How to Know When Your Parking Lot Needs to be Replaced

Parking lots of commercial properties receive an exorbitant amount of traffic from pedestrians, bikers, cars and delivery trucks. They must be made of durable materials so that they can hold up against the daily onslaught of heavy traffic. Commercial parking lots have a typical lifespan of ten to fifteen years. The amount of traffic and lack of maintenance can both work to shorten that time. It is important to look for signs of premature damage in order to stop it before it ends up more costly to replace. Here are a few signs that it is time to replace versus repair :

Cracks – Cracks will form normally over time in both asphalt and concrete surfaces, but they can be made worse by chemicals that penetrate the surface, such as oil and gas, and allow water to seep in. This can be particularly damaging during winter months where water freezes and then expands the crack. If the cracks are small, you can fix them with crack sealer. Long, wide, or deep cracks, however, indicate more serious damage. In these cases, it’s best to choose a complete parking lot replacement since attempts at repairs on bigger cracks last only a short time.

Potholes – Potholes usually form on asphalt parking lots. Water seeps through asphalt, causing the ground beneath the asphalt to expand and contract. As this occurs over and over, the pavement begins to weaken and cracks begin to form. Eventually traffic over the weak spot will cause the material to break down and the pothole to develop. As with cracks, small potholes are repairable, but a filled pothole does not address the source of the problem so it is likely that the pothole will reappear after some time.

Crumbling Edges – The edges of a parking lot are often one of the first places that will show damage when it begins to fail.  Because they have less support from neighboring aggregates, the edges may appear jagged, crumbly or completely broken. This is often one of the first signs that the parking lot as a whole is beginning to fail.

Damaged parking lots not only decrease your property’s curb appeal, but can be the cause of accidents and injuries that may cast a negative light on your business. For more information on how The Paving Contractor You Can Trust can help you, give us a call today! (817)900-6947