Parking lots are essential for a business because they allow individuals to visit your business safely and conveniently. But how do you maintain your parking lot to last for years, so you don’t have to have it repaved?
Follow the tips below to get the most life out of your parking lot.
Who Needs Parking Lot Maintenance?
If you own and operate almost any business with a bricks-and-mortar location, you probably need to maintain your parking lot. From painting the parking lot lines and spots, like shown here, to patching potholes, parking lots need regular maintenance.
Whatever type of business you run, it’s essential to know the condition of your parking lot. Remember that the parking lot is your customers’ first impression of your company. So, you should have personnel check the parking lot regularly for effects of standing water, harsh weather, sun, and heavy vehicle traffic.
Some businesses that need to think about parking lot upkeep are:
- Grocery stores: These retail businesses usually have big parking lots. Keeping these spaces in good repair is essential to reducing personal liability from slips, falls, and car accidents. If the parking lot isn’t maintained, asphalt damage and faded parking space lines can lead to all kinds of incidents that cost you money.
- Commercial office plazas: Real estate locations with many retail businesses, such as stores, offices, and more need to keep their parking lots in good repair to maintain high property value and reduce accidents.
- Public buildings: All large buildings need to maintain their parking lots, such as government buildings, courthouses, and DMVs.
- Warehouses: These businesses handle shipments from tractor-trailers and other large vehicles. So they need big parking lots that are maintained regularly to bear the heavy weight of commercial vehicles.
Fix Cracks
No matter how good the parking lot pavement is, weather and temperatures eventually cause cracks. This is normal and not a big problem, but small cracks do need to be filled with sealant as soon as possible, so they don’t grow larger. Filling and sealing small garage lot cracks is easier than dealing with big ones and less expensive.
If water seeps into small cracks, they’ll get bigger until the surface is damaged and potholes form. And in cold months, warming and freezing of the pavement will make the cracks larger if they aren’t repaired.
Make sure your parking lot maintenance team uses suitable crack sealants to fix all small cracks as soon as they appear. In addition, it’s wise to perform a parking lot inspection every month or so to check for small cracks.
Clean Regularly
Parking lot cleaning is one of the essential things for it to last longer. A simple thing you can do is sweep the lot every week and eliminate dirt and debris that can cause cracks and crumbling.
Removing debris from your parking lot also will prevent debris, such as rocks and branches, from clogging drains that lead to standing water. Also, hire someone to pressure wash your space every quarter to remove oil, gas, coolant, and other chemicals that can damage the pavement. To make your life easier, you can rent pressure washers at Hotsy Equipment Company.
Clean Up Oil And Gas Drips
Almost every parking lot has gasoline and oil drips. But if they aren’t removed periodically, they can cause damage; the chemicals in these liquids will damage concrete and asphalt over the span of months and years.
Many effective solvents are sold in hardware stores that remove oil, gas, and other vehicle liquids from pavement and asphalt.
Use Sealcoating
If the parking lot surface begins to crack and deteriorate, you should immediately have it sealedcoated by professionals. And it’s best if you have this done every year or so, whether the space shows damage or not.
Sealcoating usually lasts between three and five years before it needs to be reapplied. One of the most significant advantages of seal coating is it makes the space look new again. And it’s protected from oil spills, cracks, and oxidation. So when you use seal coating with professional patch services, the parking lot will look good as new.
Maintain Landscaping
Many business owners have grass and flowers around their parking lot, which adds to its visual appeal. But make sure you have curbing around your flower beds so dirt doesn’t lead to erosion, which can require expensive repairs.
Repaint
It’s essential to keep your parking lot safe for customers and employees to avoid lawsuits. That’s why you should have the lines painted every two or three years. This ensures drivers understand where to go. And it increases the amount of usable space in the parking lot.
Furthermore, painting the stripes slightly differently every few years prevents tires from going over the same spots. This can help to maintain the pavement longer, so you don’t need to repave.
Check Drainage Systems
Proper drainage is essential to maintain your parking lot and avoid costly repairs. Standing water leads to damage that can cost thousands to fix, but you can prevent this by checking the drainage system every month.
Make sure the storm drains are clear of debris. As soon as you see any standing water in the parking lot, investigate it immediately.
Call In Professional Parking Lot Repair Crew
You probably shouldn’t handle the work yourself when you see small cracks in the parking lot pavement getting bigger and potholes form. Instead, it’s time to call the professionals to check your space and get it prepared.
It may be tempting to fix problems yourself, but experienced parking lot maintenance professionals have the skills and tools to do a better job. First, they’ll ensure that it is flat and perfectly patched so there won’t be additional damage.
Following the advice above ensures that your parking lot will last for years without the need for expensive repairs and repaving. Most costly fixes can be avoided by simply cleaning it and removing dirt, debris, tree branches, etc.
You can save money simply by fixing small cracks and keeping an eye on parking lot conditions, so you have more money to spend on expanding your business.
