Budget Planning Tips for Asphalt Paving

There are some people who actually enjoy working up estimated costs, moving numbers around, and handling all of the other tasks that go into the creation of a budget. There are other people who find budget planning stressful, confusing, and time-consuming. Regardless of whether you loathe or enjoy budget planning, when you reach the section for your asphalt paving, you may be entering territory that is new to you. If so, you can make your task easier by remembering the acronym POMAR, which stands for proactively observing, maintaining, and repairing, when you think about your pavement.

Budget Planning Tips for Asphalt Paving

What Does Proactively Observing My Asphalt Paving Mean?

You cannot address issues unless you know that they exist. When people see anything, including an asphalt pavement, every day, they tend to see what they expect to see until a change becomes too obvious to miss. You do not want to overlook a crack until you trip over it, and you do not want to discover that the oil stains you failed to notice have turned into potholes. Whether you hire an Orange County paving contractor to inspect your pavement or do it yourself, someone needs to walk around your parking lot every six months to observe its condition. Make a written, photographic, or oral record of any current or potential issue, its location, and the reason for your concern.

What Does Proactively Maintaining My Asphalt Pavement Mean?

Like a car, an asphalt pavement can benefit from both routine and preventive maintenance. Routine maintenance for a car would include washing its exterior, and preventive maintenance would include having its oil changed regularly. Routine maintenance for an asphalt pavement includes removing debris, cleaning up puddles of oil or other vehicle fluids, and having your contractor repaint worn or damaged pavement markings. Preventive maintenance for an asphalt pavement includes having your contractor repair minor cracks before they grow, sealcoating your pavement periodically, and addressing any drainage issues that might manifest. Your sealcoating contractor may be able to handle your minor crack repairs, asphalt sealing, and pavement markings, and this may save you time and a little money.

What Does Proactively Repairing My Asphalt Paving Mean?

When problems develop, they will continue to worsen until they are addressed. What starts as a minor crack can turn into a major break, spawning additional cracks and potholes. Patches of pavement may develop alligator cracking, and the damage keeps mounting until your entire pavement could be compromised. Nature can also inflict damage within days or even hours. Droughts can cause the soil under your pavement to shrink, allowing your unsupported pavement to subside. Even a minor quake can cause sufficient ground movement to damage a pavement. Furthermore, although reputable asphalt contractors rarely botch an installation, you cannot rule out that possibility entirely. Regardless of the cause, you should not delay repairs if you want to save your pavement.

How Does the Above Information Help Me Plan My Asphalt Pavement Budget?

It is now time to put the information to good use in your budget planning. Most asphalt companies in Orange County would be happy to assist you in determining the proper intervals for your maintenance procedures, which may not be the same for every pavement. What follows are some general guidelines for a typical parking lot receiving an average amount of traffic.

1. Your parking lot should be swept at least monthly, and weekly sweepings would be even better in many cases.
2. Have minor cracks repaired and vehicle fluids removed at least once a year. If your paving company told you to wait for the new asphalt to cure before sealcoating, have oil and other fluids removed every two to three months during this time.
3. Plan to have your sealcoating contractor apply fresh sealant every two years. Make sure that you include in your budget the cost of repainting your stripes and markings every time you apply sealcoating.
4. Create a reserve account in your annual budget to hold the funds for an asphalt overlay about every 12 years. Asphalt overlays are cost-effective ways to give pavements a new surface that functions and looks virtually the same as a rebuilt pavement, but they are significantly more economical.
5. Be sure to budget for the seemingly trivial things that can add up quickly. These include replacing faded or damaged traffic signs, broken or misaligned car stops, and damaged curbing. If applicable, you might want to include evaluations to ensure your parking lot complies with ADA and fire code regulations, the removal of debris from your parking lot drains, and the repair or replacement of grates over catch basins, trenches, or drains.

Peterson Grading & Paving offers a full line of paving services for installing, maintaining, and repairing asphalt pavements, including crack repairs, paving, sealcoating, patching, milling, and asphalt resurfacing. We also offer parking lot striping, line removal, parking lot signs, marking removal, and parking lot maintenance plans. In addition, we offer warehouse striping, bollard installation, and shot blasting, and we install and repair concrete parking lots, concrete sidewalks, concrete curbing, and concrete ramps. We are widely known for the exceptional quality of our work, our superb customer service, and our extremely reasonable prices. Submit the online form to request a free quote, or you can call 949-402-6979.