Is the asphalt you uses on roofs the same as what you use to patch tar based driveway's with (and visa-versa)? Or is there a major differences in durability if you interchange.

 

Asphalt for roofs is mostly asphalt. A by product of petroleum refining.

Asphalt for roads is essentially the same material (asphalt) but used as a binder for sand and gravel to make a semi-structural material commonly referred to as "asphalt" but more properly known as "asphalt concrete". The asphalt source may be from coal or, more commonly, petroleum.

Like most polymers and resins, there are several grades of materials with a range of physical properties with slight differences in viscosity and setup temperatures. Some natural "tars" exist and can be called asphalt but rarely used.

 

There is probably a book about this, or more than one book. Much like that old commercial about tires, "They aren't pretty and they don't smell good" but there is a lot more to it than that. Asphalt can be liquid at one temperature and solid, even brittle at anther temperature. What temperature makes it liquid, how much of being liquid is about temperature and how much is about some solvent that is evaporating even as it is being applied? Is there one formulation that goes from liquid to brittle in 100 degrees and another formulation (or grade) that stays pliable from 150 F to 0 F? Is that black stuff they use for glue inside car bodies a form of asphalt? What about Black Jack brand roofing caulk? Thin enough to squirt out of a caulking gun but doesn't drool off the edge of the roof on a hot summer day? I have a lot more questions than answers. Maybe this isn't the right website to be asking about asphalt.

 

Check in the E-Book section about asphalt, roofs and roads.