About Parking Lot Striping Paint

All traffic paint contains a lot of pigment. Pigment is the colored solid material left on the pavement after the liquids have evaporated and/or been absorbed into the pavement. Contractors are usually surprised to learn that there is a frequently wide range in the percentage of pigment used by different manufacturers.

It’s also important to be aware that some manufacturers use different solvents in their paint. Therefore, some brands may not be chemically compatible with other brands of paint. Incompatible paints may not “mix” together if combine in the same pail. For example, Brand X alkyd striping paint may not combine with Brand Y or Brand Z alkyd striping paint. Wise contractors always ask their dealer for this type of information.

By comparing the net weights of similar types of paint made by various manufacturers, you’ll instantly see which paint offers the most “solids.” That will be the paint that weighs the most. Of course, the heavily pigmented paints are unlikely to be the cheapest.

We believe there is a wide range of criteria in selecting paint, other than price. Some important points to consider are list below:

1. Workability; consistently and how well it flows with your equipment.
2. Long life/good “wear” and color retention characteristics
3. Professional expertise from your dealer; you need good advice from someone in your locality when you enter the striping business.
4. Credit terms/delivery service; be sure to find a high quality paint supplier who can help you in many ways.

Parking Lot Striping Experts

Trueline Parking Lot Striping has been performing parking lot striping for over 20 years.  Trueline Striping Inc considers each and every one of our customers, both returning and new, as part of our future success in the parking lot striping industry. Our aim is simple in that we strive to  build long lasting relationships with our property management customers,  and to maintain those relationships with fair pricing, quality work and good communication and service.  If you have a parking lot striping project coming up and would like a professional, detailed and quality proposal then give us a call today.

Parking Lot Striping Problem Suggestions

This one came all the way from Georgia.  We received a e-mail from a frustrated project manager who was dealing with the issue of parking lot striping laid out incorrectly.  He was looking for a fair solution for dealing with the parking lot striping contractor who had made the error.

His letter went something like this:

“Dear James     -

I would appreciate your advice on how to remove some new striping that was put in the wrong place and subsequently, ‘blacked out’.

This obviously doesn’t sit well with the new owners and the outfit that did the work is un helpful as to possible solutions.

Any ideas or suggestions (pressure washing, sand blasting, shot blasting) that could help me (new project manager) would be greatly appreciated.

Please see attached pics and thanks again for your time.

Sincerely,

C. C.

B.  Co.

My response was that I have seen this many times through the years and had even made the mistake myself once or twice. The solution is a simple but sometimes costly one.  The parking lot striping contractor that made the layout error needs to sandblast off the old striping and re-seal the areas effected by the wrong design then, re stripe per correct layout. Now that is a costly repair for a small parking lot striping company to have to make but I personally feel that the property owner should get what he/she paid for. Also the striper should always remember to measure twice and cut once. In our shop we call this experience tuition.

Parking Lot Striping at night in the early morning hours is a tricky trade.

If you can totally prevent all foot and vehicular traffic in a given area, there is no reason why you can’t stripe just about any time.  Just keep in mind that no matter how little paint you apply, it will dry a lot slower than the same paint applied later in the day when the asphalt has a chance to heat up.  Consider these variables that affect the speed of paint drying on asphalt or concrete:

1. Sunlight/Shade
2. Wind
3. Heat in the pavement
4. Temperature
5. Relative Humidity
6. Moisture in the Asphalt

In the very early a.m., you probably won’t have the assistance of:

1. Sunlight
2. Heat in the pavement
3. Warm temperature

these are some of the things that give your paint the ability to dry quickly and avoid costly accidents.

The time span between application and the point at which it will not cause “tracking” may be as short as 15 minutes to several days.  Depending on the weather and the product used you may get very different results.  The biggest enemies of paint not drying are humidity, shade and cool air temperature.  So be mindful of them! One thing that we practice at Trueline Striping is to use rapid dry paint  products. We use these in times when we feel there is a drying risk.  Also make sure to carefully block off areas that do remain wet so nobody can wonder in to those areas.  One slip can mean BIG problems for you.

Good Luck and happy Line Painting!

If you are located in one of the area codes below and are in need of a Parking Lot Striping Company or a Parking Lot Maintenance Company please give us a call today. There are many ways our parking lot striping customers find us using there web browsers. With that in mind we here at Trueline Striping are always on the lookout for great ways to get found. Last week we talked about using zip codes to find us on the net so this week we thought we would try area codes. By implementing some special codes on our web site we should now come up for your search for parking lot striping + what ever area code in the Southern California area that you type in. We here at Trueline Striping take our parking lot striping and parking lot maintenance serious. If you need some parking lot striping and maintenance projects done correct on time and to budget then please give us a call.

