AN OVERVIEW OF COMMERCIAL PAVING OPTIONS
As a business owner or commercial property manager, you’re responsible for keeping many structures and systems in and around your building or buildings in good working order. When was the last time you thought about your driveways, parking lots, and other paved surfaces?
If business expansion is on your mind, or if you have an older property that needs some work, it’s true that you may actively be thinking about these assets now – this is good! Asphalt care and maintenance should be on every commercial property manager’s regular task list, but we realize that it sometimes gets overlooked.
That means you may not know what your options are when it comes to building and improving or simply keeping parking lots and driveways in shape. And that’s why we’re taking a look today at how services provided by commercial paving contractors like Lyons & Hohl Paving are integral to your property management routines.
New Parking Lots & Driveways
One of the services that professional paving contractors are best known for is building new parking lots and driveways for commercial clients. Think about the acres of parking and access roads needed at large retail centers and warehousing operations, and you’ll understand why these types of projects keep us busy! When businesses expand, they often need to add new paved surfaces around their newly constructed buildings or additions, and that calls for just the right process to assure the longevity and durability of the asphalt.
A proven light commercial paving process
Here at Lyons & Hohl Paving, we strive for excellent quality in every job we do, and with new paving projects, this means carefully determining the proper specifications to best serve the pavement’s intended use.
You’re probably thinking to yourself, “Aren’t all parking lots and driveways the same?” The answer is definitely no. For example, parking lots around industrial buildings or the runways at airports handle very different traffic and loads than your average mall parking lot or your driveway at home. Specifications can vary widely in terms of the stone base depth, binder depth (if binder is used at all), and wearing course thickness depending on the type of traffic a specific surface will support.
This is why we’ve developed a specific 3-step process that begins with determining your business’s usage expectations to ensure that your asphalt is right for how you’re going to use it and that it’s installed correctly. Light commercial paving jobs are typically built to common specifications that we have perfected over the years, but we can also customize, as needed – it’s all about listening to our clients and creating the most appropriate surface for their needs.
Resurfacing
If your business has been located in the same building for many years, it’s likely that your paved surfaces need some professional attention, and it may be time for a full resurfacing project. Even if you follow a regular maintenance routine, the lifespan of the average asphalt parking lot is 15-20 years, and many factors affect whether your paved surfaces will meet that expectation or require resurfacing sooner.
If you have been proactive about repairs and seal-coating over the years, you will likely be able to delay resurfacing, which ultimately saves money.
Repairs
So, what types of repairs can help extend your parking lots’ and driveways’ lifespans?
As we talked about in a previous blog post, crack sealing, patching, and pothole repair are items for your regular asphalt upkeep to-do list. And these items are best performed by an experienced paving contractor to guarantee fantastic results.
You may think that contractors only perform large-scale new construction and resurfacing jobs, but we are also happy to troubleshoot problems you are having with your asphalt surfaces and perform needed repairs utilizing the best materials available.
Preventative Maintenance
As we’ve probably made clear by now, keeping your business’s parking lots and driveways in great condition to best serve your customers and employees requires a certain degree of ongoing investment in maintenance. This includes not only caring for the surfaces themselves but also:
Maintaining drainage systems and landscaping in and around paved areas
Protecting edges with things like parking blocks to prevent vehicles from causing damage
Having painted parking space lines, driving lane markers, and other on-surface signage re-striped from time to time
Don’t forget about seal-coating
Seal coating may be considered a maintenance item or a repair process depending on how you look at it – application of seal-coating material made every other year or so restores the surface of your asphalt parking lots and driveways, and it essentially repairs deterioration caused by weather and seasonal temperature changes, too. It also prevents cracks from forming.
No matter your perspective, it’s important to remember that seal-coating is both necessary for the long-term “health” of your asphalt and should always be done by a professional contractor, who will have access to better materials, training, and tools than a local handyman or even your company’s maintenance crew.
Do your Lancaster, Reading, Downingtown, Coatesville, or West Chester-area business’s parking lots and driveways need some work? Or are you planning a business expansion project that will involve building new asphalt surfaces? Contact us at Lyons & Hohl Paving today to discuss all of your options for commercial paving work and preventative maintenance.