What You Need To Know When Hiring A Contractor To Pave Your Parking Area
If you own a business with asphalt parking lots available to customers and employees, you may need to have the pavement repaired or resurfaced every few years. Working with an asphalt paving services contractor to ensure the work is done well and will last is essential.
Parking Lot Preparation
Asphalt services are not limited to paving an area for parking or another use like vehicle staging or repair. Asphalt repair, resurfacing existing parking lots, and preparing the lot for both services is typically offered by asphalt contractors.
Preparing an existing asphalt parking lot starts with cleaning the surface to ensure that there is no debris or damage on the asphalt that will affect the work that the contract will do. If the parking lot needs resurfacing, the contractor will often recommend grinding the surface layer off to ensure that the existing asphalt will adhere to the new material correctly.
If the surface is not prepared properly, the new asphalt can separate from the existing material and allow water to get underneath. If that happens, it can cause damage you don't see until the surface collapses or sinks. The preparation is critical before resurfacing, and the asphalt services contractor can go over what needs doing and how they can prepare that lot best.
If you are having a new parking lot installed, the preparation is different but is just as critical, so make sure that you choose a contractor that will keep you in the loop while the work is in progress.
Patching And Sealing
Patching your existing asphalt parking lot may be the best solution for you if the lot is not very old. A small crack or damaged area can often have a patch applied by the asphalt services contractor you are using with a product that is put over the damaged area and compacted tightly.
For larger cracks that run over a long distance, a liquid filler that will flow into the crack, and adhere to both sides, tying it together and sealing out water is common. Crack filling and patching the asphalt can help extend the time between repaving the lot.
Once the cracks and holes in the parking lot are dealt with, the asphalt services contractor can apply a sealer that will fill all imperfections on the surface and lock out water and debris. Selling the asphalt is one of the best ways to extend the life of the existing asphalt, but it needs to be done several times a year to be effective, so talk with the contractor about what they recommend for your parking lot.
Contact a local service, such as Ace Asphalt, to learn more.
