have rather than to use a rule of thumb.
Do you need one coat or two of asphalt sealer?
Every one of the four manufacturer sheets read for this page recommends two, applied two to four hours apart with the first dry to the touch. The ACE sheet also asks for the second coat to run across the direction of the first where that is practical.
Do you add water to driveway sealer?
The mix designs on these sheets do, and by a lot: 30 to 40 gallons per hundred on SealMaster Coal Tar, 15 to 25 on MasterSeal, 20 to 30 percent in the first coat on the ACE products. Sand is added too, 100 to 500 pounds per hundred gallons depending on the sheet. Follow the sheet for your product rather than a general rule, and do not exceed the top of its water range.
How long does new asphalt need to cure before sealing?
The two manufacturers disagree, which is worth knowing. SealMaster says new asphalt must cure a minimum of four weeks under ideal weather conditions. Asphalt Coating Engineering says a minimum of seven days, with three to six months recommended. Read the sheet for your product, and when in doubt wait longer.
What temperature can you seal a driveway at?
Above 50 degrees Fahrenheit during application and for at least 24 hours afterwards, with no rain imminent or forecast, on the SealMaster sheets. The ACE sheet adds that material applied below 70 degrees takes longer to cure and stays sensitive to water until it has.
Will sealcoating fix cracks or potholes?
No, and the ACE sheet says so directly: sealer is not designed to increase the structural characteristics of the asphalt. Cracks get filled with a crack filler first and failed areas get saw cut out and replaced. Sealing over a failure produces a black photograph of the same failure.
Is coal tar sealer allowed everywhere?
No. SealMaster's own product page carries a disclaimer that its products are not available at all locations and have been banned in some cities. Check locally before specifying one. The asphalt emulsion products are the usual alternative and are in the table on this page.
Check these numbers yourself
SealMaster Coal Tar Pavement Sealer, product pageSealMaster, read 2026-09-09. Gives 50 to 60 square feet per gallon for two coats, and a mix design adding 30 to 40 gallons of water and 300 to 500 lb of sand per 100 gallons of sealer. It does not say whether the coverage figure is before or after that water. The page also carries a disclaimer that these products have been banned in some cities.
SealMaster MasterSeal, product pageSealMaster, read 2026-09-09. The only one of the four sheets that states its basis: one gallon of MasterSeal Concentrate covers approximately 100 to 120 square feet per coat. Mix design adds 15 to 25 gallons of water and 300 to 500 lb of sand per 100 gallons.
ACE SEAL HD Material Data Sheet, product number 1003, spec 37-4Asphalt Coating Engineering, read 2026-09-09. Polymer modified asphalt sealer with no coal tar. Gives 25 to 45 square feet per gallon for a two coat application, a mix design adding 20 to 30 percent water to the first coat and 20 to 25 to the second, and the line that sealer is not designed to increase the structural characteristics of the asphalt.
How every figure here is verified: Sources & Method. Who builds this: About. Found something wrong? Tell us and it gets fixed or removed.
Figures on this page last checked against the source documents on 2026-09-09. Codes are amended locally; confirm against the edition your jurisdiction enforces.
Every coverage, water and sand figure on this page is the manufacturer's, read from their own document on 9 September 2026, and each is attributed to the product it belongs to. Three of the four sheets do not state whether their coverage figure refers to concentrate or to mixed material; this page treats it as concentrate, says so on the row, and flags those products. The waste allowance is this page's own figure and is an input. Coal tar sealers are restricted in some jurisdictions. Sealer is a coating and does not repair a failed pavement.