Considering a concrete parking lot is the right decision for your business because it can withstand extreme environmental exposure and significant vehicular loads. Today over 80% of driveways are paved with asphalt. However, its rising prices and ability to deteriorate fast have made concrete the best alternative. 

A concrete parking lot is the first step toward creating a positive impression on potential customers. Parking lots undoubtedly receive a great deal of vehicle and foot traffic, which could cause your parking lot to wear out easily. You need a parking space with low starting costs and minimal maintenance. Concrete parking lots offer low maintenance costs, multiple colors, and texture design options. It’s the best choice if you’re considering cost and aesthetic appeal.

However, there are many reasons concrete can demonstrate its superiority to asphalt and other paving options. It can provide significant cost savings, reduce the amount of energy required to cool buildings, and improve safety. In this article, we explain all you need to know about concrete parking lot as a business owner.

The Benefits of a Concrete Parking Lot for your Business

An excellent parking lot can help your business run efficiently. Your parking lot is the first impression your building gives to your employees or clients. It tells to an extent what they should expect within the building. Concrete helps many business owners design a durable parking lot that can withstand pressure, and the aesthetic is appealing enough to draw more clients. The following are the benefits of concrete parking space for your business:

Low Maintenance 

Concrete requires low maintenance without much work; to maintain its beauty, you must remove debris and debt from the surface. It is the best option for your business if you are always busy and have little time to take care of your parking lots.

It Is Eco Friendly 

Concrete is recyclable and causes zero harm to the environment. It requires less machinery to keep your parking lot healthy and safe, and most concrete mixes are made from natural and chemical-free materials. 

Durability 

Concrete parking lots are more robust and durable; you do not need so much money to fix or maintain your parking lots. Under the weight of traffic and heavy vehicles, your concrete parking space will still maintain its integrity.

Concrete Reflects Light At Night

To improve the safety and security of your employees, lighting up your parking lot is significant. Concrete reflects light at night and helps you save money on energy over a long time.

Aesthetically Pleasing

Concrete comes in several color schemes, including white, gray, brick red, and brick brown, which can appeal to your taste. It can be constructed with textured and colored patterns to suit your business brand. 

How Thick Should Concrete Parking Lots Be?

The American Concrete Institute’s ACI 330: contains the guide for constructing concrete parking lot. The guide contains the exact inches you need which will vary based on certain factors.

• The size of the aggregate mixture, 
• The type of the component (beams, slabs, reinforcement), 
• The fire resistance standard, soil condition, 
• The driveway function,
• Your budget.

Also, the strength of your concrete will affect its thickness. Stronger concrete can be a few inches thinner because it can withstand more pressure than weaker concrete.

Therefore, your parking lot concrete must be at least 6 to 12 inches thick based on the anticipated load and subbase strength. Concrete constructors usually use 6 inches for parking lots that would face a lot of traffic pressure. For seasonal parking lots, 4 inches thick is perfect for your concrete pavement.

Concrete parking lot cost

The price for a concrete driveway or parking lot breaks down to about 4 to 6 dollars per square foot. This price includes the cost of labor and the materials needed to install the concrete. Factors like; location, distance, traffic, size of the parking lot, the scope of work, and lightning requirements may affect the price of your concrete parking space.

Concrete parking lot maintenance

Concrete parking lots are known to last the test of time; however, as you continue to drive or walk on them, they will start to deteriorate and reveal their age. A proper maintenance routine will help improve its lifespan. 

Below are a few steps that will maintain your parking lot and preserve its life.

Cleaning 

Concrete parking lots will require some regular maintenance. A large push brush assists in removing debris from the surface and keeping it clean for a long time. Power washing is another alternative for cleaning your parking lot. Before washing your concrete driveway, ensure your drainage system is effective and in good condition. 

Fill Up Crack 

Aside from being aesthetically unappealing, cracks and potholes disturb your parking experience. Once your concrete driveway is cracked, ensure you fill it up to avoid crack expansion. Concrete repairs and filling up the surface are always advisable if you want to improve the performance and lifespan of your parking lot.  

Remove Stains From your Concrete Parking Lot

Oil stains are a common problem with parking lots that are always busy or used. Removing these stains will prevent them from sticking to the floor and messing with the aesthetic of your parking lot. Stain removal will help clear every stain without destroying or scaring some parts of your concrete. Removing stains from your pavement is an integral part of maintenance and should be carefully done. 

More Like This:

• Resurfacing Concrete Parking Lot
• Concrete Parking Stops Installation
• Alternatives to Concrete Driveway

Concrete parking lot repair

Next to maintaining your parking lot, concrete parking lot repair helps to preserve the lifespan of your concrete pavement. This is because your business parking lot can suffer cracks when heavy trucks or vehicles are always parked on it or suffer from potholes, flakes, salt damage, or other extreme weather conditions. Follow these easy steps for your concrete parking lot repair:

Identify The Source Of Damage

Before you can repair the damage on your parking lot, you must identify the course of the damage and decide the method of repair that will best suit your pavement. For example:

• if your business parking lot is cracked, a bonding adhesive will help you fix every track and keep them a staple for a long time. 
• if your driveway has many shifted sections, you can invite a contractor to grind down the high side. 

