Recently, I had the pleasure of sitting down with Mack Lunn on the Unscripted Sparta podcast to discuss The Asphalt Team and share some insights about asphalt maintenance that I’ve gained over my 30+ years in the business. I wanted to share some key points that might help property owners make informed decisions about their asphalt maintenance.
What Property Owners Should Know:
- Quality Materials Matter
One thing I always stress to potential clients is that not all asphalt products are created equal. At The Asphalt Team, we mix our own materials with specific chemicals and sand. While some companies simply add water to their sealer and call it done, we’ve found that this approach doesn’t hold up well in high-traffic commercial areas. Yes, our process might cost more upfront, but the longevity of the results speaks for itself. It’s like a house foundation, you want to make sure it’s made right the first time. - Maintenance is an Investment, Not Just an Expense
I recently worked with a property owner who buys and sells grocery stores. He calls me second (right after his painter) whenever he acquires a new property. Why? Because he’s found that simply by painting the building and redoing the parking lot, his business increases by 20% automatically. That added value stays with the property when he sells. This is a key fact to remember if you’re in commercial real estate! - Regular Maintenance Doubles Asphalt Life
Here’s something most property owners don’t realize – if you maintain your asphalt properly from the start with regular sealing and cleaning, and repair cracks before they become major issues, you’ll double the life of your asphalt. While many see our services as purely aesthetic, they’re actually protecting their investment. - We’ve worked with all kinds of different businesses, from cannabis shops, CBD stores, to restaurants and churches. The key thing is that there is an impact on your business when your customers can’t access your store. If it didn’t impact the bottom line, the curbside perception of your property, then it wouldn’t impact the price of the property on the market.
Some Key Exchanges from the Interview:
Mack: “I’ve seen there’s a wide spectrum of quality when it comes to asphalt jobs. I’d say you’re on the higher end. Is that correct?”
Me: “I’d like to think we are, and as much as I stay on the guys, they would think that we better be… We use the best materials that we can find. We mix our own, we add the chemicals and the sand, all that stuff to make our own. A lot of companies just buy sealer, stick some water in there. Off they go, and that works in a lot of situations. It really does. But if you’re doing a commercial parking lot with high traffic, that’s just not going to cut it.”
Mack: “If I was looking to bid out or to look into doing a job. Is there anything that I should educate myself as a consumer to know?”
Me: “Not all products are the same. Not all processes are the same. And the application of the process is not the same. A lot of times people think that they’ll get three estimates or three bids and we’re going to go with the lowest bid. I understand that, especially in today’s times with interest rates up and things like that… If you’re just looking for the lowest bid, I’m probably not your guy. But I’m going to try to give you the best deal that I can for the money.”
Mack: “When I imagine most things, if you do it right the first time you’re gonna have less repairs. Is that fair to say?”
Me: “It’s 100 percent accurate in asphalt. If you will start sealing and cleaning… cleaning is a big thing, but if you’ll seal asphalt and keep it in good condition, repair any major cracks and things like that to prevent further water damage, you’ll double the life of that asphalt.”
We’re proud to serve communities in TN like Sparta and Crossville but also across multiple states, from Indianapolis to Atlanta, and while we’ve grown significantly since our start in 1990, we maintain the same commitment to quality that got us here. Whether it’s a small local driveway or a major commercial property, we treat every project as if it were our own.
If you’re considering asphalt maintenance or have questions about your property’s needs, feel free to reach out to us at The Asphalt Team. We’re always happy to share our expertise and help you make the best decision for your property.
Here’s The Whole interview:
The Asphalt Team: Interview with Jackson Sherrell
Unscripted Sparta Podcast – Episode 2
Mack Lunn: Hello and welcome to our second episode of the Unscripted Sparta podcast. I’m here today with Jackson Sherrill from The Asphalt Team. My name is Mack Lunn. And as always, we’re meeting people in the community, speaking to them about both their personal lives and their business and learning more about what’s going on in our communities.
Jackson, thank you for being here with us today.
