What To Expect When It Is Time To Resurface Or Pave Your Parking Lot

Asphalt paving is used in many different ways and works well for covering parking lots and providing a solid surface that will stand up to many things. Commercial paving services can replace an existing parking lot for you, pave a new one, or resurface your existing parking lot when it begins to show signs of deterioration and wear. 

Parking Lot Resurfacing

If you already have an asphalt parking lot, maintaining it is essential. Over time, the weather can cause the surface to dry out and crack, so resurfacing is often necessary after a few years. Commercial paving services can help you deal with the damage, lay down a new surface, and make the parking area look and feel as good as new. 

Resurfacing involves removing the top few inches of the asphalt, and many paving services use a grinder to cut off the top but leave the base intact. The old asphalt can be recycled at the asphalt plant and added to new asphalt to reduce the number of new materials used.

After the contractor grinds away the top of the asphalt, they can apply new materials to the base to build the asphalt back up to the right thickness, then compact and roll the materials together. The grinder will leave grooves in the base material that help the asphalt layers adhere to each other, so using this method to resurface the lot is stable, and there is no risk of the layers separating. 

Paving In Sections

If your parking lot of very large, you may want to talk with your commercial paving service about resurfacing the lot in sections. This will allow you to keep the parking lot open while the work is ongoing and minimize the inconvenience for customers, clients, or employees that use the parking lot daily. 

Businesses with extremely large parking lots may also prefer to break the paving up over several years. Rotating sections of the lot to be resurfaced keeps the commercial paving service coming back every year. However,  it can be better for the parking lot owner because they can budget a specific amount for asphalt repair each year. 

Once the lot is resurfaced, it is a good idea to have a commercial paving service or a seal coating contractor apply asphalt sealer over the surface of the parking lot each fall to add some additional protection against water, snow, salt, and other materials that could be on the asphalt throughout the winter. How you maintain your parking lot can make a difference in the life of the asphalt, so talk with your paving service, and they can help you increase the time between repairs for your asphalt parking lot. 

For more information on commercial paving services, contact a professional near you.

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