Calculate Crack Filler for Commercial Parking Lots

Walking a 100,000 sq ft commercial parking lot with a measuring wheel is a massive waste of time, especially when you lose the bid.

Commercial sealcoating requires extreme accuracy. You are ordering hundreds of gallons of coal tar or asphalt emulsion, and potentially thousands of pounds of hot pour crack filler. Over-bidding loses the job; under-bidding bankrupts you.

Under-bidding linear footage on commercial crack filling jobs can completely wipe out your sealcoating margins.

The Hot Pour Crack Filler Yield Chart

Estimating crack filler is notoriously difficult because cracks vary in width and depth. However, using industry averages (1/2" wide by 1/2" deep), you can extrapolate material usage based on linear footage.

The Satellite Crack Estimation Strategy

While you can easily draw a polygon around the parking lot to get the exact square footage for the sealer, how do you estimate linear feet of cracks?

1. Zoom In: Use high-resolution satellite imagery (like Google Maps or Nearmap) to zoom in on a specific section of the lot.
2. Isolate a Sample: Draw a 10,000 sq ft square on the map.
3. Measure the Sample: Use the Path Measurement tool to measure all visible cracks inside that square (e.g., 500 linear feet).
4. Extrapolate: If the total lot is 100,000 sq ft, multiply your sample by 10. You have approximately 5,000 linear feet of cracks.