Commercial parking lots must be installed carefully and maintained properly. If the property owner decides to save some money and skip the sealcoating, he may see a gray ash develop on pavement. This means that that the pavement is oxidizing or rusting. It may not be too late for the property owner to call Columbus paving contractors to apply sealcoating. This protective layer will rejuvenate the asphalt and give it a rich black color. Parking lot lines and directional arrows will need to be repainted.
When sealcoating is not applied in time the gray ash will deepen. As more pavement rusts, pieces of asphalt will break off. The damaged asphalt cannot be repaired. A paving contractor will have to tear up the pavement and install a new parking lot. The property owner may also see cracks develop in the pavement. He may try and save money again by buying a crack filler at the local hardware store. This crack filler does not have the flexibility of the hot rubberized cracker fillers used by Columbus Paving Contractors. When the cold Ohio winter settles in, the crack filler will freeze and expand. In the summer it will shrink. This constant movement will weaken the seal between the crack filler and asphalt.
That means that water will seep down into the crack. It also will expand and contract with the temperature. Eventually frost heaves and potholes will develop. The property owner will have to repave the affected areas. Failure to take prompt action could result in a costly personal injury lawsuit. A person could trip on a frost heave and seriously hurt themselves. Hot rubberized crack fillers do bend and flex with a change in temperature.
Preventative sealcoating and crack filling will double the life of a parking lot. It takes about 12 hours for the sealcoating to set. During that time no one can drive cars on it. Contractors can sealcoat a large parking lot in segments. Therefore part of the parking lot will always be open. Sealcoating can’t be done during the evening, because the sun and heat help the sealcoating to set. Once it is complete the parking lot will be attractive and safe to drive on.
