Can your customers barely see the lines of your business's parking lot? Do you have your visitors' vehicles taking up two spaces at once often, limiting how many people can actually park their cars? If you're worried about your parking lot being an eyesore and an inconvenience to your customers, read on.
When you want to get your parking lines redone, there are a number of ways you can approach this project. You can definitely turn to a professional parking lot contractor, but if you feel confident that you want to do this yourself, continue reading this free guide.
You'll learn how you can restripe your parking lot lines professionally. With the right guidance, tools, and line striping equipment, you can transform your parking lot lines from chipped and faded to bright and long-lasting!
Preparation for Parking Lot Striping
Any successful project needs preparation! Before you even mix the paint for your new lines, you have to make sure you have a solid plan. A little work and prep will make your work process smoother.
Assessing the Parking Lot
Before you start, take a look at your parking lot and its condition. Are there any surface imperfections you need to patch? Cracks, potholes, and uneven areas can have a significant effect on your parking lot and the quality of your parking lines.
An even, clean surface is the best canvas for painting. Take care in getting cracks and any uneven areas fixed before moving on.
Parking Lot Line Striping Essentials
After your parking area has been inspected, cleaned, and patched, the next step will be to gather your equipment and supplies.
Here’s a checklist to start with:
- Line Striping Machine: This will make your line striping so much easier — with a line striper, you can get straight lines without needing to put painter's tape down or break your back. For small parking lots, you can use an entry-level striping machine like the PowrLiner 850. Be sure to get a machine that is appropriate for your parking lot size. Our experts at Asphalt Kingdom can help you with all aspects of your painting project!
- Measuring Tape and Chalk Line: By marking your parking lines with chalk beforehand, you can ensure the same length and starting point for a professional finish.
- Paint: Asphalt paint is specially formulated for pavement, so it is weather-resistant and durable so your lines are visible for years to come.
- Parking Lot Stencils: If you have any handicap spaces in your parking lot, you will definitely want to have a handicap stencil to ensure your ADA compliance.
- Safety Gear: To be safe, you can use gloves, safety glasses and a mask to protect from fumes and paint.
If you need guidance on the equipment and tools to use for your DIY parking lot painting project, reach out to us — we can customize a package specific to your project, connect you with one of our AK coaches to train your crew on line striping, or help you select a line striping contractor if you would rather have this done for you by professionals.
Planning Your Painting Project
Most of the time, you would repaint over your existing lines. If you want to double-check the size of your parking spots, they're typically 18 feet long by 9 feet wide, with a 24'-wide driving lane between the rows.
Need to figure out your budget or how much this project would cost you?
Count up the number of parking lines you have and any other lines you want to paint, and calculate the total linear feet to be painted. Plug that number into the Asphalt Kingdom Paint Calculator to see approximately how many gallons or 5-gallon pails you would need for your line striping job. Include a few more pails in your calculations just in case!
Choosing the Right Paint for Your Parking Lot
Painting handicap signs using stencils
When it comes to pavement, you can't use just any paint from the shelf at your big box store. Using the wrong paint would waste your money, and you know you don't want to do that.
Choosing the correct paint for your project will allow your lines to last. Here's what you need to know:
Types of Asphalt Paint
When parking lot striping, there are two main types of paint for asphalt:
- Water-Based: Water-based paint is very popular due to its easy application and simple cleanup. It dries fast, is environmentally-friendly, and can be used in practically any climate.
- Solvent-Based: Oil-based paint is more durable, making it great for areas with high traffic or severe weather. The downside to it is it needs to be handled carefully, it takes a longer time to dry, and it can't be cleaned with just soap and water.
Paint Recommendations
Looking for the ideal paint to use for your situation? Here are some of our recommendations:
- Have extreme weather, such as blistering summers and freezing winters? Or is it hot and dry all year-round? Oil-based asphalt paint has better weather resistance than water-based, and extreme temperatures are less of a durability factor.
- What about heavy traffic areas? If your parking lot sees a large amount of vehicles traveling in and out, solvent-based traffic paint is your best bet.
- Have low to moderate traffic and mild weather? Water-based pavement paint will provide the least headaches.
When you choose the right paint, you can have a professional-looking outcome that will last for years. Next up: the techniques you'll need to get straight parking lines that look great!
Line Striping Techniques for Your Parking Lot
Here's where we get to the fun part — using the line striper and painting the lines! Then you can view and enjoy all of the preparation and hard work you've done.
Using a Line Striping Machine
Striping a parking lot with the Titan PowrLiner 3500
A line striper can be a smart investment if you want to restripe your parking lots every year or every few years. If you have friends with their own businesses and parking lots, you can even share a machine to spread the costs. It will make your life easier and you won't have to fiddle with tape or paint cans!