Knowing the exact cause of the damage will save you time and money. 

Surface Preparation

Preparing the concrete surface is the first step to fixing any substantial damage. Remove any shaky concrete, debris, or shattered parts from the surface. You must ensure that all parts of your parking lots are free from dirt, clean, and ready for repair. 

Fix Cracks, Potholes, or Flakes. 

If your concrete driveway or parking lot is cracked, broken, or has many potholes or flakes, consider fixing them using the correct repair method. You can also decide to do your repairs yourself or contact a concrete constructor to help you handle the job.

Some good repair techniques include: 

• Leveling
• Concrete crack repair and patching
• Joint sealing 
• Cutting and sectional repair 
• Overlay and slap restoration
• Epoxy injections and
• Complete replacement

Replace Your Parking Lot

After evaluating the cause of your damage, you will have to decide between fixing or replacing your parking lot pavement. Sometimes, fixing alone won’t do the work of keeping it together and preserving its lifespan. Replacing your pavement, especially when it has served you for a long time, is the best thing to do. Replacing your concrete pavement will keep you in business and reduce your stress, worry, and complaints. 

Related Articles:

• Having A Crushed Concrete Driveway
• Asphalt Over Concrete
• Ice Melt Safe For Concrete

Concrete vs. asphalt

For years concrete and asphalt parking lots have been compared with each other; because they are the two essential pavement materials. Homeowners and businesses always struggle to decide between concrete and asphalt parking lots; pavement materials have a gravel base and many similarities. However, they still have a distinctive difference that gives concrete paving a substantial advantage over asphalt parking lots. 

Lifespan and Durability 

When compared to concrete, asphalt parking lots are less durable. With regular maintenance, asphalt lifespan can be preserved and protected from damage. However, a concrete driveway can last up to 50 years or more.

Maintenance and Repair 

Concrete is less challenging to maintain and preserve. With early maintenance plans, your concrete business parking lot will remain decent for a long time. Remember that asphalt repair is more expensive and hard to carry out than concrete.

Concrete Vs. Asphalt Parking Lot Aesthetic 

It’s easier to be creative with the concrete pavement; you can stain, tint or design concrete to give you the desired effect. Concrete finishing provides different colors or hues to its natural color. While asphalt is easy to install, it must be filled and compressed, and the result is usually black. 

Cost and Price Difference 

The cost of installing asphalt pavement is always cheaper than concrete. It usually costs 2 to 4 dollars to install asphalt pavement and 4$ to 6$ per square foot for concrete.

Conclusion

If you are looking for a good driveway or parking lot that can withstand pressure, you should look towards concrete parking lots. When used for homes or business parking lots, they are more durable, flexible, and require less maintenance. 

Your home or business parking lot is a huge investment, and it’s one that takes a deal of time and resources to get it exactly the way you desired it. That’s why your safest choice for preserving that investment is a decent seal coat.

If it’s been a couple of years since you paved your parking lot and it’s beginning to look rough and worn out, it might be time to seal it. Parking lot seal coating is distinct from resurfacing. Resurfacing is mostly used to cover gaps or holes in your pavement, while seal coating is used to put back the rich look of your pavement and provide a layer of protection to prolong its service life.

But what is the best parking lot sealer?

Based on experts’ recommendations, there are four categories of sealers that work best for parking lots depending on the parking lot’s design, current state, and traffic level. They include Bio-based Parking lot Sealcoating, Refined Tar-based seal coating, Acrylic Concrete Sealers, Silane/siloxane, Asphalt-based pavement sealer Specialty resins. 

They are currently the best parking lot surface sealers due to their superior protection, adhesion, durability, and flexibility they offer your pavement, extending its service life.

There are varieties of brands of parking lot sealers out there to consider. Each one does a pretty decent job of protecting your parking lot from deteriorating with time, but there are some substantial variations between them.

A seal coat product you should consider is one that can shield your parking lot from damage triggered by UV rays, fluid from vehicles, and oxidation while also preventing water penetration into the substrate. Aesthetics and environmental considerations should also be weighed by property owners when deciding on a seal coat.

Best sealer for asphalt parking lots

Below is the list of the top 4 categories of sealers recommended for asphalt parking lots based on experts analysis, including:

• Bio-based Parking Lot Sealcoats
• Asphalt-based pavement sealer
• Specialty resins
• Refined Tar-based seal coating

The best asphalt parking lot sealer is probably one that utilizes filled-sealer formulations. There are more solid ingredients in these types of sealers that cover tiny cracks and holes leftover during the paving process, shielding them well from the elements than less solid sealers.

