How to Get Your Parking Lot Ready for Winter
The parking lot might’ve taken a beating from extensive traffic and the sun’s ultraviolet rays this past summer, and it may not have the ability to deal with the impact of winter to come. Here are three ways to get your parking lot ready for winter:
Clean up the parking lot
Address all oil or chemical spills as soon as possible to prevent new crack formation down the line.
With the assistance of a sweeper or blower, clear away all dirt, leaves, trash, and other types of debris from the surface of the parking lot. Debris causes damage by holding moisture within the same space for an extended time period. However, the majority of the damage is caused by snow plows grinding and dragging random debris against concrete or asphalt surfaces. Not regularly clearing the parking lot of debris may cause expensive problems that are completely preventable. Also, even if cleaning debris did not help your pavement– it is the right thing to do if you like curb appeal and want your customers/clients to find your business to be more appealing.
Sealcoat the parking lot
Take a close look at the parking lot. If it doesn’t look as good as it did at one time and appears run down, make certain that you get it seal-coated before winter’s frigid temperatures arrive. Commercial sealcoating is a quick, easy, and affordable service that will make the parking lot look better and last longer. It’ll seal minor cracks occurring over time, and provides defense against all deterioration caused by ultraviolet sun rays. Depending on the number of patrons the parking lot gets, it should be seal coated one time every one to three years to protect your pavement investment.
Conduct necessary repairs
If you get your parking lot seal coated, all small cracks will be filled in. But larger potholes/cracks require a different type of treatment. If you do not want to seal coat the parking lot, you will still definitely want to have all of the existing cracks sealed before the wintertime.
Cracks enable water to get deep down under the surface of the asphalt. When that happens, the water will freeze and expand. When spring arrives, the water melts completely and demolishes the subsurface, resulting in serious breakage that may turn into potholes.