Jackson Sherrell: I’ve lived in Sparta all of my life other than some schooling that took me to Nashville for a little while. Got a wife, three daughters, three son-in-laws and six grandkids. So I’m pretty much a staple here. Love this area. I’ve been all over the country, but nothing like home in my book.
Mack Lunn: I agree. I’m right down the road in Cookville and been around the world and I can’t get rid of me here. I love it. So you’re a family man. Family is important. And you said earlier, you can help get your coverage. I’m married up too. Yes, that’s great. Jack, you work with The Asphalt Team. I was reading earlier. It said on your website, you have over five million square feet of asphalt that you manage every year.
Jackson Sherrell: That number kind of fluctuates, of course, as anything does in business. But it’s not the same five million. That fluctuates in not only the number, but it fluctuates in the actual asphalt itself because we have a lot of properties that we take care of for private firms and private companies and also management companies. And then just standard mom and pop operations. But that’s the number. I never thought I’d reach that number. I remember the first year we done 100,000 square feet. We wouldn’t need steak that night. It was a big hurdle, and I’m blessed and thankful to achieve those numbers in my mind.
Mack Lunn: It’s inconceivable how big that is. But I looked up a comparison and it said one million football fields or one million square feet was the same area if you put nine football fields three by three grids. So it looks like you’re looking at more something like 45 football fields. That’s just an incredible amount of asphalt. So you do a lot of services. What is it that you consider that you do best?
Jackson Sherrell: We started, when we first started, which was officially around 1990 we were doing just seal coating of asphalt. That’s basically all it was. We didn’t have any striping equipment. We didn’t really have any repair equipment and we just seal coated put on by hand asphalt sealer. We ended up branching out and doing more services. Over the period of time, we’ve ended up doing asphalt seal coating, asphalt repair, striping. We’ve done infrared repair for a while. We had a paving division for a while, sold out and actually bought back into the paving business and we’re going to be doing that on a limited basis because we’re trying to get set up to where we can specialize.
We’re wanting to specialize in repairs utility repairs. Things of that nature parking lot repairs, but we’re also wanting to specialize in pickleball and tennis courts.
Mack Lunn: I love playing pickleball.
Jackson Sherrell: Yeah.
Mack Lunn: That’s very cool. Now I’ve seen, there’s a wide spectrum of quality when it comes to asphalt jobs. I’d say you’re on the higher end. Is that correct?
Jackson Sherrell: I’d like to think we are and as much as I stay on the guys, they would think that we better be. That’s one of the things that is a hurdle in business. You can go to any store to get groceries, but there’s some stores that you know, is just the better place. And you’re in some instances, you may pay a little more for that. We use the best materials that we can find. We mix our own, we add the chemicals and the sand, all that stuff to make our own.
A lot of companies just buy sealer, stick some water in there. Off they go, and that works in a lot of situations. It really does. But if you’re doing a commercial parking lot with high traffic, that’s just not going to cut it. That’s the difference a lot of times of the bid prices or the estimate prices we’ll see.
We estimated a small project the other week and we were literally beat out by 200 bucks. I’ve been in it so long that it doesn’t bother me. It’s nothing personal by no means but I really felt bad because this was a church. I did go back by just out of curiosity and look at the finished product. I would have never left that job site with that looking that way.
I would never say that to the church or the people or anything. Whatever business you’re in, you’re in the podcast. You know how podcasts should run same with my situation. We strive to be as good as we possibly can.
And I’ve always said that every parking lot that we do of course. But most of ours is probably 90 percent commercial. We really try to do it as if each one of those projects two things, one, regardless of the price, if it was a small driveway or a large parking lot, we do it as if it was my lot.
And I would be proud to show that to someone, coming on to my lot because a lot of these businesses that we do depend a lot on curb appeal. And we done some apartments the other day, and the lady came out and she said, “Jack, I’m really tight with my money, but this is the best money I’ve ever spent. My place looks new again.”
Mack Lunn: That’s gotta feel good.
Jackson Sherrell: It does. We don’t exactly change the world here. We don’t control diseases or anything like that or save lives, but what we do, we add a lot to a business. We have a guy that we do a lot of work for, and he buys and sells grocery stores. And I’m the second guy he calls after he closes the deal. The first guy is the painter, and I’m the second guy. He said by the time he paints the building and has the parking lot redone, his business increases 20 percent automatically. So he said, I keep that 20 percent keep it for one year and then I sell the business because it’s worth 20 percent more than what he gave for it.
