July 24 2020 0Comment
remove-oil-from-asphalt

Why It’s Important to Remove Oil From Asphalt Parking Lots

Removing oil stains from your parking lot is more than just a cosmetic repair.

A clean and well-maintained parking lot is appealing to customers and any person who visits your premises. There’re various parking lot maintenance services that you need to exercise to ensure your asphalt paving lasts long. Cleaning oil stains is particularly essential, as it prevents asphalt damage, hence prolonging the lifespan of your parking lot.

There’re several benefits why you need to remove oil from asphalt as soon as a stain is noticed.

Extend the Lifespan of Your Parking Lot

When an ugly oil spot stains your pristine asphalt paving, it causes more damage than being an eyesore sight. As long as the ingredients making your asphalt paving remain stable, your parking lot will perform as expected. If motor oil stains your parking lot, it interferes with the asphalt composition leading to pothole formation.

Instead of waiting until that happens, make the initial investment of cleaning the parking lot as soon after the spills occur. A parking lot maintenance team will determine the best way to remove oil from asphalt based on the oil stain extent. There’re three levels of oil stain damage, and each requires a different type of response:

Surface Stain

These are oil stains that are yet to penetrate the asphalt surface. They make asphalt sealcoating impossible as the seal cannot adhere asphalt covered with oil stain. Once the stain is removed, the normal asphalt sealcoating process is followed to repair your asphalt.

Surface Damage

Leaving the oil stain on your parking lot for long leads to surface damage which you can tell by exposed surface or small depressions. When that’s the case, asphalt repair professionals may use the above solution or use an infrared heater to correct the damage.

Extensive Disintegration

You can tell the stain damage has reached this point if the affected area shows signs of softening. In this case, the asphalt patching and repair team removes the affected area and replaces it with a patch. Alternatively, the team can grind away about 1.5 to 2 inches of the affected area, clean it, and then resurface. Use the second option if you’re looking for a budget-friendly asphalt repair option.

Remove Oil From Asphalt as Part of Paving Preservation Plan

Your commercial asphalt paving is an essential investment, and you need to maintain it like your other assets. Parking lot maintenance requires having a long-term preservation plan that makes it easy to predict your future asphalt repair-budget. Planning this requires that you take into account:

  • The age of your asphalt paving
  • The completed asphalt repair exercises
  • What repairs need to be done next
  • How soon before the next repairs

If you remove oil from asphalt parking lot immediately, you avoid throwing a curveball into your future repairs plans. You may have ample time to prepare for the next repair, but oil stains can damage the surface, moving up the timeline. Therefore, ensure you keep up with the cleaning efforts to help you predict your future income accurately.

Improve the Overall Curb Appeal

A clean parking lot attracts customers more than an unkept parking lot. It’s, therefore, essential to remove oil from asphalt before they turn into unsightly spots. Asphalt sealcoating and asphalt patching and repair also improve the overall appearance of your parking lot. The two procedures are also useful in prolonging the lifespan of your paving.

Get Professional Parking Lot Maintenance Services from PLS

Contacting a professional asphalt paving contractor to remove oil from asphalt ensures that your parking lot doesn’t experience damage. Parking Lot Services in Tampa is efficient in parking maintenance services. We take pride in offering a wide range of asphalt repair services in Tampa. Be sure to contact us to schedule a no-cost consultation for removing oil from asphalt or any other parking lot maintenance service.