Biobased Parking Lot Sealcoats

When you talk of the best parking lot sealer, Biobased Sealcoat is among the top products, using soybean oil as one of its primary raw materials. It is uniquely formulated to shield parking lots from UV, chemical exposure, oxidation, and other common asphalt enemies. The product has also been developed with sustainability in mind, making it possible for striping and reopening of parking lots on the very same day. Biobased sealers cure 4 to 5 times faster than traditional products.

You can restripe the parking lot covered with Biobased sealer within 2 hours of seal coating. This is facilitated by the formula’s chemical properties, which enables the application of the product at 1⁄4 the thickness of traditional parking lot seal coating while offering superior protection. This enables the product’s application even later into the season compared to coal tar sealers.

BioSealcoat sealer cures to a jet-black, matte finish explicitly formulated not to fade with time, guaranteeing a durable, uniform look. While biobased seal coats cost considerably more (on a cost per gallon basis), their improved efficiency enables total project costs to be equivalent to other sealers.

BioSealcoat was also developed with sustainability in mind; it is among a couple of seal coating products on the market with no identifiable PAHs (based on EPA testing) and releases no unpleasant odor. As the only USDA Approved seal coat on the market, integrating a biobased seal coat into a pavement maintenance practice can show a dedication to the environment.m

Asphalt Based Pavement Sealer

Asphalt-based pavement sealer is an environmentally sustainable, mineral enhanced asphalt emulsion pavement sealer formulated with unique surfactants for optimal adhesion, longevity, and flexibility. It is also another best parking lot sealer that regenerates the binder that is depleted by weathering and aging, offering more excellent protection against environmental disruption. 

This type of sealer is suitable for protecting all forms of asphalt pavement surfaces such as parking lots, low traffic roadways, driveways, and much more.

Specialty resins

This type of coating possesses highly performing properties similar to the ones in Refined based seal coating (RTS). It is exceptionally resistant to degradation as a result of ultraviolet rays, weathering, salts, and petrochemicals. The exciting thing about this coating is that the specialty resin formulation is tailored to each customer’s needs.

Refined Tar-based seal coating

This coating consists of TR-12 (a highly refined coal tar) commonly created when coal is being transformed to coke for metallurgy. Refined tar-based sealer consists of various steady chemicals that remain unaffected by damaging elements of sunlight, petrochemicals, and salts. RTS is extremely dependable since it is regarded as the workhorse of the industry. 

Its compositions and properties are thoroughly delineated to support your lifelong coating necessities.

Best sealer for concrete parking lots

The following are the highly recommended sealing options for your concrete parking lot:

• Silane/siloxane sealer(Siloxa-Tek 8510)
• Acrylic Concrete Sealers
• Mold-inhibiting concrete pavement sealer(Aqua-X)
• Quikrete Concrete and Masonry High Gloss Sealer
• Foundation Armor SX5000 Clear Concrete Sealer(Solvent-based)

Silane/siloxane sealer (Siloxa-Tek 8510)

The Siloxane-Tek 8510 can permeate through the surface openings of the concrete to saturate the concrete itself. The sealer will cover up the air pockets inside the material, resulting in deep and permanent protection from the climate, oil, road salt, heavy usage, and other vehicle stains. 

If you are considering getting the best parking lot sealer for your concrete lots, Siloxa-Tek 8510 is a good option.

With the Siloxa-Tek 8510, any water from snowmelt or rain, and any other liquid stains, will bead on the concrete surface. Its performance is plain to the naked eyes, and you can see it with your eyes working, helping to give you peace of mind regarding your concrete parking lot.

Acrylic Concrete Sealers

Acrylic sealer is the most commonly preferred sealer for a concrete parking lot. In addition to being cost-effective, their application is precise and swift. They can be applied almost immediately after the concrete is installed and are considered to have outstanding recoating capabilities. Besides, some acrylics are resistant to ultraviolet rays.

Furthermore, acrylic is an excellent type of sealer if you are looking for a concrete sealer that works well against deicing salt, moisture, and chemical or oil penetration.

Mold-inhibiting concrete pavement sealer(Aqua-X)

AQUA-X is reinforced with mildew and mold inhibitors and is a great option if you reside in a rainy or moist area. Two coats stave off mildew and mold, offer a clean, flawless appearance, and shield concrete from freezing and thawing cycles and water for up to 5 years. 

Solvent-free AQUA-X is an environmentally-friendly, low VOC sealer (so no concern about chemical fumes), and one gallon, poured or rolled on, fills up to 500 sq ft.

Quikrete Concrete and Masonry High Gloss Sealer

This concrete pavement sealer is fantastic for stamped concrete parking lots when a wet look is sought. It retains a glossy sheen as well as protection from chemical deicing products, oil and grease spills, and food stains. 

Foundation Armor SX5000 Clear Concrete Sealer(Solvent-based)

This type of sealer provides parking lot protection you can rely on even in cold environments. This penetrating sealer’s singular coat can create a protective bond with the parking lot surface, shielding it for seven to ten years from damage triggered by salts, deicing chemicals, stains, and freezing & thawing cycles. 

The SX5000 won’t alter the appearance of your parking lot or create a film, and one gallon fills up to 200 sq ft.

