Asphalt Paving with Safety in Mind

When you are performing asphalt repair in a parking lot a lot can go wrong. However, when you are paving holes at a gas station even more can.

So what paving contractors do environmental companies call to patch back their holes on their jobs? You guessed it, Empire Parking Lot Services.

They don’t call us because we are huge, they don’t call us because we are cheap, and they don’t call us because we are nearby, they call us because we have control. Control is one of the best commodities our company posses. We have the control to speak with our employees the night before, or day of the project. We have control to sit employees down and go over safety procedures. We have the control to keep a manager on a project, when it is absolutely necessary. Big pavers, lazy pavers and old pavers often lose this control over time, but we haven’t. Communication for us is the key factor, and in terms of priorities, it is matched only by safety. We believe there is a market for this, and our customers show us this every time we get another job from them.

About this Asphalt Paving Job in Los Angeles

This project in many ways is like most of our asphalt paving jobs. Show up, prep the work, and install new asphalt, concrete or whatever medium we are using that day. However, it was different in some ways. This project consisted of patching back asphalt that had been removed to do some repairs on some groundwater wells in Los Angeles. Since the customer had to open up the asphalt when they did their drilling, they needed us to close the asphalt back up with some patches. Our crews not only needed to be on their best behavior in terms of safety, but we needed to be prepared. That meant hard hats, safety vest, steel toe boots, safety glasses, and several other accouterments of the paving contractor industry. We arrived at the project around 9 am and the area was blocked off and ready for asphalt. The project itself was located in the city of Torrance, and located on the cross streets of Crenshaw & Rolling Hills Ave. (yeah that was us causing some traffic backups…. sorry). The install went smooth, and without a single hitch as it should be. We where please with the work and the customer was happy too.

Take a look at the pictures for the rest of the details.

About Empire Parking Lot Services

Empire Parking Lot Services is a Southern California asphalt paving contractor. We have been in business since about 2008. Our services include asphalt paving, asphalt trenching, asphalt overlays etc. We also offer concrete repair services, sealcoating, and line striping. All services are handled in house and quality and safety show in our work. Call Empire Parking Lot Services today if you have a asphalt paving project located in Orange County, Los Angeles, Ventura, San Bernardino, Riverside, or San Diego County. We are available for all paving services.

Call us Toll-Free at 877-760-2757 or See us Online at  www.Empirepls.com

Post from: Parking Lot Striping

Asphalt Paving In Torrance, Ca.

Sometimes Trees get too big for Their Concrete Planters

This week in Orange County California, Empire Parking Lot Services was hired to do a project that required us to demolish an old concrete planter. Due to excessive roots buckling the asphalt and concrete around the planter, the tree had to go as well. This is a common occurrence for Southern California shopping centers.  Once we met with the customer we discussed their options. We recommended removal of the tree, and not because we are tree hating asphalt pavers. We love trees just like everyone else does, but history has taught us some lessons.

It used to be a common practice for paving contractors and concrete contractors to just cut the roots of the trees, and repair the asphalt and concrete around them. But, they started to figure out that that was a bad idea. When high winds start to blow, or a storm would drop a lot of water the trees would topple. The reason for this is simple. The roots of the tree are what keep it upright. Contractors and municipalities alike had to learn this the hard way. Take for instance this story of a local municipality. When trees started to come down more and more during the storms they started to notice a trend. After their crews would repair the asphalt or concrete sidewalks on a particular street, more trees would drop than usual, and that would cause a lot of property damage. This would sometimes lead to lawsuits and untimely the cities and contractors started to just replace the trees with new ones.

About this Concrete Planter Project

The first thing we did was to barricade off the area that the work was being performed in. After that we used our bobcats and started the concrete demolition and asphalt demolition process. We broke away the concrete planter as well as the a few feet of the asphalt around the planter. The planter itself was left intact including the plants and shrubs. Next we contracted out the tree removal to one of our sub contractors Trulandscape. They are a southern California landscaping contractor that handles all of our tree removal and landscaping needs. After a few hours the large tree was removed stump, roots and all. With the old tree gone the next thing we had to do was reconnect all the irrigation and replant the planter. Next, the new planter was laid out, framed out, and concrete poured with some minor changes to the configuration based on the property managers needs. Lastly we paved the asphalt back to the new concrete planters and voilà the problem is solved. Take a look below at the photos from this Orange County paving contractors project.

