Parking Lot Striping at night or in the early morning hours is a tricky trade. Most of the time, parking lots are striped during the day. The parking lots are blocked to foot and vehicular traffic until the paint is dry. During the day, the painted lines usually dry much faster than at night or in the early morning. However, some parking lots just can’t afford to be closed during the day. 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. Keep in mind, though, 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 had 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
2. Wind
3. Heat in the pavement
4. Temperature
5. Relative Humidity
6. Moisture in the Asphalt
What to consider
In the very early morning and at night, you won’t have the assistance of the sun to warm the pavement. The heat that is stored in the asphalt helps facilitate the drying of the paint and the warm daytime temperatures also speed along the process. These are some of the things that give your paint the ability to dry quickly and avoid costly accidents. The biggest enemies of paint not drying are humidity, shade and cool air temperature. So be mindful of them!
Line Striping Paint Products for AM and Cold Morning Applications
There are special products that decrease the drying time of parking lot paint and these can be used when there is a drying risk. Empire Parking Lot Services has had ample experience using these rapid dry paint products. However, the time span between application and the point at which it will not cause “tracking” may be as short as 15 minutes or as long as several days, depending on the weather and the product used. At Empire PLS, we have the experience to recommend the best product for your particular situation to get you the best results for your parking lot striping. Even with the best product, sometimes the weather does not cooperate to give a quick drying time. We always make sure to carefully block off areas that do remain wet so nobody can wander in to those areas. One slip can mean BIG problems for you.
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