Why it’s important to seal your parking lot

It is vital to have your lot sealed with any best parking lot sealer over time (especially for asphalt surface) since an asphalt pavement surface oxidizes over time and becomes gray or faded in color. Seal coating offers a vivid black finish that preserves and enhances your parking lot’s life expectancy. In addition to the traffic on the lot, weather conditions will play a role in seal coating frequency. 

It is the right choice to get your parking lot inspected by a paving expert if it shows any signs of cracking, fading, and wear and tear.

How sealers can protect your lot

The following are ways sealers can protect your lot:

• Slow oxidation rate: Sealcoating covers surface voids, decreasing oxygen and UV ray exposure and reducing the extent to which the pavement can be penetrated by oil or gas.

• Slow the rate of water penetration: Sealcoating serves as a waterproofing agent, which minimizes the level at which water reaches the pavement. Water will penetrate more easily without it, leading to the pavement freezing and thawing expansion and pavement.

• Resistant to gas and oil spills: Gasoline leakage during hot weather from a topped-off fuel tank can soften and break down unsealed asphalt pavements. Coal tars used in seal coats are resistant to the spills of gas and oil.

• Improves pavement pliability: Sealcoat offers your pavement a dark black shine. The more black it is, the more heat is absorbed from the sun by the pavement. And, the hotter it becomes, the more it becomes malleable, allowing it to endure traffic without cracking. Hence, it is a smart idea to have your parking lot seal coated with any best parking lot sealer.

• Protects asphalt from washing by pressure: Restaurant parking lots usually stretch to areas close to dumpsters where pressurized washing of food processing equipment occurs. If food waste that is close to the dumpsters can’t be swept up, it will need to be washed away—seal coating shield asphalt cement from the detergents and high volume water pressure being utilized in pressure washing.

How often should you seal your parking lot?

How often seal coating should be done depends on many factors, which include, but not limited to the ones that follow:

• The quality of the pavement sealing material
• The number of material you applied
• Adequate sealer mix design
• Geographic area
• The number of coats you applied
• The level of daily traffic

Sealcoating is usually recommended every three to four years to offer sufficient pavement protection and appealing curb appeal for your commercial property or home. After the original asphalt application on your parking lot, the optimum time is typically one to two years to ensure adequate cure. 

Besides, the sort of components you choose will also enable your paving contractor to ascertain the number of coats needed for your parking lot.

The process of sealing your lot

An asphalt parking lot surface will typically need two seal coat applications at first to penetrate the surface, resulting in a deep, protective coating.

• Assess the surface. Your paving contractor would have to first evaluate the current condition of the lot’s surface before proceeding further. You will not need seal coating for 12-24 months if it is a new surface. However, if it is an existing surface, your contractor will first check for potholes, oil stains, cracks, and other damage that might require fixing before applying any best parking lot sealer you may have in mind.

• Make the surface clean: The parking lot surface would need to be extensively washed using brushes, brooms, or power washers, ensuring the seal coat can bind adequately. This is also vital because before repairs can commence, all potholes, cracks, and damaged sections will have to be cleaned as well.

• Recognize cracks and fix, as required: If there are cracks, holes, or depressions, they should be covered with a correct aggregate mix to guarantee prolonged asphalt integrity and longevity.

• Reparation of Pothole: Fix or patch all potholes to ensure that the surface looks and works at its best before seal coating.

• Surface priming and cleaning of oil spots: Before seal coating, it is necessary to remove oil stains from the asphalt parking lot because the seal coat will not adhere to vehicle pollutants of any sort. If you could not have the stain removed, try using a primer agent (somewhat like a wall primer) that will cause the seal coat to adhere to the surface of the asphalt lot.

• Apply a minimum of two coats of quality pavement sealer. After ensuring that the surface pavement is free of any dirt, stains, or any form of damage, you can then apply a top-quality sealant to the surface.

What are the conditions for conducive long-lasting seal coats?

Weather conditions significantly impact seal coats, particularly during construction. The proper conditions under which seal coating should be carried out are warm temperatures and sunny days with low humidity since cool weather and humidity will slow the curing time, causing seal coat’s tendering for a prolonged period, making it more vulnerable to traffic damage. 

This is, however, the reason contractors recommend getting the best parking lot sealer when you consider carrying out seal coating for your lot.

Rain can trigger severe issues when seal coating. If you carry out the application prior to the asphalt binder’s curing, it can become diluted, rising above the aggregate cover top.

After the water has evaporated, asphalt can fill the whole surface, triggering tires to track the binder around the surface or pick up the aggregate. It would be best if you avoid seal coating your parking lot when showers are making threats. Also, ensure the asphalt surface you want to seal coat is relatively in a good state. 

This implies that load-related distress like rutting, alligator cracking, and potholes should be minimal. If all these conditions exist in your parking lot, avoid seal coating until they are addressed first.

Conclusion

When you are planning seal coating for your parking lot, it is best to choose the right sealing product that would work best for your pavement. There are varieties of sealers on the market, but not all can deliver the required good result.