Parking Lot Striping + Area Codes Los Angeles:

• Parking Lot Striping 209
  
• Parking Lot Striping 213
  
• Parking Lot Striping 310
• Parking Lot Striping 323
• Parking Lot Striping 408
  
• Parking Lot Striping 415
• Parking Lot Striping 424
• Parking Lot Striping 510
• Parking Lot Striping 530
• Parking Lot Striping 559
• Parking Lot Striping 562
  
• Parking Lot Striping 619
• Parking Lot Striping 626
• Parking Lot Striping 650
• Parking Lot Striping 661
• Parking Lot Striping 707
• Parking Lot Striping 714
• Parking Lot Striping 760
• Parking Lot Striping 805
• Parking Lot Striping 818
• Parking Lot Striping 831
• Parking Lot Striping 858
• Parking Lot Striping 909
• Parking Lot Striping 916
• Parking Lot Striping 925
• Parking Lot Striping 949

If you don’t see your area code on this map and you are located in or near Southern California please feel free to give us a call and ask us to add your area code. Trueline  Striping has been offering Parking Lot Striping and Parking Lot Maintenance services for over 18 Years through out California. Trueline Striping is available here:

Toll Free in Southern California:                    1-800-603-1116

fax                                                                               1-714-630-8787

email                                                                      L.gilbert@trueline.net

snail mail                                     2941 East Miraloma Ave. #6 Anaheim Ca. 92806

Web:                                                                          www.trueline.net

Glossary of Parking Lot Maintenance Terms (Relating To Striping)

Glossary

• Aisle, Traffic: A portion of a parking facility used for vehicle travel to and from stalls, or between street, stalls, and building(s) served.

• Aisle, Pedestrian: Those portions of a parking facility reserved exclusively for pedestrian use; also the other routes normally used by pedestrians between stalls and buildings. Exclusive-use pedestrian aisles typically are protected routes such as raised walkways and designated controlled lanes between or across rows of stalls. Nonexclusive pedestrian aisles include routes coinciding with traffic aisles.

• Angle of Parking: The angle (in degrees) between the line delineating the side of a stall and a line at the top of the stalls and parallel to the traffic aisle served by the stalls.

• Berm: A raised asphalt concrete curb-like bumper. Intended only for marking edges of an area; is not strong enough to deflect a straying vehicle.

• Controlled Parking: Permit parking, validated parking, pay parking, parking restricted to employees only, and other parking that is not for the free use of the general public.

• Capacity: The number of vehicles a parking area holds within designated stalls; or gross vehicle weight in parking structure/parking deck.

• Dead Area: A portion of a parking facility not usable for parking lot striping stalls or traffic aisles. Dead areas may be used for pedestrian aisles, lighting, landscaping, or other improvements.

• Delineation: Line marking.

• Density: The number of vehicles per area of given size. May be used to compare one parking facility’s capacity efficiency with another’s.

• Depth, Stall: The distance (at right angles to the traffic aisle) from the top of a stall to its traffic aisle edge.

• Double Row: Two single rows forming a unit. A double row is normally located in the interior area of a parking facility, where it forms an island between traffic aisles. Usually the two single rows are adjacent and vehicles in one single row are separated from those in the other by painted central division lines. Sometimes a pedestrian aisle or other physical barrier provides the separation.

• Double-Loaded Traffic Aisle: A traffic aisle with accessible stalls on both sides.

• Egress: Exiting.

• Entrance; Exit: An area used for vehicle ingress/ egress from a parking facility. Usually located on public property and connecting with a street or road.

• Esthetics: Considerations of attractiveness and good taste.

• Exit; Entrance: An area used for vehicle egress/ingress to a parking facility. Usually located on public property and connecting with a street or road.

• Ingress: Entering.

• Layout: The placement of stalls, aisles, fixtures, and improvements within a parking facility.

• Ninety-Degree Parking: Head-in or rear-in parking in which the vehicle body is at right angles to a line across the top of the row of stalls.

• Overhang: The distance from the striking face of a wheel stop to the property line or wall. Similarly, a vehicle would extend this distance over a curb.

• Overlap: The distance gained at the centerline of a double row of vehicles where the alternate traffic aisles are intended for vehicle traffic in opposite directions.

• Parallel Aisles: Two or more aisles which run in the same direction. For example, if two aisles both run east and west, they are parallel.

• Parking Angle: The angle (in degrees) between the line delineating the side of a stall and a line at the top of the parking lot striping stalls and parallel to the traffic aisle served by the stalls.

• Pedestrian Aisle: Those portions of a parking facility reserved exclusively for pedestrian use; also the other routes normally used by pedestrians between stalls and buildings. Exclusive-use pedestrian aisles typically are protected routes such as raised walkways and designated controlled lanes between or across rows of stalls. Nonexclusive pedestrian aisles include routes coinciding with traffic aisles.

• Permit Parking: Parking in which authorized users possess permits.

• Seal Coating: A coating which seals a pavement’s surface.

• Single Row: A row of adjacent stalls. Usually located on the perimeter of a parking facility.

• Single-Loaded Traffic Aisle: A traffic aisle with accessible stalls on only one side.

• Stacked Parking: Parking in which the first-in vehicle in a given chain of vehicles may not be removed without first moving one or more later arriving vehicles in the chain. Used to increase capacity in a parking facility where space is at a premium.

