By admin Asphalt Paving • • • • • 0 Comments

Four Advantages of Parking Lot Curbing

The easier it is for people to park and visit your place of business, the more likely you are to turn a profit and stay open. Yet, many business owners overlook the importance of the layout of their parking areas. A well-designed and properly built parking lot helps to streamline visitation and greatly enhance business potential. Curbing helps to define parking areas and make a business much more attractive and inviting to new and returning customers. In many ways, curbs are highly useful business tools that often get ignored.

Curbs are very useful tools for controlling vehicular and foot traffic. They also help to control water runoff and debris, while enabling faster and more efficient cleaning. When you own a commercial property, do not make the mistake of overlooking the importance of parking lot curbing and how it impacts your business and personal property. Here are four advantages that you get from a high-quality parking lot curb:

1. More Attractive Appearance

Good, clean parking lots always are more appealing than dirty, disorienting layouts. The old saying “curb appeal” describes the ideal parking lot curb that provide clean, straight lines and readily apparent borders between parking and pedestrian areas. The more attractive the external appearance, the more likely people will choose to stop and visit, rather than move on to a more appealing location.

2. Improved Safety

A parking lot can enhance safety when its curbs and lines are laid out clearly. That makes it easier to separate foot traffic and vehicles and improve general safety conditions for customers and business owners alike. It also helps to cut down on fender-benders and other accidents in your parking lot. The easier it is for drivers and pedestrians to navigate the parking area, the safer it becomes. The safer it is, the less stress drivers and pedestrians have while visiting your place.

3. Easier Cleaning and Maintenance

A parking lot curb helps to trap and isolate dirt and debris moved around by wind, rain and people. The curb provides a barrier between foot traffic and the parking area that traps dirt and debris. That makes it much easier to collect and dispose of, while improving drainage during rainstorms. Street sweepers and other cleaners can get at the isolated debris and clean it up faster and more readily than when there is no curb. Snow removal also is much easier when the curb provides a barrier between the plow and sidewalk.

4. Better Parking Areas

Curbs do more than control traffic and improve safety and cleaning. They also strengthen the parking lot by anchoring asphalt paving. Concrete curbs improve compaction when parking lots are built. They also increase the parking area’s stiffness and strength with their weight, and maintain edges against roadway traffic. The curbs also work well for deflecting vehicle loads that otherwise might damage walkways and parking areas. Instead, the curbs deflect those loads, which extends the life of your parking area.

Your parking area is a very important part of your business plan. You need to ensure it has an optimal design that enhances your business aims and makes it easier for people to visit you in person. Curb appeal always helps to make any business better.

By admin Asphalt Paving • • • • • • • 0 Comments

Top Five Reasons To Repair The Potholes In Your Parking Lot

Small business owners have a lot of weight on their shoulders. They always have to watch for the angles to increase revenue. They have to manage staff, customers, vendors, and government regulators.

Cutting costs is always on the menu, but only in a way that does not reduce customer satisfaction. On top of all this, they must keep the concrete parking lots and buildings in good condition. As a manager or business owner, you probably understand this balancing act.

Here are five reasons you might want to prioritize repairing the potholes in your parking lot.

Managing The First Impression

For the customers who don’t find you on the internet, the parking lot is part of their first impression. People driving by watch your building and parking lot for signs of prosperity. Potential customers begin judging the experience the moment they drive onto your property.

Maintaining a smooth parking lot is as necessary to customer experience as keeping the floors clean. You wouldn’t let your customers wade through piles of trash, would you?

Disrepair Only Gets Worse

Not spending $50 today can often cost you $100 tomorrow. It can be true in health care and car maintenance, and it is true with parking lots.

If you don’t fix the potholes now, they will only get bigger with time. Eventually, they will get so bad that you will have to replace the entire parking lot. Fixing the damage at your first opportunity will save you money in the long run.

Avoiding Lawsuits for Damage

Most tires can roll over very small potholes without a problem. But consistent car traffic contributes to the severity of the broken concrete. Rain, snow, salt, and extreme heat can also combine to do additional damage. Before long, the dent is large enough for tires to physically fall inside.

That places your business at risk for angry customers with damaged rims and tires. The last thing you need is more expenses.

Avoiding Lawsuits for Injury

It is true that a pothole can often grow for a while before it is large enough to damage a car. But your customers and employees can trip over holes a lot smaller. Every time someone stumbles they risk serious injury.

Your enterprise is required to provide a certain level of safety for visitors. Bodily harm due to uneven, broken pavement can damage your reputation and cost your business money.