Hence, it would be best if you employed a pavement maintenance specialist who has excellent ability to assess the pavement surface and offer the best possible solutions to your parking lot maintenance requirements for the best performance.

If you own a commercial parking lot, even if you’re not there every day, that lot is your responsibility. Should a car blow out a tire or the wheel cracks because a customer drove over a pothole in your parking lot, the liability falls on you. You must maintain and repair your parking lot when necessary to promote its longevity. What should you do?

The following parking lot maintenance tasks will reduce your rate of repairs:

• Cleaning the lot
• Repainting faded stripes and other markings
• Overlaying the asphalt
• Sealing the lot
• Repairing when damage occurs

In this extensive guide, we’ll provide further information on maintaining your parking lot so it remains in its best condition for a long time to come. We’ll also delve into areas of parking lot repair, including how much money you might expect to pay for various repair jobs.

How to Properly Maintain Your Parking Lot

Most parking lots are made of asphalt or concrete. Asphalt, as we covered in this article, is prone to plenty of damage. Here’s a list for you:

• Bleeding, when the asphalt develops a film that can make it slippery if it gets wet, posing significant risks to motorists who use your parking lot
• Raveling, which is when the asphalt fragments, leaving gravel behind
• Upheaval, or the movement of the asphalt upward due to moisture or freezing
• Rutting, which is asphalt depressions from ignoring the parking lot’s max recommended weight
• Potholes, which start as holes in the asphalt that grow bigger and deeper over time
• Cracks, including slippage cracks, joint reflection cracks, edge cracks, block cracks, and alligator cracks

No parking lot is impervious to damage, but through maintenance, mitigation becomes possible. Per the information in the intro, here are the areas of parking lot maintenance to focus on. 

Keep the Parking Lot Clean

We’ve discussed this on the blog before, but it’s worth repeating now. Cleaning your parking lot may sound like a basic and thus skippable part of parking lot maintenance, but it’s one of the most important jobs. 

Why is that? For several reasons, really. From an aesthetics standpoint, a clean, tidy parking lot will always attract more business than one that’s dirty and looks run-down. Much more importantly, cleaning your parking lot removes small objects that can lead to motorist injuries, which again become a liability for you. 

A clean parking lot is one in which the asphalt remains in better condition, as nothing is grinding against it when motorists drive across the lot. You may even be able to enjoy a few more years out of your parking lot. 

Repaint Faded Stripes and Lines

Painting the parking lines and other indicators throughout your parking lot wasn’t a cheap nor inexpensive process, but it’s something you’ll have to do much sooner than later. You might get only a year out of the paint before it needs touching up depending on the frequency of parking lot use. In other cases, it’s two years, but no more than that.

You absolutely cannot forego repainting these stripes, lines, and markings. If the lines are faded to the point where they’re barely visible, your customers won’t be able to tell where one parking spot ends and the other begins. This creates an environment where unnecessary car accidents can occur.  

Overlay the Asphalt

Although it does nothing for the bottommost layer of asphalt, overlaying the top layer can improve the overall appearance of your parking lot. Further, you might stretch out the longevity of your lot, so overlaying is certainly a job worth doing.

When you overlay asphalt, you pour a fresh layer over the preexisting top layer. That layer still remains intact, as removal would be more labor-intensive and expensive. You end up with asphalt that’s even more multi-layered than before.

Seal the Lot

The last maintenance job to commit to as parking lot owner is sealing the asphalt. Depending on the age of your lot, you may have to reseal it annually or you can possibly go three years before applying some fresh seal. The latter is true of new parking lots and the former of older ones with worn asphalt.  

The Most Common Parking Lot Repairs

If you skipped out on some of the above maintenance jobs due to a tight budget, lack of time, or simply inexperience owning and managing a parking lot, then your lot is probably in disarray. Here are some of the more common parking lot repairs you might encounter. 

Repairing Cracks

We listed a variety of cracks earlier that tend to affect asphalt. Here’s a quick explanation of the ones that are especially prevalent in parking lots:

• Slippage cracks: Developing in distinct half-crescents, slippage cracks tend to appear shortly after your new parking lot is paved. If the asphalt layers have incorrectly adhered, these cracks will result. 
• Joint reflection cracks: We’ll discuss repairing joints shortly, but for now, know that joint cracks occur when the joints are strained through the asphalt subbase. The subbase may move as moisture and temperature changes occur. 
• Edge cracks: Common in driveways, roads, and parking lots, edge cracks affect the edge of a street or lot that has insufficient drainage. The moisture accumulation leads to the cracks, as can improperly installed subbase or heavy vehicular traffic. 
• Block cracks: When the temperatures get very cold or extremely hot and the asphalt’s binder can’t contract and expand to accommodate, block cracks happen. Why are they called block cracks? Well, due to how these cracks are often rectangular.
• Alligator cracks: Fatigue or alligator cracks look like alligator skin, which is the last thing you want for your parking lot. Many issues can cause alligator cracks, among them too much clay in the surrounding soil, ground movement and erosion, thin pavement, poor subgrade quality, and exceeding your parking lot’s weight limits.