Mack Lunn: That’s incredible.
Jackson Sherrell: It is. And those numbers work. If I’m driving down the interstate and I’ve got to get fuel or I’ve got to stop and get food or whatever, you go to the nicest looking place. If it’s beat up, run down, there’s grass two feet tall in the parking lot, I’m driving right by even if I wasn’t in the business.
Mack Lunn: I feel like I recognize that as a consumer when I’m driving around. I know if the business keeps up the place and makes it look nice, then they take pride in what they’re doing. And I could trust their element. So it starts at the bottom, works its way up. It transcends.
Jackson Sherrell: It does. There was an auto dealer car dealer years ago in Nashville. Crown Ford. There was a guy that owned it. Crown Charlie. They called him and tagline on his commercials: “People want to do business where business is being done.” And that is the absolute truth. Most of the time, you’re going to go to the busiest.
Mack Lunn: And you’ve been doing business all over. You do business across state lines.
Jackson Sherrell: Absolutely. We started local doing driveways and parking lots and things local. We have grown over the years, made new contacts worked with contractors just, made a lot of networking decisions. And we go right now. We’re serving as far north as Indianapolis, the east and north side of Indianapolis. We go over to Rockford, Illinois down through Tennessee, Kentucky and, of course, in Tennessee over to we’ll have some around Dixon Springfield over in there. And then as far as the east side of Tennessee, we go up around White Pine east of Knoxville, Newport over in there. And south we go to about Atlanta and Birmingham.
We’re actually going to be in Huntsville Friday getting a storage unit that has just been rebuilt. That’s what we’re going to be putting in. New parking stops, parking curbs signage stripes and arrows, that kind of stuff. So they can, they have a certificate of occupancy. They have to turn over. The builder or the contractor has to have that before they can leave the job or turn it over to the new owners. So that’s, we’re usually the last guys in that certified.
Mack Lunn: That’s a lot of distance. More south.
Jackson Sherrell: A lot of people a lot of businesses like myself, they won’t do that. But and I understand there’s a lot of logistics that are involved in it. A lot of times, we’re five or six vehicles deep with trailers and everything heading into town. We look like the county fair coming in. If I’m not saying we’ve perfected the aircraft here, but we’re pretty good at it and we can do it efficiently.
From the time that the guys get out of the vehicle, no one has to be told what to do. They all know what to do, what their place is, what their job is for that day. They know they’re strong suits. They know what they’re going to do throughout that whole process. That varies a little bit from here to there, depending on the needs that we have.
But we can be efficient and get a lot of footage done. I remember when I first started, if I sprayed six or 8,000 feet in a day, I thought I was doing something, and now we’ll knock out 150, 180,000.
Mack Lunn: Wow, that is a lot of real estate.
Jackson Sherrell: It’s a lot.
Mack Lunn: It definitely is. Do you still do residential as well as commercial?
Jackson Sherrell: We do locally. And a lot of those have been with us for years, several years. And I’ll always do those. I don’t care how big we get or where services cover. I’ll always take care of those local people. They got me started. But we try to stay, Smithfield, Sparta, Spencer, McMimble, Cookville, Crossville in those ranges as far as the local residential goes.
Mack Lunn: If I was looking to bid out or to look into doing a job. Is there anything that I should educate myself as a consumer to know? I was talking to another guest, they do Box Tree Care of Greater Austin, and there’s apparently a LOT to know about tree care before hand. I just thought they…just grew. So what should people know about driveways and asphalt?
Jackson Sherrell: Yeah. Not all products are the same. Not all processes are the same. And the application of the process is not the same. A lot of times people think that, they’ll get three estimates or three bids and we’re going to go with the lowest bid.