Ready to work with your line striping machine? Go through these steps:
- Set Up the Striping Machine: First you need to set up your line striper by following the manufacturer's instructions. Make sure everything is connected correctly, and you can test it by using water instead of paint. Once you feel confident and you have your line width set, you can load up your paint.
- Mark Your Lines: Before you even lay one line, you should check the weather forecast. No precipitation for the next 48 hours? You're good to go — clean your parking lot's surface and mark where you need to paint with a chalk line. Take care to keep the line taut so that when you snap it, the lines are straight.
- Get Striping: Using your chalk lines as guides, line up your striper's paint gun to the center of your line. For a sharp end to your line, you can place a small piece of cardboard where you would start your line. Start painting your line by holding and applying pressure to the lever, and push the striper at the same time so the paint is applied evenly to the end. Keep your pressure and movement steady so you don't have uneven lines.
Hand Painting Techniques
Coach Dom Manzo and the team painting by hand
Have a few touch-ups or small areas that need painting? Sometimes, you may need to hand paint instead of using a line striper. For example, if your striping gun isn't detachable from the machine, it won't be very convenient to stencil.
Here’s how to do it right:
- Use High-Quality Brushes or Rollers: When you have good tools, you'll have good results! Having quality brushes or rollers can help you get better results.
- Apply Even Pressure: Consistent strokes and pressure make the difference! Be patient and calm when painting by hand. Apply just enough paint for it to be solid and visible.
- Make Sure Layers Are Dry: If you're painting handicap spaces with a blue box and a white handicap symbol on top, ensure the blue box is dry before applying the white on top.
Let the Paint Dry
When you want your paint job to last, you need to let it dry! Follow these tips:
- Give it Time: You'll want to check the manufacturer's label for the recommended drying time. Usually, water-based paint will dry faster than oil-based paint. Also keep in mind the humidity and other weather conditions.
- Protect Your Lines: There is nothing more frustrating than to see a tire track on your fresh white lines, or even worse, your paint getting smudged or tracked. Block off traffic by using safety cones or caution ribbons so your parking lot users know they shouldn't park on your fresh lines.
By doing your own line striping, you'll actually benefit from being able to control when and where you paint. If you have a large lot, you can tackle a portion and block it off to traffic, while still allowing people to park.
Additional Tips for Professional Results for Your Parking Lot
Achieving professional results goes beyond just painting straight lines. Here are some additional tips to elevate your parking lot painting project.
Using Reflective Glass Beads
- Benefits: Reflective glass beads enhance nighttime visibility, making the parking lot safer for drivers.
- Application: Sprinkle the beads onto the wet paint immediately after application. Make sure you have an even distribution for maximum reflectivity.
Maintaining Your Equipment
So you've invested in your line striping equipment and used it to freshen up your parking lines. Now what? You need to make sure to clean your line striping machine after use to make sure there is no paint or debris buildup. You should also check for wear and tear, and for any parts that may need replacing.
Your tools and equipment should be stored clean and dry. Be sure to store any extra paint according to manufacturer directions.
Avoid These Common Parking Lot Striping Mistakes!
Don't let these common issues be a roadblock or a speedbump in your project:
- Uneven Lines and Overlapping: Use a line striping machine or straightedges to keep lines straight. Mark guidelines with chalk to avoid overlaps.
- Bad Weather for Painting: Paint and humidity are not friends. Do your project on a dry day with mild temperatures. You'll want your paint to dry properly and adhere to the pavement, so don't paint in extreme heat, cold or when it's too windy.
- Dusty / Dirty Parking Lot & Chipping Paint: If your parking lot has a layer of dirt on it, what would the paint stick to? It's so important to clean the parking lot and repair any cracks, potholes, or dips. You can also apply an asphalt primer so your paint adheres for a long time.
How Often You Should Restripe
A common question you may have is, "How often do I have to restripe my parking lot?"
The answer is: it depends!
Many factors can affect the longevity of your paint job.
- Traffic: Higher traffic means more wear and tear, which means you may need to restripe every 1-2 years. Less traffic means you can restripe every 2-3 years.
- Paint Quality & Type: More durable and high quality paints can last 2-3 years, while lower quality paints will last...not as long.
- Weather: Severe winters, harsh sun, and other detrimental weather conditions can make the paint degrade faster than normal. There's also the chance that snowplows can scrape the paint from your lot every time the snow piles up.
Once you have your line striper, you can paint parking lines whenever you want as long as the weather is good and your surface is prepped.
Where to Next with Asphalt Kingdom
If you've never done parking lot painting before, we can guide you through each step with our free resources, YouTube videos, and expert coaching.
If you're ready to start shopping for your project, start browsing here:
Feel free to call our team at 1-866-399-5562 ext. 1 for personalized recommendations or to get your free pavement assessment.
Professional Parking Lot Contractors
However, if you want to leave things to the experts, check out our asphalt contractor network. Enjoy less stress and more time for yourself!