Whether it’s an alligator crack, a slippage crack, or anything in between, repairing a crack should be at the top of your priority list as a parking lot owner. Even small cracks can become bigger as your lot gets a lot of use. Large cracks develop into potholes. 

Repairing Potholes

Speaking of potholes, they’re another frequent problem across asphalt roads and parking lots. According to Harper’s Magazine data, as of 2012, the United States has 55,961,000 potholes. Given the age of that data, we’re sure you can add several thousand–if not more–potholes to that tally by now.

Edmonton, Alberta, Canada calls itself “the pothole capital” because its problem with potholes is that serious. In 2014, the city spent $4.8 million to repair potholes, says Canadian news source The Walrus. The city alone adds about 450,000 potholes to its preexisting total every year.

We talked in the intro about how risky leaving potholes intact can be, so repair must be imminent. 

Improving Joints 

In a perfect world, you’d have gotten your parking lot constructed with high-quality joints. That can prevent a lot of headaches now and in the years to come. After all, the worse the quality of the joints, the fewer years you can expect out of them. 

Sealing may be able to restore the strength of the joints provided they haven’t been under much strain for long. Pretending the issue doesn’t exist though can quickly degrade the quality of your parking lot. Alligator cracks might develop, allowing for structural issues that can become full-on lot failure if left unaddressed. Potholes will also appear. 

Adding Drainage 

Given that so many asphalt problems that impact your parking lot’s structural integrity are related to moisture and other sources of water, having any drainage at all is better than none. Drainage vents or pipes give the water somewhere to travel so it doesn’t linger on the asphalt.

How Much Does It Cost to Repair Your Parking Lot?

Now that you know the duties that lay ahead of you, it’s time to start budgeting for parking lot repairs. To help you do that, you need to know the costs of each job. 

According to ProMatcher, a resource for connecting with professionals, sealing asphalt costs an average of $0.22 a square foot for commercial parking lots. On the lower end, you might pay $0.14 per square foot and, on the high end, up to $0.29 per square foot depending on the sealant you choose.

Paving asphalt is $2.81 a square foot on average. The job may be less expensive at $2.24, or it could be costlier, up to $3.37 per square foot.

Paving an asphalt parking lot if you’re adding a two-inch overlay is an average of $1.60 a square foot. Costs may be between $1.40 and $1.70 per square foot depending on the breadth of work, notes ProMatcher.

Here are some maintenance costs to get you started. To sweep and clean your parking lot, expect the job to cost:

• $73.75 if you have a 200-space parking lot
• $83.32 if you have a 500-space parking lot
• $149.17 if you have a 1,000-space parking lot

The costs for repainting your parking lot stripes depends on the size of the stripes and the type of markings you’re adding. For a white stripe that’s four inches, per linear foot, you’d pay $0.34. For 18 feet of striping, that’s $4.27. Handicap parking spots cost about $28.08 each and arrows $18.09 apiece.

How Long Should an Asphalt Parking Lot Last?

By putting all this time, effort, and expense into your parking lot, how many years should you expect to get out of it? At least five to seven years, but well-maintained parking lots may last around 10 or 15 years. If you go above and beyond to ensure your parking lot is always in tip-top shape, the lot could be usable for 20, even 30 years. 

Other Ways to Extend the Life of Your Parking Lot Outside of Maintenance

As we’ve established, there’s no better way to enjoy more years out of your parking lot than through maintenance, but that’s not the only way. To wrap up, here are some things you can do in addition to your maintenance routine for a better parking lot.

Don’t Let Small Problems Fester

It’s a lot cheaper–not to mention less laborious–to pave a small hole or crack in the parking lot. You might even be able to patch that area rather than overlay or reseal the whole lot. 

If you don’t already, you should visit your parking lot at least weekly when it’s completely empty. Inspect the whole lot, including the edges and corners. These areas are often overlooked but can be the most troublesome. 

Should you spot any concerning issues, make a plan for how they’ll get repaired and when. If you’re not the one personally doing repairs, then come back a few days later, following through to ensure the work was done, and adequately at that. 

Add More Drainage If You Have Too Much Standing Water

The drainage you have now might not be all that you use for the entire life of your parking lot. If your drainage solution leaves too much standing water, then you may need more drainage or another means of removing the water altogether.

Clean Spills 

Besides loose gravel, sticks, rocks, and other debris that inevitably accumulates in and around your parking lot, you also want to remove spills as soon as you notice them. Depending on the fluid that was spilled, it can degrade the quality of your sealant. Now that area may start cracking, which can soon spread to other sections of your parking lot. 

Conclusion

To avoid lawsuits and hold onto your customers, maintaining your commercial parking lot is not optional. With the tips and advice we presented to you in this article, you know which issues to be on the lookout for so you can work preventatively to keep your parking lot safe for anyone to use. 

