Your business’s parking lot is bound to take a beating. Asphalt regularly undergoes stress from heavy machinery, sunlight, moisture, temperature changes, and more. If you don’t shield your parking lot from these forces, it’s only a matter of time before your asphalt becomes riddled with cracks, holes, slopes, dips, and other problems. A deteriorated parking lot isn’t just less safe for pedestrians and vehicle operators – it’s also a scar on your business’s curb appeal and reputation.
Here are five quick tips to make your commercial parking lot look new and keep it that way.
5 Tips to Make Your Commercial Parking Lot Look New
1. Keep It Clean
Parking lots are common platforms for dirt and debris. Even if you do your best to properly manage trash and recycling, litter from nearby areas can easily make its way onto your property and scrape your asphalt. If left to linger long enough, certain materials can even corrode your parking lot. Therefore, regular cleaning is a key aspect of commercial parking lot maintenance. Keeping detritus and grime off your lot doesn’t just enhance your business’s overall appearance – it also protects your asphalt from degradation. In addition to regular sweeping and trash pickup, consider power washing your parking lot at least twice yearly.
2. Take Care of Cracks Quickly
Every large crack or deep hole that appears in your lot starts with a tiny fracture. And the smaller the breach, the easier and cheaper it is to repair. As such, the sooner you fix minor asphalt issues, the less you’ll have to worry about major repairs and renovations in the future. Maintaining a good relationship with a reliable parking lot paving service will make it that much easier to stay on top of these minor problems when they crop up. In most cases, a simple fill or patch job will be enough to extend your parking lot’s lifespan.
3. Invest in Sealcoating After Paving
If you want your commercial lot to maintain its fresh appearance for as long as possible, don’t skip the sealcoating process. Asphalt sealcoating provides an additional protective layer to your parking lot or driveway, shielding it from harsh sunlight, moisture intrusion, impact, and more. A commercial paving company will tell you that it’s best to wait at least 30 days (and ideally no longer than six months) following new pavement installations to apply a sealcoat layer. The proper application of asphalt sealcoat will preserve your parking lot in its current state and reduce the amount of repair work you’ll encounter in the future.
4. Refresh Those Lines
Though parking lot paving and striping are often linked processes, sometimes a fresh coat of yellow or white paint for your parking spots is all that’s required to bring your lot back to life. Of course, if your lot requires significant patching, milling, overlaying, or reconstruction, you’ll need to invest in fresh line striping anyway. Keeping your lot’s lines clean and bright makes your lot safer and more organized for everyone.
5. Consider Parking Lot Milling, Overlay, and Reconstruction
The four methods mentioned above are considered minor repairs or standard maintenance endeavors. If your parking lot is in bad enough shape, however, it might require a more substantial overhaul to make it good as new. Overlaying or resurfacing refers to the fresh application of asphalt over existing pavement. Milling is the process by which the top layer of asphalt is ground up (to be recycled for later projects), leaving behind a smooth plane for fresh asphalt. A full-depth reconstruction goes even further, digging up the parking lot in its entirety before inspecting and repairing drainage systems and finally repaving the entire area. Your commercial paving needs will depend on your parking lot’s current condition. Whatever the case, each of these larger repairs will ultimately make your commercial parking lot look and feel brand new again.
Resurrecting Your Parking Lot
It’s the season of renewal – could your commercial parking lot use a new lease on life? If so, the experts at Cassidy Paving have you covered. We provide asphalt maintenance, repair, paving, and reconstruction services for businesses of all sizes throughout New England. Call us today at 866-978-9788 for a free estimate on your next asphalt project.
