Winters in the Houston area tend to fly by quickly, but that does not mean that they will leave your asphalt pavement unscathed. Of course, summer will bring its own threats to the appearance and health of your pavement. Fortunately, taking care of a few basic asphalt maintenance tasks before the end of spring can bridge the gap between the unkind treatment your pavement can suffer in winter and summer.
What Are the Essential Asphalt Maintenance Tasks for Spring?
The precise pavement maintenance tasks you will need depend on a number of factors. These include your pavement’s age, its purpose, its condition, and its previous care. However, a Houston paving contractor will usually recommend that you prioritize evaluating your pavement, making asphalt repairs, sealcoating your parking lot, ensuring proper drainage, and refreshing your parking lot striping.
What Is the Purpose of an Asphalt Pavement Evaluation?
Before you can fix a problem, you have to know that it exists. Sweep or wash your pavement so that you can see it clearly. Assess its overall condition, including its color. Look for potholes, cracks, and signs of pavement distress, including ruts or loose gravel on the surface. You also want to evaluate the visibility and condition of your parking lot striping.
What Asphalt Repairs Are Part of Asphalt Maintenance?
If your asphalt company chooses the narrowest definition, crack repairs are considered pavement maintenance. However, many paving contractors include pothole repairs, patching, and sometimes resurfacing. There are two reasons for adopting this definition. The first is that pavement damage will continue to worsen, endangering its longevity and costing you more money in the long run. The second is that your pavement maintenance contractor cannot apply sealcoating, pavement markings, or line striping over damage.
Why Is Sealcoating an Essential Asphalt Maintenance Procedure?
Sealcoating a parking lot periodically will reward you in several ways. It can prevent the color of your asphalt from fading, and it can restore your pavement to its original color. However, the main function of sealcoating is to protect your asphalt pavement from the damage that vehicle fluids and UV rays can cause. You will need to ask your contractor whether your pavement is ready for its initial application or a reapplication.
Why Is Ensuring Proper Drainage an Asphalt Maintenance Procedure?
Water infiltration is a leading cause of damage to the foundation that supports your asphalt pavement. Clogged drains, broken curbs, and damaged catch basins can increase the risk of water infiltration.
Why Is Parking Lot Striping an Important Maintenance Procedure?
You need it to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act as well as local ordinances. Your line striping and pavement markings are also important for maximizing your number of spaces, maintaining an orderly flow of traffic, enhancing the safety of pedestrians, and creating a good first impression. Here are some tips for determining whether you need new line striping and markings.
1. People need to be able to see your stripes and markings if they are to benefit from them. Once your paint’s original visibility has been reduced by more than 25%, it is time to repaint.
2. If you sealcoat, you will need to repaint immediately. Sealcoating is opaque, so it will obscure your existing paint.
3. If your paint is peeling, flaking off, or blistering, you need to repaint.
4. Other signs that you may need to repaint at least some of your parking lot include oil stains, major skid marks, or graffiti on your lines or markings.
Marathon Solutions is an asphalt paving contractor and we can assist you with all of your pavement-related needs. We offer a full range of parking lot maintenance services, including asphalt sealcoating, pavement repair, parking lot striping, asphalt crack repairs, concrete repair, thermoplastic markings, and parking lot signage. We also install bollards and concrete, and we offer asphalt resurfacing, asphalt paving, asphalt milling, and marking removal. We have an exemplary reputation for dependability, customer service, and craftsmanship. For a free quote, fill out our online form, email Sales@Marathon-Solutions.com, or call 800-879-1147.
