How a Paving Company Can Prevent Liability and Extend the Life of Your Parking Lot

Damaged parking lots can negatively affect customers’ perceptions of your business and present safety hazards that could potentially cause costly vehicle damage. Select the best Glendale Asphalt Paving.

When hiring a commercial paving company, make sure it understands your climate and has experience working on similar projects. This will ensure that all details are taken care of correctly. This way, all details will be appropriately addressed without missing a beat!

Cracks

Cracked parking lots may seem harmless enough, but when left unattended, they can turn into potholes or crevices that damage vehicles. Such damages increase your liability risk and could potentially result in lawsuits against your lot owner. To reduce this risk and ensure the longevity of your lot’s lifecycle, crack sealing services should be scheduled regularly. Crack filling can cost 20-30x less than replacing neglected asphalt, and its application extends the longevity of the lot by years.

Small cracks in the pavement are an inevitable result of weather cycles and traffic, but if left unattended, they can quickly expand into more enormous potholes that detract from your parking lot’s curb appeal and create hazards for drivers. A professional paving company can use cold patch material to seal these minor asphalt damages up to 10 years later without further degradation to the pavement surface.

Alligator cracking is another telltale sign that your asphalt pavement has become overtaxed and needs immediate repairs. This damage occurs from repeated stress that exceeds what the underlying layers can tolerate, eventually leading to the failure of the top layer and alligator cracking. As soon as alligator cracking appears, it’s best to contact an experienced parking lot maintenance provider immediately for advice and repairs.

Block cracking occurs due to changes in volume within an asphalt layer and extreme temperature variations. It leads to large interconnected square areas of pavement with distinct corners and angles that form cracks.

Potholes

Potholes are more than an eyesore; they’re a severe safety risk that could damage vehicles, tires, tarps, and pedestrians who could trip and fall. Furthermore, potholes convey that your business cares little for its clients’ well-being.

Commercial asphalt parking lots can experience heavy foot and vehicle traffic, leading to wear-and-tear deterioration over time. When potholes appear, they must be filled immediately so as not to spread and become more challenging to repair later.

Potholes are caused by water seeping into cracks in asphalt pavement. When temperatures drop, the water freezes, expanding its width and creating holes in the pavement surface.

To protect against this possibility, it’s essential that a professional paving company seal coats and patches your parking lot regularly. Otherwise, its surface could deteriorate faster, leading to potholes or other forms of damage in short order.

Consider porous asphalt when planning your next commercial paving project to help eliminate potholes. This type of paving allows rainwater to pass through rather than running off into the sides of your lot, filtering it and returning clean, uncontaminated rainwater into nature as intended.

Scammers

Scammers exist in every industry, including the paving business. Each spring, bands of scammers travel around Florida in trucks with out-of-state license plates and fake company logos to prey upon unsuspecting homeowners by promising low quotes and poor work. They then pocket their money and disappear.

Asphalt scammers usually engage in door-to-door sales or place flyers in mailboxes to solicit their services, offering discounts in return for immediate payment or claiming they have leftover materials from nearby projects. If a contractor makes these claims, be sure to ask for references and a written contract from them prior to hiring them as a legitimate one, which would happily provide both pieces of documentation.

An early indicator that something might be amiss with a contractor is when they attempt to rush you into making a quick decision or offer deals that seem too good to be true. Reputable contractors take time to assess your needs, answer all your queries, and won’t try to pressure you into signing an agreement immediately.

Expert asphalt paving contractors should conduct an in-depth surface evaluation prior to beginning any work, which includes clearing away vegetation and dirt to a depth where stone bases can be installed. A good foundation prevents shifts in the pavement over time and prolongs the parking lot’s lifespan. If a contractor doesn’t take sufficient care in prepping their subsurface and using stone compactors on each layer of their work, you should look elsewhere for service providers.

Maintenance

Asphalt surfaces may last 30 years or longer with proper and ongoing maintenance, depending on external factors like environmental loadings (e.g., heavy truck weight) and climate conditions. Parking lot lifespan also depends heavily on these external variables.

A professional paving contractor should always begin their work by thoroughly excavating existing pavement and clearing away debris from the site, before using specialized equipment to lay a smooth, level surface with clean edges and create a drainage system to avoid build-up of water on lots or cause any potential safety risks.

Regular sweeping, cleaning, and debris removal will remove dirt that accumulates in cracks or degrades asphalt pavement while helping maintain the aesthetic appeal of your lot. These activities will also preserve its value.

If your asphalt has taken on a light grey hue or has appeared faded, it could be suffering from oxidation. This occurs when bitumen evaporates in sunlight-exposed patches, leaving aggregate dry and fragile. A seal coat application can restore the black color as well as provide a protective barrier.

Warehouses and shipping facilities often house heavy vehicles that cause pavement rutting and pavement deterioration along wheel paths, necessitating sooner-than-expected repaving efforts. Engaging in routine maintenance tasks and designing these spaces correctly from the outset may significantly reduce future damages and repair costs.