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NVM Paving & Concrete, Inc.

Northern Virginia Paving Company

parking lot striping

Summer Maintenance Tips for Your Parking Lot and Driveway

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Summer Maintenance Tips for Your Parking Lot and Driveway

Research shows that about 5% of US urban land comprises parking spaces. Having a clean area to park and a well-maintained driveway boosts the appeal of your home.

Also, maintaining your lot and a driveway is crucial to reducing injuries. The presence of cracks and potholes in such areas can lead to flat tires. People are likely to slip and fall on ill-maintained parking areas and driveways.

Regular maintenance is vital since summer heat expands asphalt and widens cracks. Here are summer tips for maintaining your parking lots and driveways.

Sealcoat Your Parking Area

Sealcoating involves covering your asphalt with a durable layer that improves your driveway’s resistance to sun rays. Applying a sealcoat in your parking lot reduces damages like cracking and staining. Sealing the spaces where people can park every three to five years keeps it intact and lessens injuries.

Although sealcoating may seem like an unnecessary expense, it saves you money eventually. Your lot and driveway will regain a fresh new look. Besides, sealcoating gives your driveway flexibility to handle traffic without creating potholes.

Repair Cracks and Potholes

High summer heat causes your asphalt to become malleable and soft. Summer temperatures can rise to 1490F, and this high heat damage causes depressions on the wheel paths. Such depressions then turn to potholes and cracks.

It’s crucial to repair your driveway and parking lot as soon as you notice any cracks and potholes. To prevent cracking from becoming extensive, ensure you fill them with asphalt or crack fillers. Hiring an expert helps you fill the potholes to limit injury cases and damages to your car.

Perform Regular Cleaning

Regular cleaning is a summer maintenance tip that ensures your parking lot and driveway retain their value. Sweeping every morning helps your remove leaves and debris, making your home look occupied.

Besides, cleaning removes oil stains and any unnecessary trash that may cover cracks or potholes. Having a clean driveway helps you conduct a faster inspection to assess any cracking and uneven surfaces.

Remove Stagnant Water

Water can cause significant damage to your driveway or parking lot. Pooling water weakens areas where you park, causing water to seep into the sublayers. During summer, the sun’s heat causes water to have air gaps that weaken the asphalt from within the sublayers.

Since a weakened driveway can’t handle weighty objects, it can become uneven and quickly develop potholes. Also, allowing water to settle on your lot eases mildew growth, affecting your parking space’s quality. You can avoid further asphalt repairs by draining water and keeping your driveway space dry.

Maintain Your Parking Lot and Driveway During Summer

Maintaining your parking lot and driveway helps you reduce repair costs. Moreover, regular maintenance improves your home’s curb appeal. It also enables you to prevent injuries to people and damage to your car.

At NVM Paving & Concrete, we provide asphalt repair and sealcoating. We can also construct and repair your parking area with concrete or asphalt. Reach out to us for all your parking lot maintenance needs.

How a Concrete Parking Lot Benefits Your Commercial Property

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How a Concrete Parking Lot Benefits Your Commercial Property

A concrete parking lot may sound like the least exciting thing on the planet, but it’s integral to the success of your business. Don’t underestimate how much a customer parking lot can influence people’s first impressions. Within seven seconds, they’ll make a judgment about the legitimacy and professionalism of your business. Still not convinced? Keep reading to find out how a concrete parking lot can benefit your commercial property.

It Looks Professional

As mentioned above, your customer parking lot says a lot about your business. 

Your parking lot should not be riddled with potholes, bumpy spots, or cracks. The parking lanes should be freshly painted and easily identifiable. 

Beyond that, pay attention to the finer details. Ask yourself these questions about your concrete parking lot:

  • Is it easy to access from the road?
  • Are there identifiable arrows or signs that indicate “In” and “Out” lanes?
  • Are the parking spaces big enough?
  • Is there sufficient space to back out of parking spaces?
  • Do you have any handicap spaces?
  • When applicable, do you have enough cart returns?

If you’re a small business on a strip with other businesses, maybe your parking options are limited. If so, consider staking your claim on a few spots with “Customer Only” signs.

It Keeps Everyone Safe

Parking lot safety may not be the first thing on your mind when it comes to this topic, but you can’t ignore it. Think of all the potential accidents that could occur in a poorly-designed parking lot.

Two cars could drive into one another because the space between parking lots is too narrow. One car could back into another while reversing out of a space. Cars entering or exiting the parking lot might not yield to traffic.

These are only a few examples of possible disasters. In fact, twenty percent of car accidents happen in parking lots. 

Don’t forget to include good lighting and a surveillance system in your parking lot safety plan. You don’t want thieves ransacking your customers’ cars.

It Prevents Infestations

If you neglect parking lot maintenance, you may run into a pest or rodent problem. Your custodial team should regularly change out garbage cans and pick up trash in the parking lot.

Otherwise, these pests may find a way inside.

It’s Eco-Friendly

If you have a concrete parking lot, you’re doing the environment a favor. This material is completely recyclable and saves us from dipping into gas, water, and oil resources. 

Installing concrete is easier, and it will last years longer than asphalt. Lastly, a concrete parking lot will reflect light, keeping the surface cooler in the summer and reducing energy costs.

Freshening Up Your Concrete Parking Lot

Updating the concrete parking lot for your customers is an easy and eco-friendly way to keep people coming back. It ensures parking lot safety and keeps your energy cost down.

Ready to repave your customer parking lot? Click here to fill out a contact form.

The Truth Behind the Danger of a Poorly Striped Parking Lot

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When you think about dangerous places to be in your car you likely aren’t thinking about parking lots. Just because you aren’t traveling at high speeds in a parking lot doesn’t mean there aren’t safety risks. From distracted drivers and pedestrians, to confusing traffic patterns, there are several reasons why so many car accidents occur in a place where the cars are moving so slowly. Below are the most important reasons to make sure your lot is properly striped.

