As the holidays approach, retailers can expect a significant increase in activity for several weeks, starting as early as November. Businesses like yours must do their best to beautify their properties and streamline their operations to stay ahead of the competition and make the most of this sudden surge. As you think of ways to entice customers this holiday season, don’t neglect your parking lot. After all, every customer will need to park on and traverse your lot before entering your store — if they’re presented with a lot that’s filled with cracks, bumps, divots, and potholes, they might take their business elsewhere. So, the time is now to take care of parking lot maintenance. Here’s how to freshen up your retail lot before the holiday rush.
How to Prepare Parking Lots for the Holidays
Full-Depth Reconstruction
If your lot is beyond repair, you might need to invest in a complete parking lot reconstruction. As you might imagine, this process is costly and time-consuming, involving the replacement of drainage lines, fresh parking lot paving, and more. A reconstruction or repaving job might not be feasible this late in the season, especially in New England where temperatures quickly dip throughout fall. If you manage to hire professionals early enough and the weather cooperates, however, you could theoretically get this done in time for the holidays. Fortunately, a full-depth reconstruction is usually only needed if there are serious issues underneath your parking lot.
Asphalt Mill and Overlay
One of the most effective ways to freshen up your asphalt lot and extend its lifespan is investing in a mill and overlay (also called “mill and fill”) project. As its name suggests, milling and overlying have contractors grinding down the upper layer of asphalt and re-filling it with fresh pavement. In some cases, the milling process is skipped and a fresh layer of asphalt is simply placed over the previous surface, which raises its height by an inch or two. As mentioned earlier, any repaving project will run into problems when temperatures drop too low, so the sooner you receive overlaying services, the better (otherwise, you’ll have to wait until spring).
Cutting and Patching
Sometimes only certain portions of your lot require attention. If your parking lot potholes are relatively shallow, small, and isolated, for instance, cutting and patching might be the simplest and most cost-effective solution to get your location in gear for the holiday rush. Like cutting and patching drywall, cutting and patching asphalt requires that contractors cut around a given pothole beyond its borders so the removed material has solid edges. From there, the excavated area should be thoroughly cleaned out and dried (if wet). Then, it’s time to fill the hole with fresh asphalt, starting from the edges and working inward. When fully filled, the new mic must be leveled and spread with an aluminum paving rake and allowed to dry. If properly performed, this process will make your parking lot smooth once more, even if the patchwork remains visible until you have the time and resources to repave the entire lot. This parking lot repair is also best performed before winter sets in, so time is of the essence.
Get Your Retail Lot Ready for a Lot of Activity
The holidays are right around the corner. Is your retail store ready to handle the inevitable influx of vehicle and foot traffic this year? Cassidy Paving offers comprehensive asphalt services for businesses across New England. Let us help you improve your parking lot before and after the holidays. Call us today at 866-978-9788 for a free estimate on your next asphalt project.