I understand that, especially in today’s times with interest rates up and things like that. But our products and handling those products, all of that has is just like everything else. It’s not went down. It’s went up every bit of it. And it’s our products that we use. If there’s anything any better, I’ll get it. I’ll buy it. I’ll use it. Whatever. But we used to give 1.50 to 1.85 a gallon for sealer. By the time we put my chemicals and mix in there. I’ve got over five bucks a gallon now. Every time we go fill up, we go fill up three or four times a day. That’s 2,000 a pop every time.
The way that we try to run everything is exemplary of not just the good product and the good process and all that. But we try to be as efficient as we can to keep those prices were because I know I just left an estimate a few minutes ago and I explained to the guy said, “Hey, I said, if you’re just looking for the lowest bid, I’m probably not your guy.”
I said, “Now I’m going to try to give you the best deal that I can for the money.” But I said “If you’re just looking for a number on the bottom of the page to work out, I said, I’m probably not your guy.” And I said, “I can probably give you a number of a couple of guys that they love that bottom of the page number.”
But the thing about it that makes us different is I know what our cost is. If we seal, if we crack seal 100 feet in your parking lot, I know what that cost me for the product. I know what that cost me for labor. I know what that cost me for time.
A lot of people that I found that’s in this business, they have no idea. I call it my number. They don’t have a clue what their number is. And I do. So I can maximize that a lot of times. Does that mean I get every estimate? No. If you get every estimate, you’re probably too cheap. I try to give them the best I can for what they’ve got to spend for that project.
We’ll have people nowadays had a guy that owns a restaurant. He owns several of them, and we were estimating one of his projects the other day, and he’s come back and hit me for 1500 reduction in price. And I told him, I said, “How many times did someone pull up to your menu board and order and then come to the window and say, ‘Hey, instead of 16.95, could I get this for 11 bucks?'”
I said, “Your world is different than mine. Your products have increased. Mine have increased.” So we got the job, by the way. But it requires a little more salesmanship now than it did years ago. You see a lot of guys.
You’ve got to be dedicated to this craft. I’m telling you, because it’s hot. But you’ve got to like what you do. And we do. We really like what we do. And it shows in our quality and the way we do our stuff.
Mack Lunn: When I imagine most things, if you do it right, the first time you’re gonna have less repairs, is that fair to say?
Jackson Sherrell: It’s 100 percent accurate in asphalt. If you will start sealing and cleaning. Cleaning is a big thing, but if you’ll seal asphalt and keep it in good condition repair any major cracks and things like that to prevent further water damage, you’ll double the life of that asphalt. And a lot of people in our industry, though, we have a lot of people, I’ve probably had less than five say “This is going to make my investment last.”
They want it to look good, but they, a lot of times they don’t realize the benefits that they’re getting from it. It’s all aesthetic in their eyes and that’s okay. We can do that. We’re good at that but they’re helping themselves more than they think they are. And I think that’s why sometimes it’s a price challenge to some people because they’re looking at it from the standpoint of, am I really willing to spend this much money to make it look better but they really are getting a benefit from it that they’re not expecting. And that’s in the longevity and the durability of the asphalt itself.
My dad always said that saying, I’m sure you’ve heard it. You should always spend enough to get good quality if it’s between you and the earth. Good shoes, good mattress, good tires. You get out of it just what you put into it. We have people that, I’ve got customers that, they never know what the price is. They don’t want a price. They just tell us to, hey go look at this, go do what it needs to be done. And we’ve had those people for 20 plus years.
We don’t abuse that in any fashion. You get out of it what you put into it. And the thing that people don’t realize is I’ll call somebody, a project manager, whatever, and I’ll say, “Hey, we’re going to be there at eight o’clock Monday morning. We’re going to start your project. Okay. It’s going to last four days. Here’s the way we’re going to do it.”
The part that they never see is all the behind the scenes stuff maintenance of the equipment. Material. Having to go get the material, having to make sure that there’s more material for later, for that Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, or whatever the project calls for.
And, now you have to have so many different, you don’t have to, but we choose to because of the quality. To have different chemicals, so many different chemicals, and you’ve got to have storage for those. You can only add them at the right time. You can add them two or three days ahead of time and expect it to do the same.
So there’s a lot of stuff that goes on behind the scenes that most people never even see or they never even think of.