Your business’s parking lot is more important than most companies know. It’s one of the first things a client, customer, investor, or other vested party will see when they visit, and that means it affects their first impressions. You need to ensure your parking lot is making as good an impression as possible, and that means ensuring your parking lot paint is immaculate. One of the best ways to achieve this is to choose the right paint for your parking lot. The Tucker Paving team has paved and painted our share of parking lots in the nearly 30 years we have been serving Central Florida in the asphalt and concrete construction industry, so we know how crucial it is to get your parking lot stripping done right the first time, right down to choosing the correct paint.
What Paint Not to Use
There are many options when it comes to choosing the paint for your parking lot, but there are also a lot of options for the wrong paint. Essentially, any paint that is made for indoor applications—both latex and oil-based—are not going to be a good choice for painting the stripping on your parking lot. If fact, they are going to be horrible choices.
Paint that is formulated for indoor applications like walls and furniture will not hold up in the outdoor environment of a parking lot. Even paints that are formulated for outdoor use—such as for painting the outside of a house—but not for parking lot painting are also not going to hold up when used on a parking lot. Because of the makeup of a parking lot’s surface, only paints formulated for use as parking lot paint will hold up for any length of time.
Parking Lot Paint Options
Parking lot paints are divided into two categories: water-based paint and solvent-based paint. The advantages and disadvantages of each include:
Water-Based Paint
Advantages:
- They are considered more environmentally friendly.
- They are generally less expensive.
- Their dry-time is shorter, meaning the parking lot will be open for use sooner.
Disadvantages:
- They are not as durable and will not last as long.
Solvent-Based Paint
Advantages:
- It lasts longer as it’s more durable.
Disadvantages:
- It releases volatile organic compounds (VOCs) which are gases that should not be breathed in, thus meaning that more care and PPE is needed when applying it.
- It takes longer to dry.
- Due to the VOCs, it cannot be used in any setting where the compounds could accumulate and make people sick, such as in warehouse spaces.
- VOCs are banned in some states and municipalities.
- They are more expensive.
Other options include chlorinated rubber paints and thermoplastic paints. Chlorinated rubber paints dry with a texture that resembles rubber and can be used for curbs, posts, and other features. They are the most durable option, but they are also expensive.
Thermoplastic paints are made with plastic polymers. This makes this paint very durable but a more expensive option.
Tucker Paving has nearly 30 years of experience in the concrete and asphalt paving construction industry. We offer site clearing, site grading, stabilized subgrade, base work, asphalt paving, underground utilities, concrete curbs, sidewalks, slabs, and tie-beams, and all aspects of parking lot construction and maintenance, including stripping. Call us at (863) 299-2262, or contact us online, for your next project!