About Empire Parking Lot Services

Although Empire-PLS is mainly an asphalt paving contractors we can assist you in many other facets of your parking lot maintenance needs. This project is a shining example of what we do best. We solve problems quickly and affordably with safety and quality in mind. From Asphalt Repair to Concrete Repair to tree removal and landscaping we can manage the project from start to finish. Although this was just one concrete planter repair project, Empire-PLS has experience with larger projects as well. Give us a call on your next project and we will save you time and money with our experience.

Call us toll free at 877-760-2757

Post from: Parking Lot Striping

Orange County Shopping Center Gets New Concrete Planters

Asphalt Paving Contractors Repairs Shopping Center Parking Lot.

Empire Parking Lot Services was hired by a LA based property manager to do repairs throughout their shopping center in the city of Los Angeles California. These repairs where mostly skin patching areas of eroded asphalt. Empire-PLS also had to do some removal of broken asphalt in order to stop further damage from happening.  Read below about this asphalt paving contractors projects quick facts.

Paving Project at a Glance

Job-site Location:

Busy  Shopping Center in Los Angeles, California

Project Type:

Skin Patching & Asphalt Removal and Replacement, Also known as Asphalt R&R.

Time on Project:

This project was a one day project.  Although it was large, the customer needed to get it done quickly as possible, due to the high traffic of the center.  Instead of bringing in one crew, we doubled up on the labor and equipment to meet their time line needs.

About this project:

This project consisted of 500 square feet of damaged asphalt removal, 500 square feet of new asphalt installed at (4) inches and, 650 square feet of asphalt skin patching in 25 areas. Our crews showed up on site at about 4 am in the morning to get as much of the necessary pre work done as possible. The pre work consisted of first and foremost barricade off the areas from the public, than saw-cutting the asphalt areas scheduled to be removed, and tack coating the 25 areas of skin patching.  The pre work was completed by about 8 am and that’s when the hot asphalt material started showing up. Since this was such a busy center we had the paving crew work in the areas up against the shopping centers first so that they could be opened as quickly as possible. Empire-PLS understands that these shops need their parking spaces, and  store fronts clear so that they can stay productive during the construction process. That’s why we service them first.  As a paving contractors we want to make a profit as well, but not at the cost of others losing it.  Many paving companies will come into  center like this, and do the job in a way that is most cost-effective for them, it’s just bad business.  After the store fronts were done we moved into the parking stalls and did all the skin patches. The crews wrapped up the project by about 3pm and the customer was very pleased. The toughest part about this project was the fact that there where so many people in the center by 6 am.  When this happens we try to slow down production a little and focus on safety more. Check back next week for the follow up seal & striping blog on this project.

About Empire Parking Lot Services

Empire Parking Lot Services is Southern California’s fastest growing parking lot and warehouse maintenance company. As a Southern California licensed paving contractors, we are called to service the asphalt and concrete maintenance needs of So Cal business every single day. Our services include asphalt paving, concrete repair, parking lot and warehouse sealing and markings as well as dozens of other maintenance services. Give us a call today toll-free for a free estimate on your next project. We guarantee you wont regret it. (877) 760-2757

Post from: Parking Lot Striping

Paving Contractor Repairs Los Angeles Shopping Center

So Cal Asphalt & Concrete Paving Contractors

When it comes to asphalt and concrete repairs in Southern California, nobody does it better than Empire Parking Lot Services. Empire knows what’s required to successfully work with national and corporate contracts, as well as companies. Empire-PLS offers complete parking lot maintenance, site work, asphalt paving, and excavation contracting services. We serve the west coast areas of Southern California and beyond. Founded in the 2008, and headquartered in Orange County, California.  Empire Parking Lot Services is a locally owned paving company. Empire-PLS service operations include 4 main divisions. Asphalt repair is the first and covers everything from basic pothole repair to complete remove and replace repairs. The second division is the concrete repair division.  Our concrete repair crews are capable and ready to fix any form of concrete in your parking lot. Third we have a parking lot and warehouse striping division. These crews have everything else under the sun. From signs and wheel stop installation, to truncated domes. They can do warehouse sign hanging, acid resistant coatings and install rubber molded speed bumps. Lastly, we have our sealcoating division. Our sealcoating crews are able to seal anything from a residential driveway to entire mall parking lots. We service 6 counties throughout our market area, which extend from the northern Ventura County area to San Diego & Imperial County. Empire places a heavy emphasis on safety, quality. & service, above all else.

Consistent High-Quality Results in Asphalt and Concrete Paving

Empire Parking Lot Services has earned a reputation for producing consistent, high-quality results, whether seal coating parking lots, performing commercial asphalt repairs, or commercial and retail concrete repairs. Empire-PLS has the experience and equipment to perform each project quickly, safely and cost-efficiently.