• Stall: A portion of a parking facility designed to hold one vehicle, and marked, usually by lines painted on pavement, for that purpose.

• Stall Depth: The distance (at right angles to the traffic aisle) from the top of a stall to its traffic aisle edge.

• Stall Width: The distance between the two side lines of a stall, measured at right angles to the two lines.

• Traffic Aisle: A portion of a parking facility used for vehicle travel to and from stalls, or between street, stalls, and building(s) served.

• Traffic Flow: The pattern of traffic movement through an area or through a parking facility.

• Turnover: The number of vehicles which use a given space of facility in a given time period.

• Validated Parking: Parking in which a user’s parking ticket must receive an official stamp to waive parking fees.

• Wall to Wall Dimension: The distance (passing across a traffic aisle at right angles to the aisle) from the farther end of a vehicle parked on one side of the traffic aisle to the farther end of a vehicle parked on the other side.

• Wheel Bumper: A block installed at the end of a parking stall to provide tactile identification of the end of the stall when the driver feels his wheel contact the block.

• Width, Stall: The distance between the two side lines of a stall, measured at right angles to the two lines.

This in an incomplete list of parking lot striping terms. This list will continue to grow over time. If you have suggestions for terms to add please feel free to comment or E-mail me.

Last week Trueline Striping was hired to place some new handicaps on a large parking lot of a church in Los Angeles. This is a typical parking lot striping job that we preform in Southern California for parking lot managers and parking lot owners every day.

Other services we offer include:

• Seal Coating
• Asphalt Patching
• Pressure Washing
• Warehouse Striping
• Sandblasting
• Traffic sign and pole installations
• Truncated domes
• plus many more.

If you have an upcoming parking lot striping or parking lot maintenance project coming up soon and would like up to provide you with a bid for no charge, please feel free to give us a call.

Now that the holiday season has officially begun, it may be time to start thinking about how you can make your parking garage better. During the holiday season, more people are taking the roads, in order to go shopping as well as to go to visit relatives, than during any other time of the year, making it important that you have your parking garage set up as ideally as you possibly can. For instance, ask yourself how long it’s been since your parking lot striping has been done?

Parking lot striping is very important when it comes to a parking garage. It is the parking lot striping that helps your customers to know where, exactly, they are supposed to park. It is the parking lot striping that lets people know where they are supposed to park their vehicle, and it is parking lot striping that allows them to park their car easily without having to worry about hitting other vehicles. If it’s been a year or longer since you’ve had your parking lot striping done, it’s time to get it done again. You can have it done during the slow time of your business, so that your parking garage can look beautiful during the busy shopping season.

Have you thought about the animals outside of your company? Some commercial businesses don’t think about pets, and focus only on the human traffic that they get. But, if you’ve got pedestrian traffic coming into your store, chances are that you’ve got people who would want to bring their pets with them. People love their animals, and dogs are especially fun to walk. If you don’t have a place for your customer’s dog to rest at, you may be missing out on some potential customers and losing money. How can you welcome animals to your store without actually bringing them into your store?

One way to do it is to use parking lot striping to help you to create a doggie parking lot. There are a number of doggie parking apparatuses that you can purchase and place outside of your business. These apparatuses allow people to literally park their dogs outside of the building by providing places to tie the leashes. The next time you have your parking lot striping done, you can then choose to mark down the area on the sidewalk where your dogs are, allowing your customers, and the dogs to be extremely happy.

Let’s talk about Black Friday for a moment. If you’re a commercial business, Black Friday is likely your favorite time of year – and also your busiest. Black Friday can be worry some for any business, no matter how organized you are, simply because it is something that is so crazy and wonderful at the same time. You can’t predict how many people you’ll get, and you can’t predict how insane the traffic will be. It may be too late now to prepare for Black Friday by changing around your parking lot striping, but it’s never too late to get ready for next year.

How can parking lot striping help you to prepare for Black Friday? Easily. First of all, you may be misusing the room you’ve got in your parking lot right now. If you can fit in a dozen more cars safely, you will be making more room for people who are coming to shop for Black Friday. Next, take a look at your pedestrian traffic markings. Are there any? The more you’ve got marked down, and the easier it is to understand, the smoother the traffic, both pedestrian and automobile, will flow, making Black Friday a bit calmer.

Are you looking for a unique Christmas gift that you can give someone? If you know someone who owns a business, one gift that you can give them is parking lot striping! It may sound a bit out of the box, but those are the best types of presents! Here’s how you can do it – first, contact a parking lot striping company that has competitive prices and that has a good reputation. Then, have them give you a free quote so that you can see how much money you’re talking about before you hire them on the spot.

It’s best if you can do this part when the owner of the property, the gift recipient, isn’t there, as he/she being there would ruin the surprise. If the amount suggested by the parking lot striping company is agreeable to you, explain that you want to give it as a gift and set up an agreement with the striping company. You may not be able to set up the exact date, but you can get something written down that you can give to the property owner so that they will know what you’ve given them for Christmas.