A damaged parking lot affects the revenue of your tenants as a result of customers who would rather choose to stay away. 

Overlooking your parking lot condition can also have a huge influence on how prospective and current tenants view your property. A poorly maintained parking lot can cause damage to cars and put pedestrians at risk. Restoring the value of your property entails resurfacing the parking for both form and function.

What exactly is “resurfacing”?

Resurfacing is when a new layer of asphalt is applied to an existing pavement surface. We must note that resurfacing the parking lot is not the same as total pavement replacement, where the parking lot foundation is left untouched. 

Just like every other property, our parking lot begins to wear and tear over time, making it necessary for resurfacing to be carried out. Resurfacing adds a new layer of asphalt of about 1.5 – 2 inches in depth. 

Resurfacing parking is cost-effective as it could add 8- 15 years to your parking lot’s general life span. The old lot layer must be repaired if it is damaged to prevent it from weakening the resurfaced lot.  

Signs that your parking lot needs resurfacing

Resurfacing the parking lot would be necessary if the following signs arise:

Potholes 

Several factors can result in potholes in our parking lots. They include sudden expansion and contraction of cracks in asphalt, which causes potholes and movement of the underlying soil underneath the parking lot.

 If left unattended, potholes can cause damage to vehicle rim and tires. Pedestrians on the parking lot are not spared as they may trip, thereby injuring themselves. Potholes should be filled, and the parking lot resurfaced to create a safe space for drivers and pedestrians who walk on the parking lot. 

Distortion 

Continuous pressure from vehicles may cause the parking lot to suffer from distortion and uneven surfaces. Warping is common with industrial and commercial parking lots as heavy articulated vehicles ply and park on the asphalt. 

A warped parking lot could pose a danger for people walking on it and the safety of the vehicles. Resurfacing the parking lot helps to restore the warped parking lot into perfect shape. 

Cracking 

One of the vital signs that show your parking lot needs resurfacing is the appearance of cracks on parking lots. Asphalt develops cracks over time as they are exposed to moisture and sunlight. As water continues to percolate into the asphalt, it widens the cracks leading to distorted and unattractive surfaces. A deep crack on asphalt on the parking lot is a serious matter of concern for individuals on door and vehicles. 

Faint lines 

The continuous exposure of marked lines on your parking lot to sunlight, rain, and wind forces the lines to lose its brightness and spark. To avoid confusion,  parking lanes and no parking zones lines need to be bright and conspicuous. Resurfacing the parking lot allows for parking lines to be redrawn with the right colors and styles. 

Is resurfacing your parking lot the right choice? 

Several commercial property owners are very much concerned about the safe and attractive condition of their parking lot. Maintaining your asphalt parking lot by filling up potholes and cracks may not be enough to keep your parking lot in very good condition. 

As time goes on, the wear and tear would become too profound, forcing you to carry out a parking lot’s complete replacement. Rather than going for an outright replacement, resurfacing a parking lot restores your parking lot’s appearance at a cheaper cost than asphalt replacement.

Here are some reasons why resurfacing the parking lot is good for you. 

If the foundation still maintains its structural integrity: 

Resurfacing is good only if the foundation of the parking lot still maintains its structural integrity. If the parking lot’s underlying structure is compromised, then the gains of resurfacing would be defeated as the same challenges facing the parking lot would persist. 

Nonetheless, if your parking lot still has a stable underlying structure, resurfacing is the best option to put your parking lot back into shape and use. 

If the damage to the parking lot is minimal :

Before resurfacing is carried out, defects on the parking lot, such as potholes, cracks, need to be fixed. Furthermore, failure to do resurfacing is ideal for any parking lot when cracks only exist a few inches deep or quarter inches wide and when your paved surface is no more than 20 years old. 

Reconstructing your parking lot from scratch may not be necessary if your parking lot only has limited and shallow cracks. In such cases, resurfacing your parking lot is the ideal thing for you. 

Pros and Cons of Resurfacing  

Many commercial property owners appreciate the importance of resurfacing their parking lot, mainly due to the numerous benefits a resurfaced lot provides:

Pros 

1. Safety 

As your parking lot begins to wear out, the formation of cracks and depressions begin to get more noticeable. Over time, these cracks may start posing as hazards to those who use the parking lot. Incidences of users’ injury from the cracked parking lot would become frequent if resurfacing is not carried out.

 Resurfacing parking lot allows you to cover all cracks and depressions, thereby enhancing the safety of users of the property. 

2. Improves and maintains the aesthetics of your parking lot 

The aesthetic appeal of a resurfaced parking lot cannot be overemphasized. The value of a property is boosted if the parking lot has an impressive appeal. A resurfaced parking lot appears new and rejuvenated, giving your lot that attractive look. 

Cracked and distorted surfaces of parking lot diminish the aesthetic allure of properties, which is detrimental to the property’s value. 

