call a local sealing contractor in your community and get on their list.

when you need them, you will already be known. (Always nice to get recommendations from satisfied customers in your area)

Seal coating asphalt is cheap and extends the life of your pavement. I have never heard of asphalt that shouldn't be seal coated. DH is a city engineer and they seal coat roadways all the time to help extend life.

If you actually have asphalt, it looks like your driveway is starting to wear/pit and should be sealed. But to be honest, it looks like chip seal, not asphalt. If your driveway is chip seal, then I do not believe it needs resealing.

Thanks @anj_p - how do I know whether it is chip seal or asphalt?

i am unable to tell by your photo but, chip seal resembles small rocks in goo. asphalt resembles smooth clay.

both use petroleum and rocks, I have both in my neighborhood.

asphalt can last a lifetime, chip seal ~10 years.

Pretty sure it's chip seal. Asphalt is smooth. Chip seal isn't.

It's a doable DIY. We had new asphalt put in two years ago. Let it sit a year, seal coated last summer. It should be done every few years if you want the driveway to hold up. I can't tell by your pic if it's getting mealy and thus over due for seal coating or if someone went the extra mile seal coated and put crushed rock on top --like they do roads.

I did not say 'easy' DIY because this day was 90degrees and our driveway is easily twice the width/length of the average. Still it was only a couple hours work. When it was last seal coated and what was done the sellers would know. Your realtor should be able to get that information for you. Did you have the home inspected? The inspector should have recommendations on this too.

If you ever want to upscale the driveway. Consider a Chip Seal Driveway. Look it up on YouTube. It's an asphalt base with small rocks imbedded in the surface of the driveway.

You do not have a chip seal driveway. It is hot rolled asphalt. You might read about two different camps on sealing asphalt:

- sealer is not much more than paint, just to make it look good

- sealer helps prolong the life of the asphalt

They are both right. Very, very, seldom do you see roadways sealed, and they perform perfectly fine for their designated life cycle for that pavement. Oftentimes though they do seal any cracks. But sealing is common for light traffic areas like parking lots and driveways. The sealer will fill pockmarks and prevent some water from infiltrating and breaking up the stone. Some stone that has loosened will settle back in with the sealer. Most people think it looks better in a consistent color.

The success and longevity of your driveway is mostly dependent on the preparation of the base, and there isn't much to maintain about that. So you can seal every 1/2/3 years, monitor and fill any cracks, and keep the sod cut back and edged so water can drain off.

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A word about chip seal (also known as tar and chip): It is the cheapest, easiest method for pavement. Think lightly traveled rural roads. You spray "tar" on the road then spread stone. It is not rolled, but relies on traffic to compact the stone into the "tar," so you get waviness, inconsistent color, and the layers build up in height over time. The exposed surface is the stone, not "tar." Though it is a method used to fill cracks on hot rolled asphalt, you might see this on highways down the centerline.

A residential chip seal driveway would resemble a decomposed granite driveway. They would need to roll it and probably use a more decorative stone. At that point it is better to use decomposed granite.