Parking lot maintenance is not a topic many business owners think about right out of the gate. When starting a business, other pressing needs often take precedence.
Parking lot maintenance it’s often pushed to the backburner of thought. Yet, it needs to be a part of every building plan and budget. Let’s take a look at some of the typical costs to maintain a parking lot.
Parking Lot Longevity
Most parking lots last anywhere from 20 to 30 years on average from the time that they are poured. Throughout its life, your parking lot may need to be repaved entirely at least once or twice.
Full repaving occurs typically anywhere from 17 to 20 years after initial paving. Numerous other factors play into this timeline. Should your commercial parking lot be under a canopy or a parking garage, then an overall repaving may not be needed for a very long time.
Costs To Maintain a Parking Lot
We have all had that experience where we visited a place of business and driving through their parking lot caused anxiety simply because it was not maintained. It gives a poor impression of the company as this is the first thing that most consumers notice.
Costs to maintain a parking lot are going to vary based on a few factors that are out of your control. Things such as construction costs may differ from one area to the next.
Keeping Clean
There are regular tasks that should be done on a daily or weekly basis, depending on how large a parking lot your business has. Tasks such as sweeping and regular trash pick up should be done at least weekly. There are lawn care companies that can include such services for an additional cost.
Repairing Potholes
Over time your parking lot may erode due to weather and wear. It’s crucial to repair damage as it arises. Failure to do so and the small potholes will expand. Having potholes in your parking lot could cause harm or injury to you or your clients.
One way to help prevent potholes from forming is to seal cracks as they arise. Sealcoating helps delay the need repair, save money for your business; however, if you ignore the issue, then the damage will only grow, and you will be left with a more massive bill than you intended.
Re-Striping
Stripes help direct traffic and keep things from rolling into chaos. They mark parking spots, directional indicators, and emergency or reserved areas for emergency vehicles. If your parking lot is heavily trafficked, then restriping should be completed on an annual basis.
This process helps to maintain the aesthetics of your lot and helps everything to stay looking fresh. Multiple coats may have to be applied as the asphalt may tend to soak up the first couple of layers, and you want your markings to be evident in all types of inclement weather.
Reasons To Maintain Your Parking Lot
There are many reasons to stay on top of the tasks that help to keep your parking lot in tip-top shape, one of which is to protect curb appeal. Curb appeal helps keep your property attractive to customers.
No potential client wants to park in a parking lot or parking garage that looks dilapidated. Thankfully, regular maintenance can help to stall this process giving your lot more time between replacement.
Reduces overall costs
The whole point of regular maintenance is to help take care of problems while they are small. Doing so keeps you from cutting into other valuable aspects of your budget.
It’s often tempting for business owners to ignore signs of wear and tear in their parking lots. You may think that you are saving money; however, without proper care, your parking lot can deteriorate in as little as five to seven years, costing you more money in the long term.
Reduces Liability
A well designed and well-maintained parking lot is worth the extra investment of time and money. There is nothing more frustrating than a parking lot with traffic patterns that are not clearly defined and inefficient.
When drivers do not know which way the traffic flows, then it can cause accidents on your property and open you up to liability. Most parking lot speeds are slow, yet studies show that a person can still suffer from whiplash at five miles per hour. Should a person claim that the accident was caused due to improperly marked parking lot, then you can be held liable.
Also, something like a small pothole may not seem like much; however, it can cause damage to your customer’s vehicles or cause them personal physical harm. When walking from their car to your place of business should a consumer trip or fall due to lack of parking lot maintenance, you can also be held liable.
While these may sound like minor instances, liability cases can become extremely costly.
Signs of Damage
The best way to stay ahead of the damages is to notice small signs along the way. Some signs of structural damage are depressions in the pavement, rutting, or alligator cracks (also known as fatigue or spiderweb cracking).
You can help reduce some of the depressions in the pavement with a few simple tips to help make the pavement stronger. One of which is by using materials that are graded for corrosion resistance and better heat conductivity.
Parking Lot Replacement
At some point, you will eventually need to replace your parking lot. A good piece of advice is to find a company that you trust to help with everything from seal coating to fixing potholes and establish a relationship with them.
Costs to maintain a parking lot are well worth the room in your annual budget. For more details on how we can help, contact us for more information.
