As the temperatures begin to fall across Massachusetts, it serves as a reminder that winter is coming. There are some considerations for winterizing your asphalt to provide its best throughout anything that Mother Nature may throw at us. Cassidy Paving works closely with clients to prepare them for this time of year. We will work with you to prepare for cold weather by addressing anything that is a potential issue or hazard to your asphalt. Here are our top three tips for braving the winter weather with your parking lot.
Sealcoat
The biggest help for the winter on your asphalt pavement is sealcoating. This protective step will help preserve the condition of your asphalt throughout the year. Sealcoating is one of the single most important asphalt maintenance steps that you can take. Once you have new asphalt installed, you should have it sealcoated at about 6-12 months out and then once every 1-3 years. This helps protect your asphalt from cracks, potholes, and other unavoidable damage. The wintertime only exacerbates these problems, so fixing them as needed is the best practice.
Address Standing Water Issues
During the wintertime, standing and pooling water issues on your asphalt could mean disaster. As the temperatures drop to freezing and below, the water that has been seeping through the layers of your driveway or parking lot will freeze. When this water freezes it expands. During the freeze/thaw cycle, your asphalt will expand and contract only making cracks and potholes bigger over time. When enough disturbance beneath the top layers has occurred, you may even start to see total subsurface failure because that water will wash away your foundation. A once easy fix will turn into total replacement once the winter weather has subsided. Let’s attack these issues before they become bigger problems. Cassidy Paving can help set you up to withstand whatever the winter brings through thorough repair.
Restripe Your Lot
This tip is not one that you may hear often, but restriping can make your life easier during winter storms. Old and faded lines will be even harder to see in the snow, but your responsibility to provide safe parking will not. Following ADA guidelines is also important, so if your parking lot is not following those rules appropriately, we can help you get there by simply restriping the lot you have. At a minimum, the federal guidelines state that “ these parking spaces [must be] identified with a sign and located on level ground”. This visibility could be impeded by certain weather conditions if not applied correctly. For example, there must be a certain number of marked handicapped parking spaces and the appropriate dimensional layouts. They must also follow certain codes and spacing rules.
Get Ready for Winter
Cassidy Paving wants to help you be prepared for any weather event throughout the year. Do not wait until a winter storm to decide to correct any issues with your asphalt. The best time of the year to pave is during the warmer months, although repairs can be done as needed. Give us a call today at 866-978-9788 for a free estimate and evaluation on how to get winterized before our first snowfall.
