While you may not give a second thought to the parking lot on your commercial property, your employees and customers pay close attention to the condition of your asphalt paving. How would you feel about pulling into a business that has cracks, crevices, and potholes all over its parking area? Not only does it leave a bad impression, but research shows that about 20% of car accidents happen in parking lots — your business should mitigate any risk for liability reasons. For commercial property owners looking to upgrade, asphalt paving projects can offer a huge return on investment. To understand why you should choose commercial asphalt paving to refresh your business and make it safer, consider some of these benefits.
Asphalt Has Been Around for a While
It’s easy to think that asphalt is a modern innovation that’s only been around since cars were invented, or that asphalt paving was a result of the Industrial Revolution. The truth is that humans have been using asphalt to pave roads as far back as 600 BC when the Babylonians used it. Sure, the tools we use now to lay down asphalt are a lot more sophisticated, but the overall nature of asphalt paving lends itself to being a timeless construction and infrastructure tool.
Asphalt Is Environmentally Friendly
Organizations of all sizes are choosing to support sustainability, and yours can be one of them by choosing asphalt paving. In fact, asphalt has been reported as the most reused and recycled material in the country. Depending on the application, your asphalt contractor can create a surface where only the top layer needs to be repaired and maintained to keep up the integrity of the paving. Choosing asphalt paving means decreasing the size of the carbon footprint your business leaves behind.
Asphalt Is Cost-Effective
Many commercial property owners have a choice between concrete and asphalt paving. While we would suggest asphalt (of course) it’s not a hard decision to make — especially when it comes to cost. Depending on the project and contractor you choose, asphalt can be anywhere from $2-$5 cheaper than concrete per square foot. Speak to your asphalt paving contractor about using recycled material in your next asphalt project to add to the cost savings. Also, ask them about maintenance plans that will help hold the value of your new asphalt.
Asphalt Offers Durability
Simply put: Well-installed asphalt paving, performed with quality materials and tools, can have a lifespan of up to 35 years. It’s also low-maintenance and the preventative measures needed to keep asphalt looking new are relatively low-cost when stretched out over the lifetime of your pavement. Sealcoating every few years, crack and pothole filling, and general maintenance can also help your asphalt paving stand up to high volumes of vehicle traffic from customers or even trucks hauling inventory. What other areas of your commercial property can boast that kind of longevity?
Asphalt Is a Popular Choice
Would you be surprised to find out that around 90% of parking lots and 85% of airport runways are paved with asphalt? Or that 97% of the 2.7 million miles of roads in this country have asphalt paved surfaces? Municipalities and infrastructure planners rely on asphalt paving to keep improvement budgets manageable, so it only makes sense that many commercial property owners and managers choose asphalt paving over other surfaces.
Asphalt Contractors Make a Difference
Even if your municipal crew has asphalt paving skills and access to equipment, asphalt paving needs to be laid professionally and properly for it to hold its value. Because asphalt paving can be an afterthought, many commercial property owners don’t think it’s worth paying much for the project. However, this is truly a case where you get what you pay for. Poorly installed asphalt means more repairs, higher costs, and increased frustration for you and everyone that visits your business.
From the early planning stages to completion, asphalt paving projects take a lot of work to get done right. The provider you choose needs to have more than just asphalt, equipment, and labor. They should also have well-maintained equipment (plus spare machines) and well-trained, safety-conscious work crews.
Is your focus on quality and dependability? At Leritz Busy Bee we have earned a solid reputation you can trust. For 30 years, we have kept projects on schedule while managing to keep business interruptions to a minimum, and most importantly, the work we do stands the test of time so reach out to us if you’re ever in need of asphalt paving.