The Weather Is Right

Weather extremes can be a big problem for your concrete. The summer heat causes your concrete to expand and buckle. This buckling effect is one cause of initial lot damage. Cracks often form where the concrete is unable to expand further.

Winter’s cold weather can have the opposite impact, although not to the same extent. Winter also adds salt and water erosion, which can make the holes worse.

Autumn is the perfect time to repair damaged concrete. The weather is more moderate, giving the ground time to settle.

It Makes Good Business Sense

Why take the risk of causing injuries or damaging equipment? Why wait until small holes in the pavement become huge eyesores? You owe it to your investment to keep your property in the best condition. Contact a concrete repair specialist today, while the problem is still manageable.

By admin Asphalt Paving • • • • 0 Comments

Why Does New Construction Need Asphalt Paving?

First off, what is asphalt? Asphalt is an aggregate of gravel, stone, sand, and other materials bound together by asphalt cement. According to the experts of The National Asphalt Pavement Association (NAPA), along with many others, there are a number of qualities of asphalt which make seeing your asphalt contractor the best choice for new construction of all types.

Durability

The smoothness of the surface helps give a roadway a longer life span, because it reduces friction from the tires that roll across it. It also makes asphalt a more efficient material to pave with, because it needs replacement less often. If properly maintained, an asphalt surface can last 25 years or longer.

Ease of Repair

While asphalt lasts a very long time, when it does need replacement or repair, that repair is comparatively easy and quick to do. For example, roadways can be paved a lane at a time by the asphalt contractor, reducing inconvenience to drivers and saving money for taxpayers.

Safety

Asphalt produces a smooth, even surface for activities such as driving. This, along with these other factors, make it the surface of first choice for roadways, parking lots, paved paths, driveways, and many other applications. The smooth surface gives better traction and contact for tires of all sorts, making it safer to drive on.

Recyclable

Asphalt is the perfect “green” paving material choice for use by the asphalt contractor. It is 100% recyclable and reusable. NAPA estimates that 100 million tons of asphalt are recycled or reused each year. And since much of asphalt used is reclaimed, that means the cost is less susceptible to market fluctuations.

Environmentally Friendly

The combination of recyclability and permanence as a resource makes asphalt paving one of the most environmentally friendly products there is. Another statistic from the NAPA: The asphalt emissions since 1970 have decreased by 97%, while asphalt production, during the same period, has increased by 250%. The smoothness of the surface reduces automobile emissions as well. Porous asphalt is often used for stormwater management. Asphalt is also utilized to line and cap landfills.

Economical

Almost all of the factors listed above mean that asphalt paving is a more economical substance to pave roadways, driveways, parking lots, or any other area where a smooth surface is desired. Asphalt lasts longer, so is replaced less often. This makes it less expensive. When it is replaced, the fact that much of it is often made from recyclable materials makes it less susceptible to current market conditions.

The Best Surface

To sum it all up, numerous qualities of asphalt paving make it the best surface for roadways, driveways, parking lots, and almost any other paved area. Certainly, the fact that it is economical should interest anybody who is planning any type of paving job. So should its durability, which figures into it being cost efficient as well. Also, there’s the fact that asphalt simply makes a great surface for vehicles to drive on. Its smoothness produces better gas mileage and your tires make better contact, which means it’s safer. And, not only does asphalt need repair less often than other materials, it is easy, inexpensive, and convenient to repair when the need does arise. Asphalt is also usually 100% recyclable. All these advantages mean your asphalt contractor can do the job better than anyone else, usually at lower cost, and it’s beneficial for the planet as well.

By admin Asphalt Paving • • • • • 0 Comments

The Life Cycle of an Asphalt Parking Lot and How to Care for It During the Different Stages

Starting from the day it officially opens, an asphalt parking lot will progress through various stages, and as the owner or caretaker of one, you must be able to employ the maintenance measures necessary to prolong its life.

How much you need to do will vary depending on which stage of the life cycle of asphalt your parking lot is currently at. To understand more about what kind of asphalt maintenance methods you need to employ, please read on.

First Stage: Years 0 to 5

It will likely be a while before you have to do any kind of major maintenance on your asphalt parking lot beyond regularly cleaning it. Asphalt is a remarkably durable material and for at least the first five years, it should hold up very well.

Still, you can’t just turn a blind eye to the parking lot. What you need to watch for here are unexpected impacts that could significantly damage the surface of the asphalt.

Something heavy falling on the asphalt could cause cracking. It would be better to address that right way if you want to keep the surface in good condition for decades to come.

Second Stage: Years 5 to 7

At around the 5 to 7-year mark, you should see that the asphalt surface itself is still mostly in good shape, but this is also the point when smaller cracks may form.

