Courtesy photo Dylan Draze sprays sealcoat onto pavement on a job for Draze Sealcoating, which is based in Bark River but covers a large area from Oconto, Wis. to Manistique.

ESCANABA — When the sun comes out, calls start coming into Draze Sealcoating.

Draze, which takes both residential and commercial jobs, has been operating since 2016 after buying a sealcoating business from a friend.

Both Tom and Dylan Draze — father and son — worked a little bit with Holmes Sealcoating to help them out on jobs before Holmes decided to sell and Tom decided to buy.

Back in 2015, Dylan used to work at the feed mill in Bark River for a couple hours after school and then sometimes help out on driveway sealcoating in the evening.

“I remember, before dad bought the business, he sat down at the dinner table, and he was like, ‘I’m thinking about buying the sealcoating business. If I buy it, will you work for me?'” Dylan recalled.

Since both men had been learning the trade working for Holmes, they opted to take the plunge.

Tom bought the business in the winter of 2015.

“We bought the equipment and the company, and there was a small customer list that came with it,” said Tom, who remains the owner.

When Draze Sealcoating entered their inaugural season in 2016, Tom was still working full-time with the Menominee County Sheriff’s Office. The roles that the father and son duo fell into have Dylan doing a lot of the physical manual labor and Tom handling calls, bidding and scheduling, making sure the business remains profitable.

Because of all the time his father puts into keeping track of that end of the business, “it’s very important that I make sure that the sealer’s mixed properly and the driveways look good when we’re done,” said Dylan, “and I’m talking to the customers when we get there and making sure they’re happy.”

The Drazes have a couple other employees, but they want to keep their operation a small, family business, because that’s how they’re able to maintain quality of service, both men said. On bigger jobs, sometimes Tom’s wife, Amy, and Dylan’s wife, Carlie, pitch in.

“Every single job we do, either me or dad are overseeing it,” Dylan said. “It’s not worth sacrificing quality to get quantity.”

While not all jobs require the same patching, crack-filling, line-striping, etc., there is a process that is followed.

For jobs that require deep cleaning to remove a lot of dirt and gravel, Draze Sealcoating uses a skid-steer with a power broom on the front and a commercial-size blower alongside it.

“You need friction and air to properly clean asphalt,” Dylan explained.

Certain products like primers may be used on oil spill marks.

Dylan explained the typical process as follows:

“The very first thing you do is you remove all vegetation from the cracks and the edges. After that, you’re filling the cracks with a hot, rubberized crack-filler.”

That crack rubber, Tom said, is heated up to 400 degrees. He’s sustained a few burns.

“From there, you’re applying your seal coat around the edges, close to buildings or anything that you don’t want to get sealer onto by hand,” Dylan continued. “And then you apply it the rest of the way, spraying it with a wand.”

The sealcoat is a refined tar that restores a shiny, black appearance to driveways and parking lots. It forms a protective barrier that can prevent damage caused by water permeation, extending the life of the surface.

Draze Sealcoating offers free estimates to customers based on the size and condition of the pavement in question.

The work is seasonal, as they prefer temperatures to be at least 50 degrees Fahrenheit so that the material can cure properly. Operation tends to be roughly from April 1 to November 1, but with lingering cold this spring, they’re still waiting to begin driveway work.

That doesn’t mean they’re not busy at other times, though.

In the winter, hard layers of sealer need to be chipped out of the tanks. Dylan referred to the work with the chisel gun to hammer out the buildup as a “daunting task.”

And now, in the spring, equipment has been being hauled out and oil changed.

In the nine years Draze Sealcoating has been doing business, they’ve replaced the equipment they’ve started with and now try to add one new piece of equipment to the fleet each season, Dylan said.

The business has grown, acquiring new customers through both advertising and word of mouth.

“People like quality work, and they pass it on,” Tom said. “One happy customer equals 10 customers.”

If any prospective customers are interested in Draze Sealcoating services, they may call Tom at 906-466-0143.