Wide Range Of Pavement Contracting Services

Throughout our Southern California market, numerous leading property management companies have switched to Empire Parking Lot Services. The reason for this is simple,  Empire is not just another paving company.  As a contractor we lead the way for ushering the newest technologies in the field, and in the office.  No matter what your favorite form of communication is, Empire can work with your methods.  We can accept telephone calls, fax’s, e-mails, texts, tweets, face-book request, linkdIn connections and smoke signals.  OK, the last one is a stretch but you get the idea. The work place is changing fast and we are changing with it.  Our estimators are trained not to just look at your parking lot and guess what needs to be done, but actually shoot grades, ask the right questions and make the right recommendations based on your budget and expectations.  When it comes to asphalt and concrete repairs we cant be beat.

About Empire Parking Lot Services

Empire Parking Lot Services is asphalt and concrete paving contractor that puts a heavy emphasis on competitive asphalt repair bidding, matched with a quality asphalt paving services. We believe this combination is the key to our success. In addition to asphalt and concrete repairs Empire-PLS offers  sealcoating, parking lot striping, ADA repairs, and warehouse maintenance services throughout Southern California. Commercial, retail or residential and industrial repair projects are all well within Empire-PLS expertise. We have proven our ability for many decades and look forward to providing exceptional service on your next project!  Please contact us at our Main Office in Orange County and we will be happy to assist you on your next project.  Whether your project involves excavation, grading, removal, asphalt contracting or Concrete paving repairs, Empire Parking Lot Services provides you with Quality Service, Safety and Competitiveness.

Call Empire-PLS today for a free custom asphalt & concrete repair cost analysis in Los Angeles, Orange County, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego or Ventura California.

Call us toll free at 877-760-2757

Post from: Parking Lot Striping

Southern California Asphalt and Concrete Paving Contractors

Finding a Quality Paving Contractor in 5 Steps

It can be very difficult to find a good paving contractor in Orange County. With the advent of the internet it is easier than ever to look like legitimate company and not be one. The sad truth is that there are many who have no problems stealing your hard earned dollars however, this guide may help you avoid making that mistake. With a little advice and due diligence I think you’ll agree it’s easy to find quality paving contractors.

Step #1 Verify they have a paving contractor’s license:

This is by far the easiest step to do. Simply go to the California state license board (or whatever state you’re in). California state license board is located at www.cslb.gov.

• Once there simply plug in the license number, company name or business owners name to verify the company. Use ours if you want to give it a try. 940698

• Look to see that the license is active and in good standing.

• Lastly open the license and verify license number, trade, insurances, workers compensation and all other things are current.

Step #2 Get two or more paving contractor references:

Call the company and ask them to send you at least 2 references of paving work they have done in the last thirty days. Most paving contractors should have no problem providing this service to you. Make sure to get at least the company name, a phone number and a contact to ask for.

Step #3 Find out how long they have been in business:

If they are a newer contractor make sure that you ask them about their experience level. By example at Empire Parking Lot Services we are a newer paving company, however we have many years experience in the industry. If they are an older company asks them what type of paving they specialize in. Do they specialize in new construction? Or do they specialize in patch and repair? Are they a road paving contractor, do they specialize in concrete only? You get the idea I’m sure.

Step #4 Get at least three bids that are apples to apples:

This really is a great habit to get into when getting jobs. First thing you will want to do is call one company and ask them for a bid for whatever paving contract you need. Then take their work description and call two other companies with it. Sometimes one company may not understand another companies description. When this happens just go with the bid of the contractor that gives you the most piece of mind. Use his information and have the bidders all bid his work descriptions. It is very important to not shop numbers. This is a terrible habit that will result in getting you a terrible job done. When numbers are shopped the only one that will lose is going to be you. Trust us on this one. Remember the point of this is to get three apples to apples bids not grind down contractors.

Step #5 Ask industry friends & co workers for their recommendations:

One of the best ways to find good people is to ask people you know and trust about who they use. This isn’t a guarantee that the paving contractor will be a good one, however, it greatly improves your chances of avoiding the bonehead contractors out there that are nightmare waiting to happen.