 3. Prolongs the life of your parking lot

Resurfacing contributes to the extended life of your parking lot. For instance, asphalt coated parking lot is built to last for more than 20 years. Proper maintenance and resurfacing of the parking lot increase the life span of your parking lot. Poor maintenance of the parking lot would further the breakdown and reduction in your lot’s working life. 

4.  Helps save time and money 

One common mistake of some commercial property owners is allowing cracks and depressions to deteriorate before fixing them. Once cracks and holes are not taken care of early enough, they may worsen over time, forcing you to spend more on fixing. 

Resurfacing the parking lot in time helps prevent incidences where you have to spend more money reconstructing your parking lot from scratch. 

5. Helps to minimize seal coating 

Asphalt built parking lot are sometimes seal-coated to extend the life of the parking lot. However, excessive seal coating results in substantial cracking of the parking lot. 

To prevent seal coating your parking lot from time to time, you can carry out resurfacing to restore the shape of your parking lot effectively. 

Cons 

1. Cost 

The major challenge of resurfacing the parking lot is the issue of cost. In avoiding the cost of resurfacing their parking lot, some commercial property owners resort to other measures of maintaining their lot. 

 The cost of complete resurfacing of a parking lot might be cost-effective, but not everyone can afford the cost of resurfacing their parking lot. 

2. Effectiveness is subject to conditions 

Resurfacing a parking lot is only guaranteed to be effective if done under certain conditions. A badly damaged parking lot whose cracks have gone deep and wide cannot be restored by resurfacing. 

Resurfacing the parking lot under such circumstances is a waste of time and resources as the foundation’s internal structure has been badly affected. Repaving the parking lot would be the only option in such a situation. 

Parking Lot Maintenance Tips 

Maintaining your lot is one crucial way of extending the working life of your parking lot. Commercial property owners must ensure that they take the business of maintaining the parking lot as a top priority.

 While it is said that most parking lots are built to last between 25- 30 years, it is not guaranteed, as parking lots experience more vehicular activity than others, which leads to wear and tear. Parking lots that are poorly maintained are a recipe for danger for both motorists and pedestrians on your lot. 

The following maintenance tips you can use for your parking lot. 

• Regularly check your parking lot for any form of damage: By so doing, you will be able to spot areas that are already cracking. Early discovery of cracks and depressions allows you to them as quickly as possible before it deteriorates. 

• Engage a professional to access and repair your parking lot: As part of routine parking lot maintenance procedures, you should call a professional parking lot company’s services once you begin to notice cracks and holes in your parking lot. 

• Ensure you clean your parking lot regularly: Cleaning your parking lot helps prolong your parking lot’s life. Removing garbage from your parking lot helps to prevent them from impeding drainage that may cause standing water on your parking lot, which ends up damaging asphalt. 

• Rework your paints once they are faded: Stripes on your parking would begin to fade over time due to exposure to sunlight and other factors. Ensure you update your paints when they fade to keep your lot looking good and healthy. 

Related Article: Concrete Parking Stops Installation

How to select the right resurfacing company 

Choosing the right resurfacing company helps you save both time and money and build a  long-lasting relationship. However, selecting the right resurfacing company may be quite challenging. The following tips can help you select the right resurfacing company. 

• Carry out your research: You must carry out your research before selecting any resurfacing company. Ensure you are familiar with the company’s history, how long they have been in the business, their customer reviews, etc. 

• Ask others: You can find out about the right resurfacing company by simply asking people who have hired the services of parking lot resurfacing companies in the past. 

• Do not fail to ask relevant questions: Ensure you ask the right questions before selecting the right parking lot resurfacing company. 

• Confirm their licenses and claims: You can verify any parking lot resurfacing company licenses before selecting it. By so doing, you are guaranteed a quality standard of work if you select them. 

FAQS 

1. Can you resurface over the cracked pavement?
   Yes. It, however, depends on the type of crack. Hot rubberized sealant and fabrics can be used on linear cracks before resurfacing. 
2. Why can’t my parking lot be resurfaced during the winter months?
   Resurfacing during winter is not advisable because cold layers may emerge, which may cause the resurfaced lot to deteriorate. Resurfacing should be done when the temperature is 50of and above. 
3. How long should I wait to drive on my newly resurfaced lot?
   At least a day. 
4. How long should my newly resurfaced parking lot last?
   Several factors could determine this. Weather, vehicular traffic on the parking lot, and the thickness of the asphalt layer determine how long a newly resurfaced parking should last. A period of 8-15 years can be said to be the average life span of a resurfaced lot based on prevailing factors. 
5. Should I reconstruct my parking lot, or should I resurface it?
   Deciding to resurface or reconstruct your parking lot should depend on the underlying core structure of your parking lot. You might need to reconstruct If more than 30% of the total parking lot area is completely damaged. 

Conclusion 

Resurfacing a parking lot is a cost-effective way of reinvigorating and extending the life span of your parking lot. Hiring a parking lot resurfacing company can help you maintain and resurface your parking lot. However, you must ensure you choose the right parking lot resurfacing company to give your lot that impressive and attractive look.