They Keep Paths Clear

Often in a parking lot or garage there are multiple lanes of traffic for cars as well as for pedestrians. When there are not lines to help guide drivers and those on foot it becomes all too easy for individuals to stray out of their intended lane. This increases the chance of car-on-car collisions or pedestrians being struck when two or more people both think they are entitled to the same space and don’t notice the other until it is too late.

Confusion is dangerous

A key purpose of painting on your lot or parking garage is to convey vital information. Using painted lines to note lanes keeps each car in its own space, while painted on directions for important information, like exits, helps drivers keep their focus in front of them, instead of scanning all over in search of clues for where to go.

Keep Focus

Distracted driving is one of the biggest hazards on the roads today and that remains the case when we pull off onto a lot. With such low speeds many drivers feel even more comfortable checking their phone or turning to talk to a passenger. When your lot has sufficient painting, it requires the driver to pay attention to ensure they are following what your paintings dictate and reduce the chance of distraction.

If the painting on your lot is not up to these standards it’s time to contact NVM Paving & Concrete at 703-423-0471, or email Mark at [email protected]. We’ll help you layout an ideal pattern of lines and get your lot safe to use and great to look at.

Parking Lot Striping: How Much Will It Cost?

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There are about 50 million parking spaces spread out across the US. Each one of these needs a fresh coat of paint every one to two years to give it new life. 

Is your parking lot starting to look dull? Having parking lot striping done will keep your business looking well-kept and welcoming. 

New to striping? Keep reading for a complete guide. We’ll explain what’s involved, costs, and paint options. 

New Striping 

If you have a new parking lot, you need an experienced professional to design a parking lot striping design. They will look at the level of traffic, how to maximize volume and finally, state and federal regulations. 

Prepare for new striping to take some time. Once you approve the design, the stripers can get to work. 

The parking lot design will get laid out through careful measurement. Then the striping will be painted out following the measured out makings. 

Restriping 

Having parking lot striping done isn’t a one and done kind of thing. Over time the striping gets dirty and fades. This creates a dangerous situation in your parking lot. 

The heavier the traffic and more severe the weather the faster your striping will age. Plan to have restriping done every year to two years. 

It’s Not Just the Parking Stalls

You will need to get painted than just the parking stall lines. The handicap stalls will need to have the double line with the handicap symbol in the box in the middle of the stall. 

You will also need the directional arrows, stop bars, and crosswalks painted. These markings help direct traffic and maintain order. 

What Happens If You Don’t Restripe 

Have you ever gone to a business and you pull into the parking lot and there are no lines? How do you know where to park? 

You immediately judge the business for their lack of care for the parking lot. You then have to be on extra alert hoping that there is no one else in the parking lot not paying attention. 

Then there are the ADA mandated markings. When these fade to no longer visible the business responsible could face citations and heavy fines. 

What to Look For

Hiring the wrong company to do your parking lot striping could result in a less than satisfactory job. Your lines won’t look good and won’t last. 

Experience 

Ask potential companies what kind of experience they have. If the company is new ask about the experience of the person doing the striping. 

Find out if the company can give you examples of their work either in a portfolio or other local businesses. 

Warranty 

Any reputable company will offer a warranty for their work. If they aren’t willing to stand behind their work why should you trust them to do good work?

Licensing 

Only hire companies that are licensed and insured. This is the only way to be sure that your business is protected while they work on your parking lot. 

Cost 

Cost shouldn’t be the only deciding factor on which company you choose. But we would be lying if we said you shouldn’t consider it at all. 

We are all professionals with a business to run, so of course, the bottom line is important. Ask any company you speak to for a written estimate for the work they will perform. 

Cost Minimums 

Keep in mind that if your parking lot is on the smaller side, you may be subject to a minimum charge. This minimum charge is to cover the cost of bringing out all of the crew and equipment.  

Those parking lots that have 30 to 50 spaces or less are considered small. Expect the minimum to be anywhere from $300 to $500 for a basic stripe repaint job. A new stripe paint job minimum will be anywhere from $500 to $700. 

The Paint

Cheap and low-quality paint is going to wear off fast. Ask your painting restriper what kind of paint they use. 

If you want your striping to be as visible as possible, then ask for paint that has reflective beads. If your business is open mainly at night, this is a smart idea. 

Colors 

There are a few rules when it comes to the colors you use. White is safe as a general all over color.

It is most commonly used for parking stalls and directional markings. But if you don’t want to use white, then yellow is a good alternative. 

Blue is always for handicap markings. While red signifies a fire lane. 

If you want a custom color for your parking stalls, then check to make sure it complies with regulations. Also, keep in mind that a custom color will be more expensive. 

Paint Types 

The most common type of paint used is water based. It’s easy to work with, easy to clean, and produces fewer fumes. 

Chlorinated rubber is more expensive but also provides more durability. It also performs better in cold temperatures. 

Thermal plastic paints are typically used on highways. It’s that super thick raised paint. It is the most expensive paint but will give the most durability. 

This paint contains plastic and is not typically used for parking lots. It requires heating so that it will melt and then applied.  You can’t seal coat over it either. 

The final type of paint you will see is oil based paint. It’s banned in many places though due to environmental concerns. 

Plan Your Parking Lot Striping

With a little planning, you can keep your parking lot striping look fresh and bright. This will give your business curb appeal and make a positive first impression on your customers. 

It will also keep them safe as they navigate the parking lot. By maintaining bright parking lot striping, everyone knows where the parking spaces are. 

Get in touch today and let our paving experts help you plan your next paving project.