About Empire Parking Lot Services

When it comes to hiring a quality paving contractor in Orange County California, nobody beats Empire Parking Lot Services. For years now we have been installing asphalt and concrete throughout the Southern California area. Whether your project is located in Orange County, Los Angeles, or any other county in the So Cal area we have you covered. We are Southern California’s easiest paving contractor to deal with. We offer a multitude of paving maintenance services, for example asphalt patching, seal coating, parking lot striping, concrete repair plus many others.. Just let one of our estimators know what you need and we will get you a fast and free estimate for your project. Call us toll free at 877-760-2757 or check us out online at www.empirepls.com

Post from: Parking Lot Striping

Finding a Quality Paving Contractor in 5 Easy Steps

New Speed Bumps for Private Driveway in Murrieta California

This month Empire received a call from the owner of a private residents in Murrieta California. They had a long asphalt driveway in need of  seal, as well as needing some new asphalt speed bumps installed. They called several asphalt contractors and apparently Empire Parking Lot Services was the only company that called them back. They hadn’t told us that until after the project was finished, but it really wouldn’t have made a difference to us. Thats because Empire-PLS offers the same great service and price each and every time.  The owners needed to slow vehicles down because they were using his road not realizing it was a private driveway. On several occasions cars even went off the road causing damage to their property.  Speed bumps where the perfect cure for this situation.

First New Speed Bumps, and Then New Sealcoating

So the first thing Empire did was to install the new asphalt speed bumps. That part of the project actually happened about 6 months ago so that the seal coat would not lift or peel once sealed. As any good asphalt contractor knows, asphalt needs time to cure and dry well before you apply sealcoat to it. With the asphalt fully cured, we showed up this week to apply the sealcoat and stripe the new speed bumps.  We used a good thick coat of seal on the driveway and once dry, our striping crews showed up and applied the striping to the speed bumps. If you were not aware speed bumps actually go by a half a dozen names.  These names include speed bumps, speed humps, speed berms, speed retardants, speed abatement and speed tables. There are probably more than that so speak up I missed one.  Speed Bumps can be installed in several different ways. There are the most permanent choices of asphalt & concrete, than there are newer less permanent options in rubber or plastic.

About Empire Parking Lot Services

Empire-PLS is one of Southern California best asphalt contractors. When it comes to speed bump construction, repair, or maintenance Empire is the best choice. We are located in Orange County and service the entire Southern California area including Los Angeles, San Bernardino, San Diego, Ventura, and Riverside.  Please call Empire today to discuss your project. Empire offers asphalt repair, concrete repair, seal coating, line painting and many other parking lot maintenance related services to Southern California. Empire can be reached toll free at 877-760-2757

or you can visit our main website at

www.empirepls.com.

Post from: Parking Lot Striping

Empire Installs New Speedbumps In Murrietta California

Description of the Roller Tracking Problem

Today I wanted to bring up a problem we have seen a lot in the last few years. Roller tracking is something that typically happens during the compaction process, whether you use a vibratory static steel wheel or pneumatic tire type roller, longitudinal line marks or creases can be left in the surface of the hot mix. Once the hot mix has started to cool to a temperature range of about 70C to 60C (160F to 140F), these marks are typically removed by the finish roller. Roller marks are indentations that remain in the surface of the mix after rolling has been completed. Roller marks may also exist in the asphalt surface when any roller is parked on the hot mat for a period of time or when a vibratory roller is vibrated in place. Particularly when used in the breakdown position, pneumatic tire rollers can leave visible longitudinal marks that can still be seen after the finish rolling has been completed. Vibratory washboard marks may be visible if that roller is operated at an improper vibratory amplitude, speed, or frequency setting by a poorly experienced paving contractors as shown in the picture below.

Roller Mark Causes

Roller marks can be an indicator that the proper number of passes have not been made over the hot mix. If the compaction process is stopped before the required amount of compaction rolling has been finished or if the hot mix cools before the compaction process has been finished, the marks or creases made by the rolling process will remain in the surface of the mix. Roller marks left in an asphalt layer also may indicate of a tender mix. The roller operator will normally be unable to remove all the marks left by the compaction equipment if the mix is tender or unstable. A tender mix usually will not support the weight of the finish roller until it has cooled to the point at which the viscosity of the asphalt cement has increased enough to stiffen the mix. By the time the mix has decreased in temperature to this point, however, the required level of density can generally no longer be achieved because the mix has lost its workability. For this reason, the roller marks or indentations left during the breakdown and intermediate roller passes usually cannot be removed during the finish rolling process. All of the asphalt cement, aggregate, and mix properties that contribute to the formation of a tender mix, as discussed above, also contribute to the in-ability of the finish roller to eliminate roller marks. Hasty paving contractors are typically the cause for this type of mistake.

