Learning About Paving Contractor Services

After having your parking lot paved and covered in asphalt for the first time, you may be faced with yet another decision. Do you get parking lot striping on the diagonal or straight ahead? What about box stalls provided for vans, handicapped vehicles or extra-large vehicles like Hummers? Do you want your customers to park diagonally on the lot or straight on, as they would in most other lots? Here is how to choose which of these parking lot stall markings you should use.

On the Diagonal

On the diagonal parking is excellent for lots that are small or unusually-shaped. It helps cars move in and out of the lot without banging into vehicles that would otherwise be directly behind them. You may also be able to fit several more cars into your lot because diagonal parking stall markings usually take up less space than head-on parking stalls or box stalls.

Box Stalls

Box stalls, if you have room for them in your parking lot, provide very ample space for handicapped parking, vehicles of unusually large size and buses. Usually, these stalls are placed at the head of each row to provide closer parking for these vehicles. It does cut down on the parking space you have available for any other type of parking lot stall stripes.

Straight or Head-on Parking Stalls

Traditional head-on parking stalls are perfect for parking lots that have lots of room to maneuver any size vehicle in and out of the stalls. These stalls are also wider than diagonal stalls, which helps prevent fewer scrapes and dents to other vehicles when car doors swing open or are pushed open very quickly and with force. There may also be plenty of room to allow two vehicles to pass each other coming and going down the parking aisles, a feature which is uncommon to the diagonal parking strategy, since the aisles in a diagonal striping situation are frequently narrower to allow for diagonal backing and forward driving.

How to Choose Your Parking Lot Striping

If any of the above parking lot issues apply, it becomes easier to make a decision. You should also be aware of the fact that painting your stall stripes is typically the same cost whether you opt for diagonal or head-on stripes. The only differences that may exist are in your contractor's choice of reflective paint color and brand, and whether or not the contractor first puts down white paint stripes and then paints back over with the colored reflective paint. That said, you might have to fall back on the above differences, benefits and drawbacks of these three different types of parking lot striping.

For more information, contact Gann Asphalt & Concrete or a similar company.