Small cracks are inevitable, but they should not go unaddressed. Otherwise, they could be the reasons why your parking lot falls into disrepair sooner than expected.

Here is where you can employ maintenance measures such as crack sealing and seal coating.

Per Nashville.gov, crack sealing involves using hot-pour crack sealant on the asphalt. Meanwhile, seal coating refers to the maintenance method that utilizes both an asphalt emulsion coating and a coal tar sealer, according to The Balance.

Both methods are meant to patch up any openings that have emerged on the surface of the asphalt.

Third Stage: Years 7 to 15

Because of the maintenance measures you used in the second stage, the third stage of the asphalt life cycle should prove easy enough to navigate. Here, you may again have to perform crack sealing and seal coating to fix the noticeable blemishes that have shown up.

Given that this stage stretches across a longer period of time, don’t be surprised if you end up having to perform those maintenance measures more than once.

You may even have to perform some patch repairs. This will typically involve cleaning out the cracks and then filling them up with patching compounds.

Fourth Stage: Years 15 to 25

By the time you enter the fourth stage of the asphalt parking lot’s life cycle, you should be glad if all you have to do is just patch a few cracks. Chances are that the asphalt has been used enough that larger fissures have formed on it.

Crack sealing and seal coating may no longer be enough at this stage, and patch repair may be too inefficient to serve as a workable solution.

What you can do is either apply a new coat of asphalt to cover the larger cracks or perhaps resurface the entire parking lot.

You can enlist the help of a milling machine to remove the old asphalt and set a new surface in place with the aid of a paving machine.

Fifth Stage: Years 25 and Beyond

You are now in the final stage of the parking lot’s life cycle and here, the damage that has accumulated on the asphalt may simply be too significant. You can try resurfacing again, but inspect the parking lot closely first. There may be big enough gashes underneath the asphalt that resurfacing will not suffice.

To ensure the safety of everyone using the parking lot, the smart move here would be to look into not just introducing new asphalt but perhaps even rebuilding the structure itself.

Conclusion

The life cycle of asphalt can extend over decades, but it is important to remember that it will only last that long if you care for it properly. Pay close attention to the asphalt as it continue to age and use whichever measures necessary to keep it in the best condition possible.

By admin Asphalt Paving • • • • • 0 Comments

The Importance of Removing Oil From Your Commercial Parking Lot

Maintaining a clean commercial parking lot is key to your success. Cleaning up motor oil is particularly important, as it not only damages your greatest asset but ultimately hurts your bottom line. There are three distinct advantages to quickly cleaning oil spills as part of regular pavement maintenance.

Extending the Life of Your Pavement

Asphalt is made from petroleum mixed with stones, sand, gravel and binders. In order for it to perform properly, the mixture of ingredients has to be just right and remain stable over time. Motor oil from vehicles changes the composition of asphalt if you don’t clean it up. This makes the pavement break down, leading to potholes.

You may not want to make the initial investment in cleaning up oil spills yourself or hiring a professional, but keep in mind that maintaining your parking lot isn’t that different from maintaining the roof on your home or other expensive asset. Keeping your parking lot in good shape means not having to shell out thousands of dollars down the road to make repairs.

Attracting Customers

A clean space is more likely to attract customers to any business. Looking in at smooth, clean pavement makes potential customers feel more comfortable about parking, and they may just turn in without even thinking about other options. A parking lot full of oil stains and potholes may keep that blinker off until they see a more attractive option. They may also feel comfortable throwing down their own trash in a lot that already seems dirty.

If uncleaned oil spills do in fact lead to potholes, customers now have another reason to keep driving. They are not likely to risk damage to their expensive vehicles and face costly repairs if there are better options available.

Helping Develop a Pavement Preservation Plan

Your commercial parking lot represents some, or all, of your income, so it is important to take care of it just as you would a building or other asset. Part of taking care of your investment is having a long-term plan to maintain its health so you can predict, and count on, future revenue. You should know your lot inside and out, including the age of the pavement, what repairs are already completed, what repairs should be in the immediate works, and how long you have before future repairs.

By failing to remove oil stains, you throw a curve ball into your future pavement maintenance plans. You may think you have some time before you have to spend the money for repairs, but that timeline moves up if you have damage due to oil leaks that were left behind. Keeping up with cleaning efforts means creating a much better chance that you can accurately predict your future income. Even an average of one lost parking spot per month due to repairs from oil damage impacts your bottom line.

There are many good reasons to quickly remove oil from your commercial parking lot, and failing to do so not only has individual effects, but cumulatively can cut severely into your bottom line. Spend the time and money on proper maintenance to protect your investment in the long term.