Solutions For Roller Marks

If the cause of roller marks is in fact inadequate compaction, more roller passes should be made with the break-down, intermediate, or finish rollers to properly compact the mix. The solutions for poor compaction related to mix design deficiencies all involve changes to the mix design and to the production of the mix at your asphalt plant. Asphalt cement quality and content, aggregate properties, and characteristics, as well as mix temperature, all play a significant role in the workability and long term stability of the asphalt materials under the compaction roller equipment. Roller marks normally cannot be removed from a tender mix until the mix temperature has lowered to a relatively low level usually less than 70C (160F).  Sometimes it is possible, depending on environmental conditions and the properties of the mix, to remove roller crease marks left in the hot mix by using  pneumatic tire rollers. If the surface of the mix is hot enough ie 60C (140F) or more, many passes with a pneumatic tire roller can be made to “iron out” the surface of the pavement. Finally, roughness or wash boarding caused by incorrect operation of a vibratory roller should be eliminated by using proper operating techniques with this equipment.

Effects on Performance

Roller marks are normally an indication that the proper level of compaction has not been achieved. In terms of ultimate pavement durability, the air void content or density of the mix is the single most important characteristic that governs the performance of the asphalt mixture under traffic. If the air void content of a dense graded mix is high — the density is too low–the pavement generally will not perform well under traffic.

About Empire Parking Lot Services

Empire-PLS is one of Southern California best asphalt contractors. We are located in Orange County and service the entire Southern California area. Please call Empire today to discuss your project. Empire offers asphalt repair, concrete repair, seal coating, line painting and many other parking lot maintenance related services to Southern California. Empire can be reached toll free at 877-760-2757 or you can visit our main website at www.empirepls.com information from this blog has been paraphrased by the us army corp of engineers. Please feel free to discuss this and any subject that you have in relation to asphalt repair and maintenance.

Post from: Parking Lot Striping

Roller Marks In Asphalt & What Can Be Done

New Seal Coating & Striping In Anaheim Ca.

This week Empire Parking Lot Seal Coating had a project start in Anaheim California. Empire Parking Lot Services was contracted to seal & stripe the parking lots of The Anaheim Public Golf Course. Anaheim is one of the largest cities in the county of Orange. If your not familiar with Anaheim its located between Garden Grove, & The City of Orange, as well as Brea, & Fullerton. This was a straight forward project that consisted of several of our most popular services.  The first thing that we did was to clean and sweep their parking lot areas so that all the loose gravel, trash, and leaves where clear and free for the  seal coating application.  Once the parking lot was clear our seal coating crews started laying down the fresh new black seal. We installed 2 coats of seal using hand squeegees and our seal coating machine.  The biggest challenge we faced on this project was  just keeping the hundreds of golfers that use the facility properly warned about the wet seal coat. For this we staffed people on both sides of the parking lot to communicate that to them. Empire Parking Lot Services has been the preferred paving contractor for all Anaheim Public Golf Course for 6 years now.

Oil Spots Being Treated Before Seal Coating of the Lot.

Seal Coat & Striping Scope of Work

The pavement maintenance project in Anaheim was a pretty simple project really. With a total parking space count of about 70,000 sf  our crews made pretty quick work of it.  The parking lot has a combined parking area of about 100 parking stalls including the handicap parking spaces.  The parking lot striping portion of the project was next up.  Parts of the project received 2 coats of seal because we where unhappy about the way the first coat looked. The customer thought it looked good but we did not.

Seal Coat Cut in on Anaheim California Parking Lot.

Parking Lot Striping Up Next

Once the parking lot seal coating was completed, we turned our attention to the parking lot striping. With about 100 parking stalls, and 5 handicap stalls, as well as a dozen stencils including arrows. The crew laid out the project and striped it in about 2 hours. The parking lot painting portion of the project also went with out a hitch and the customer was happy there as well.  Our crew loaded up their equipment and headed home.  Its nice to get to work near home this time.  Empire Parking Lot Services is a fully licensed and insured paving contractor.

Sealcoat Applied by Machine in Anaheim California.

About Empire Parking Lot Services

Empire Parking Lot Services is a Southern California paving contractor that specializes in parking lot and warehouse maintenance.  Every day we help our property management customers, contractors, facility maintenance technicians, as well as our direct owners with many of their parking lot maintenance needs including Seal Coating.  Empire Parking Lot Services offers top notch parking lot repair and warehouse maintenance services to the entire Southern California area.  Our service area includes Orange County, Los Angeles, Riverside County, San Bernardino, San Diego, as well as parts of Ventura.  Contact us today if you have any questions about any project you may have upcoming.  Empire Parking Lot Services is a fully licensed & fully bonded asphalt contractor company.

Call us at: 877-760-2757

Or look us up on the web at www.Empirepls.com

1080 Batavia Unit N

Orange, Ca. 92867

Post from: Parking Lot Striping

Sealcoating & Re-Striping in Anahiem, Ca.