This article is a continuation of a previous article answering the most common parking lot questions.  Be sure to check our previous article to get started in the right direction.  Here are a few more common questions about parking lots that you may want to know the answers to:

How Do I Find a Contractor I Can Trust? Firstly, ask contractors for references and contact information.  Get the location of previous jobs so you can check their work personally.  Check with the Better Business Bureau and local Chamber of Commerce.

When Do I Seal Coat My Asphalt Parking Lot? The seal coat is best applied in spring to asphalt that has been poured in the last 60 days.  This allows the seal to cure properly and can increase the life of the sealer significantly.

Do I Need to Sweep My Parking Lot? Parking lots are swept to prevent sand build up which retains water and rots the pavement.  It elongates the life of your pavement by preventing weed growth. 

When it comes to asphalt repair, it may seem pretty upfront and simple.  Just fix it.  Well, that's similar to telling an auto mechanic to 'just fix it'.  There could be any one of many different methods or actions needed to fix the problem for both vehicles and asphalt.  Here is the first installment of potential asphalt repair specifications:

Skin Patch: C-mix is manufactured by local paving plants, which is a sand/asphalt oil mix, without any sizable aggregate is used to fill depressions in asphaltic surfaces. On deep skin patches, a fine 3/8 inch plant mix may be used. Depressions are Owner selected. Pavement Specialties can use a water truck to attempt to find depressions. Water truck time is not included in the Skin Patch pay item but is to be paid for under its own item. Pavement Specialties makes no warranty or guarantee on Skin Patches. Cold Patch: A solvent curing patching material used when hot material cannot be properly controlled. Pavement Specialties refrains from the use of Cold Patch material unless weather and location demands dictate its use. Pavement Specialties makes no warranty or guarantee on Cold Patch. Sawcutting: Pavement Specialties will generally saw cut, or jackhammer (upon rare occasions when base damage is not an issue, we may wheel cut) the perimeter or match line full depth of the asphalt to prevent any false bonds or voids.

Have you ever been to a city, part of town or neighborhood that had the most unattractive and dirt roads? You probably felt uncomfortable and regardless of if there was a natural beauty to the town or not you probably were to busy focused on the trash that was piling up on the side of the road or even in the middle of the road.

There are many places that don’t realize how important it is to keep their streets clean. Not only does keeping the streets clean and makes the place look nice and attract new visitors, but it also helps the environment (and that is the most important of all!).

There are also safety reasons for keeping the street clean. Seriously! If trash and debris clog the storm drains then where will all of the water go if there is a storm?

That is why many cities have chosen to hire street sweepers to keep the streets clean and to protect the town in case of a storm.

Street sweeping helps remove debris from the gutter and roadsides that would otherwise go into storm drains, causing water pollution.

How does street sweeping work you might ask?

Well, large trucks travel through the streets to remove garbage and debris, a crucial measure for safe driving, human health, watershed health, and aesthetics.

Ever looked at some terminology and thought “what the heck does that mean?” Asphalt, for instance, has three different types:

Pervious Permeable Porous

However, if you’re not in the asphalt industry these terms can be confusing.

These three terms, in particular, tend to get mixed up the most. They all sound the same and in some senses have the same definition. For example, if you look up previous, permeable is in the definition and both mean a substance that allows liquids or gases to pass through. These two are also very similar when it comes to asphalt. They both have connected spaces that allow for water to trickle through the surface, so there is no pooling or flooding.

Porous has a somewhat different meaning. Porous holes are not connected unlike pervious and permeable. The water/fluid can still get in but have nowhere to go from there and can trickle to the water table.

So what does this all mean? If you are looking at the terminology pervious, permeable and porous your probably looking into a stormwater management system for your property. Having an impervious property will cause the water to drain off into waterways too fast. This in return could cause flooding and with that, a lot of debris and pollutants can clog up drainage systems. Having an impervious surface might mean you have to install a detention base as there may be no other way to manage stormwater runoff.

It’s no secret that pavements endure a lot of wear and tear, especially when temperatures fluctuate. There are few things that can endure that kind of weather shifting without needing a serious update. Even the strongest asphalt lays will eventually start wearing down and cracking.

The best-case scenario is that the cracking parking lots, driveways and roads are unsuitable. Worst-case scenario the asphalt will become dangerous and hazardous to visitors and travelers. Unfortunately, these kinds of issues don’t just fix themselves. When asphalt gets potholes or cracks the situation will only get worse.

Maintaining a quality asphalt parking lot is a necessity for your business. You may think about asphalt parking lot maintenance a lot like going to the dentist; you expect much more unpleasantness that what actually happens. Choosing a professional pavement company helps you minimize the disruption to your business in every way possible. Some ways you can rest assured it will be a painless process is by asking the following questions:

Ask about how they mix their products. Will their mix work with different weather and traffic? Can they schedule around your business hours? If the job takes more time, can they work around peak periods and work on different sections during lulls? Do they recycle the materials that are removed from your site?