Maintaining your property’s parking lot is imperative for upholding your reputation and providing a safe, efficient area for vehicles and pedestrians. Of course, corporate parking lots get plenty of use from employees, vendors, guests, and customers. After a while, you’ll have to invest in some pavement repair work, ideally without interfering with your normal operations. Not all asphalt repairs are created equal, however. Some instances call for driveway pothole repair, whereas others are best met with asphalt milling (there’s also crack filling, resurfacing/overlay, reclamation, reconstruction, and so on). These projects differ in cost, time consumption, and more – therefore, it’s important to get it right.
With that in mind, which type of repair is better for your corporate building’s parking lot – pothole repair or milling? Let’s discuss.
Pothole Repair vs. Asphalt Milling
Ultimately, both pothole repair and milling jobs aim to restore an asphalt surface’s smooth appearance and feel. Each method approaches this goal differently. As their name suggests, pothole repairs (also called cut and patch repairs) are concerned with filling individual holes along a parking lot. During this project, a pothole repair company will cut around and remove the existing damage before filling the space with fresh paving.
Milling, on the other hand, carefully removes the top layer of deteriorated asphalt, leaving behind a grooved surface that acts as a new foundation for fresh asphalt paving. This process improves the profile of the existing pavement. Meanwhile, the asphalt that’s removed by the milling machine is recycled into an aggregate material (milling) to later be used on paving projects as an alternate base material.
Put simply, cutting and patching is a more isolated project, whereas milling is more holistic. Understanding this key distinction will help you decide which type of repair is right for your corporate parking lot.
When to Consider Cut and Patch Repairs
Because pothole repairs deal with one piece of damage at a time, these jobs are ideal for isolated pavement deterioration. This kind of parking lot repair offers a good strategy if you’ve noticed localized cracking, potholes, and/or small deteriorated, crumbling, or damaged areas. Note that cutting and patching doesn’t pose a major risk of interference, either, as these jobs only deal with small, specific sections of pavement at any given time.
When Milling Is the Best Method
As a general rule, parking lot milling is better suited for restoring asphalt surfaces that feature more widespread deterioration. Indeed, fixing up multiple cracks and holes one at a time is far less efficient than going over large areas in one fell swoop via milling equipment. Moreover, milling can be used for a variety of pavement repair projects, including removing sags, depressions, and surface damage, patching up parking lots, preparing asphalt for paving, creating rumble strips for traffic safety, and more.
The Verdict
When your corporate building’s parking lot needs assistance, there are many ways to bring it back to life. Pothole repairs offer a simple and cost-effective way to take care of isolated damages; milling is an efficient method for restoring larger sections of asphalt in one go. At Cassidy Paving, we offer both of these pavement repairs for our New England client base, as well as overlaying, reclamation, full-depth reconstruction, and more. Whatever your specific parking lot needs, we have you covered. Call us today at 866-978-9788 for a free estimate on your next asphalt project!
