Parking Lot StripingParking Lot Striping
Parking lot striping may seem like a minute task, but its importance cannot be overstated. An adequately painted parking lot is crucial for safety and can make all the difference between a smooth parking experience and an unsafe environment.
Parking lot paint will inevitably fade over time; therefore, it’s necessary to keep up with touch-ups. Ideally, parking lots should be repainted every two to three years to ensure paint stays fresh and bright. If you notice an uptick in parking lot accidents, it may be time to reassess your parking lot layout and repaint it.
If your lot has a lot of trees, it’s essential to remove them. The trees shade the cars from the sun and make the parking lot experience less enjoyable for drivers.
For larger lots, it may be beneficial to paint parking lots from top to bottom. If the top of the lot is painted black, there is a tendency to think the parking experience is bleak because everything is dark. Painted curves and hills are beneficial for a sense of height. For smaller lots, simply filling the lot with black asphalt will make the parking experience more empty because nothing is contrasted.
The key to parking lot striping is that it’s an ambiance experience, which means that it has to be enticing enough to make you want to get out of your car and walk to the lot. Parking lot striping is not simply an affair of applying black paint to the lot. Black will seem like darkness and also serve as a contrasting accent for the surrounding white or bright yellow pavement. Adequately done, parking lot striping can make your lot look more like a restaurant or store than a parking lot.
One of the critical elements of parking lot striping is shade. Parking lot striping must allow sunlight in and shadow to move out. If you don’t do either, then you won’t get a positive shade experience while in the lot. Parking lot striping is a balance of proper curves, elevation, and angle. There are techniques used to achieve parking lot striping unique to the lot, so if you go to another lot, you may not get the parking lot striping experience you’re looking for.
Here are some simple tips for proper parking lot striping:
- Know what you’re looking for. Be sure to ask for parking lot striping when you’re shopping for a store or building project. Be sure to get striping that is subtle but distinct and won’t confuse the surrounding pavement.
- Select the right paving mix. Be sure that the parking lot striping does not blend in with the surrounding pavement. You should select a black or dark brown paving mix to make the parking lot contrasting with the surrounding pavement.
- Select the proper slope. Select a hill that is a slope that is more of a 90-degree slope or a flat surface slope. Flat surfaces allow for the light to pass through easily and shade to move out. The 90-degree pitch makes shade easily noticeable but still allows for sunlight to pass through. The flat surface slope allows the parking lot to be easily distinguished from the surrounding pavement.
- Select the right angle. Select an angle that is 45 degrees or less. When the rise is less than 45 degrees, you can’t create the contrast that you want. When the surge is greater than 45 degrees, the angle creates shadows that will blend into the pavement. The angle should be selected to have no shadows.
The important thing here is to select a parking lot striping that will create a parking lot that is inconspicuous yet distinct from the surrounding pavement. Parking lot striping is not hard to do, and it doesn’t take a lot of time to apply. It’s just a matter of making sure that you do it correctly to achieve a parking lot that is inconspicuous yet distinct from the surrounding pavement.