Parking lots have become an essential part of virtually every business that has employees, customers, guests, clients, students, patients, or tenants. A well-maintained, visually appealing parking lot can do a great deal to encourage people to stop in to purchase your goods or services, lease from you, or select your facility. Crack repairs and sealcoating are important procedures that enhance safety, help protect your pavement, and boost your curb appeal. However, without professional parking lot striping, your property will not be as attractive or safe as you might like. Naturally, you would rather your parking lot not be closed for a lengthy time during and after the striping, so you may wonder how long the paint will take to dry. Most types of parking lot paint will be dry to the touch within 20 minutes or so, but you should allow at least an hour before you allow vehicles to access your pavement. The precise drying time will need to be provided by your striping contractor because there are several variables that affect it. These factors include the type of paint and the weather.
How Does the Type of Paint Affect the Drying Time of Parking Lot Striping?
Lot striping paints can be divided into two broad categories, which are water-based and oil-based. Typically, water-based paints are the leading choice for asphalt striping and marking, but oil-based paints tend to be more popular for concrete parking lots. Between the two types, water-based paints usually have a shorter drying time than their oil-based cousins. However, there are specialty paints available in each category, including oil-based paints that are formulated to have shorter drying times. Ask your parking lot painting service provider to explain the pros and cons of all the different options that are available to you.
What Impact Does the Weather Have on the Drying Time of Parking Lot Striping?
As experienced striping and sealcoating contractors know, the weather plays a critical role in the evaporation of water from paints and sealcoats. Evaporation rates are increased by heat, decreased by humidity, increased by exposure to sunlight, and slightly increased by light, steady breezes. Separately, each of these can impact the rate of evaporation, but they can also combine to increase or decrease the drying time of asphalt striping paint. For example, if the temperature is 50 degrees or more, the humidity is low, the winds are relatively low and consistent, and the day is sunny, the paint will dry faster than it would if the humidity is oppressively high, the skies are heavily overcast, and the winds are nonexistent even if there is no difference in the temperature. This is why asphalt maintenance contractors carefully monitor all weather conditions leading up to and throughout the day of the work. Coincidentally, the best conditions for lot striping are almost identical to the best conditions for asphalt sealcoating, so scheduling both services with the same contractor can typically help you get your lot reopened faster.
Does RDC Paving Offer a Parking Lot Painting Service?
RDC Paving offers lot striping, pavement marking, and many other services, including sealcoating, concrete repair, asphalt crack repair, asphalt milling, residential asphalt paving, asphalt repair, concrete curbing, asphalt paving, and asphalt resurfacing. We have an exceptional reputation for superior workmanship and exemplary customer service. For a free estimate, submit our quote request form online, or call 512-920-9155 to reach our Hutto office.