Hot Pour vs Cold Pour Crack Filler for Canadian Parking Lots

Hot pour and cold pour crack fillers both keep water out of asphalt cracks. They are not interchangeable on a commercial parking lot in Canada. Hot pour is the premium path: it is built to last longer than cold pour on commercial lots. Cold pour is simpler and cheaper to start. The right choice still depends on crack size and traffic, how much footage you seal each week, whether you own a melter, and how hard you expect freeze-thaw to work the seal.

This guide is for contractors, property managers, and public works buyers. It maps to products Roadly stocks today: Maxwell Nuvo PL1 (primary hot pour) and CA-90 (cold pour), plus optional RynoWorx melters from our equipment category.

What each method is

Cold pour asphalt crack filler comes ready to use. You clean the crack, pour from the pail, and tool as needed. Roadly’s CA-90 ships in 20L buckets (1000L totes on request). No kettle required for that product alone.

Hot pour rubberized sealant ships as solid bricks or blocks. You melt them in a melter kettle or melter applicator, then apply while hot. Roadly’s primary hot pour is Maxwell Nuvo PL1, a cold-climate polymer-modified formula sold in 33 lb boxes and 80-box pallets. It works in direct-fired and oil-circulating kettles.

When cold pour is the better fit

Choose cold pour when:

• Crack volume is light or you are touching up between main seal programs
• You do not have a melter on site and do not want to add one for a small book of work
• Crews need a simple pour-from-the-pail workflow
• You are stocking material for property teams who maintain multiple small lots

CA-90 is rubberized, meets Alberta Transportation requirements per the product page, and is aimed at driveways, parking lots, and roads. Typical use on Roadly jobs is about 0.3 to 0.5 litres per linear metre (roughly 40 to 60 linear metres per 20L pail), depending on crack size.

When hot pour is the better fit

Choose hot pour when:

• You want the premium option that lasts longer than cold pour on commercial parking lots
• You seal commercial parking lots, municipal streets, or similar high-wear asphalt as a core service
• You want a flexible polymer-modified seal that moves with Canadian temperature swings
• You already own, or are ready to buy, a melter applicator or kettle
• Crack programs are large enough that melt-and-apply productivity pays for the equipment

For those jobs, Roadly’s stocked primary product is Nuvo PL1, not older brand pages that may still appear in search. Frame the bid as premium crack sealing when the owner cares about fewer callbacks, not as a miracle lifespan claim.

Weather and season in Canada

Crack filling is a warm-season operation for most crews. Pavement needs to be clean and dry. Follow the product data sheet and equipment manual for application temperature windows.

Hot pour adds equipment discipline: melt within the manufacturer’s recommended range, keep agitation consistent, and avoid overheating. Nuvo PL1’s listed softening point (96°C / 205°F min) is one reason it is positioned for summer heat without easy tracking. Cold pour removes the melt step but still fails if you pour into wet or dirty cracks.

Plan crack fill before sealcoat when both are in the scope. Sealcoat is not a crack repair.

Equipment you need

Cold pour (CA-90): pails or totes, crack cleaning tools. No melter required for the material itself.

Hot pour (Nuvo PL1): melter kettle or melter applicator. Nuvo PL1 works with direct-fired and oil-circulating systems. Roadly supplies RynoWorx melter applicators and kettles in a separate equipment category if you need the machine and the material together.

Cost and labour tradeoffs

Cold pour has a lower equipment barrier. Hot pour has a higher equipment barrier, higher productivity on long commercial runs once the machine is hot, and is the longer-lasting premium seal versus cold pour. Count total job cost: material + fuel + crew time + callbacks after a hard winter.

Nuvo PL1 pallet math (80 x 33 lb) is aimed at crews who seal more than a few days per season. Use Roadly’s crack filler calculator before you order.

Which Roadly products fit which job

Job profile	Material	Equipment path
Small commercial / driveway-scale, no melter	CA-90 20L (totes if volume grows)	Hand tools / pour
Recurring parking lot crack programs	Nuvo PL1 33 lb or pallet	Melter applicator or kettle (RynoWorx if buying)
Full season stock	Nuvo PL1 pallet (2640 lb)	Existing or new melter fleet
Prep	–	Crack cleaner as needed

Confirm live stock on the product page before you bid.

Bottom line

For Canadian parking lots, hot pour polymer-modified sealant is the premium, longer-lasting choice when crack sealing is a real service line. At Roadly, that product is Maxwell Nuvo PL1. Cold pour CA-90 is the practical choice for smaller programs and crews without melt equipment. Shop path: start at the asphalt crack filler category, then choose Nuvo PL1 hot pour or CA-90 cold pour. Add a melter from the equipment category only if the job book needs it.

Crack Filler FAQ