Ahhhh — SPRING! Often described as a rebirth of the good green earth, with trees budding new leaves, the robins building nests, seasonal daffodils, hyacinths, crocuses, and tulips blooming. The warmth of the sun and clear blue skies a welcome relief after the many months huddled up inside one’s house, keeping warm from the dark, dreary cold weather. Many people find the best part of winter is the anticipation of — spring! For the business owner, spring often reveals itself with a ‘dark side’ — the pavement blacktop
Common to spring rebirth and growth, is the spring maintenance of mowing the green, trimming the trees, and feeding the flowering hyacinths, crocuses, and daffodils. Not as commonly known is spring maintenance of the parking lot pavement, ravaged by winter's constant freezing and thawing, as well as re-painting pedestrian crosswalks, parking spaces, and directional arrows, showing wear from endless rock salt and snowplow scraping.
No need to sweat the spring maintenance - follow these three simple tips:
Hire a professional paving contractor.
Before calling your local paving contractor, do put a spring in your step and walk around the parking lot, taking notes of where you see any cracking, loose surface pavement known as raveling, and the dreaded potholes of any dimension and depth. Then, with notes in hand from your walk, including that of prior maintenance work done, it is time to phone the paving professionals at Haskell Paving, with 50 years of experience providing asphalt construction services.
A professional paving contractor has the professional sweep truck to clear fallen twigs, leaves, and debris, particularly around storm drains, where clogs can stop the smooth runoff of water. Standing water eventually seeps under the surface of the asphalt to cause further cracking, crumbling, and dreaded potholes of the pavement surface. Water seepage can also bring damage to the sub-base of the pavement structure that could require a major reconstruction project. A professional cleanup will also fix minor cracks with a rubberized sealer to prevent the development of, forgive our repetition, the development of the ‘dreaded’ potholes causing drivers loss of control of their vehicle, and possible liability issues to the business.
Sealcoat.
The second important spring maintenance tip for the parking lot is to check the parking lot maintenance records to see when your lot last received sealcoating. Sealcoating should be re-applied every one or two years, depending on weather conditions. Sealcoating will restore a parking lot to a deep, dark luster that brings both curb appeal and increased property value. Sealcoating is also the best way to hasten the melting of snow and ice next winter, protects the surface from water penetration in those well-known April rain showers, and protects the asphalt surface from the UV rays of the warm spring and hot summer sun.
Re-paint line striping.
Finally, do not negate applying a fresh coat of paint to those worn, chipped parking space lines, handicapped markings, pedestrian crossings, and fire lanes, as well as the speed bumps. New line striping is more than just cosmetic curb appeal. Such maintenance will ensure the safety of valued employees, customers, or clients, and further enhance the established professional image of the business.
Never hesitate to bring your parking lot back to life after a long winter season. Haskell Paving can offer you a ride range of services to keep your lot in good health. Contact us today!