It’s Time to Get Your Asphalt Parking Lot Ready for Winter: Here’s Why
If ever there was a time to see to all those little repairs and clean-ups in your parking lot, now would be it. Winter is approaching faster than you think and that’s just when your lot can suffer the most damage if you don’t see to it now. In fact, that’s exactly why you should get your parking lot ready for those icy, cold months ahead. It’s all about preventing costly damage, especially on asphalt surfaces that are easily repaired.
Consider the Cost of Ice on Your Lot
One of the things you should consider first is what an icy parking lot can do to your bottom line. As ice builds up, smaller, non-commercial vehicles can’t get the traction needed not to slip and slide, and worse yet, they can’t stop quickly enough to prevent hitting something. If a vehicle hits another vehicle or a pedestrian, you could be held liable for the ice you’ve let build up. Also, consider those slips and falls when pedestrians try to make their way on an icy lot. Slips and falls are among the most common claims against your insurance which only covers so much.
Clean It Up and Repair Cracks Now
To prevent all that, you can have your parking lot seal coated, which significantly helps to prevent inches of ice from forming. To learn more about sealcoating click here. However, the first thing you need to do is clean up any oil spills or debris laying around in the lot. You surely can’t have anything coated if there are leaves, empty packages, cigarette butts, and so forth, lying around on the surface. Also, cracks and holes are places where ice builds up and you want to prevent that at all costs. Once you have cleaned up any debris on the surface, have those cracks and holes repaired.
Preventing the Buildup of Ice
One of the best things you can do to prevent the buildup of ice is to have your asphalt lot sealcoated. Sealcoating has properties that prevent a buildup of ice, so you won’t be out there deicing your lot daily with those costly deicers on the market. You will find that sealcoating saves in product and labor when the need to get out there spreading chemicals to melt the ice is almost next to nonexistent. Also, the salt and chemicals in the most popular deicers can eat into the asphalt as well.
An Ounce of Prevention
Bear in mind the old proverb, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” By cleaning, repairing, and sealcoating your asphalt parking lot before the icy weather arrives, you can save a small fortune in claims and further repairs. It is always better to prevent a problem than to deal with something that could have been avoided. Autumn is the time just before those long, cold winter days start wreaking their damage, so see to any repairs and maintenance that can save headaches later.
As one last thought, sealcoating your lot can prolong its expected lifespan so by treating it now, you can avoid the cost of resurfacing it before its time. That’s something to hold on to.
Author: Carol Trehearn
