How Often Should You Restripe a Parking Lot in Connecticut?

The short answer: most commercial lots in Connecticut need a re-stripe every one to three years. Busy retail lots with heavy plowing are on the short end. A quiet office lot that gets plowed carefully can stretch to three years or a little past it. Here is how to figure out where your lot falls and how to tell when it is time.

What wears the lines out

Paint on a parking lot does not fade so much as it gets scraped and ground off.

• Snowplows. A plow blade running over a line a dozen times a winter takes paint with it, especially at the ends of stalls where the blade digs in. This is the number one reason lots in Connecticut need striping more often than lots in warmer states.
• Salt and sand. Road salt and the sand mixed into it act like sandpaper under tires all winter. By April the lines on a busy lot look a year older than they are.
• Traffic. Tires crossing a line wear it down. Drive aisle arrows, STOP bars and crosswalks take far more tire traffic than stall lines and usually need a refresh first.
• Sun. UV light fades paint over a few summers. Yellow holds its color a little longer than white.
• Pavement condition. Paint on cracked, raveling or oxidized asphalt does not bond well and comes off faster. Fresh sealcoat gives a good surface but also means a full new layout.

Signs it is time

Walk the lot and look for these:

1. You can see the lines up close but not from the driveway. Drivers decide where to park from 50 feet away. If the lines are not visible from there, people start parking crooked and stalls get lost.
2. The accessible symbols are faded. These are the markings an inspector photographs. See our ADA parking guide for what they need to look like.
3. Fire lane stencils are hard to read. Fire marshals flag this on re-inspection. More on fire lane requirements.
4. Arrows and STOP bars are mostly gone. These wear first and are what keeps traffic flowing the right way.
5. People are parking in the hatched areas or in front of doors, because nothing tells them not to.
6. A tenant, an insurance inspector or a customer has mentioned it. By the time someone says something, it has been bothering people for a while.

A rough schedule by property type

If you are between intervals and only the arrows, crosswalks and accessible stalls are tired, a partial refresh of those items is a cheaper option than the whole lot. We do that often.

How to make lines last longer

• Talk to your plow contractor. Blades with rubber or poly edges and a little less down-pressure make a real difference. Ask them to keep the blade up a touch on the stall ends.
• Sweep in the spring. Getting the sand off the lot early stops it grinding the paint all summer.
• Fix the pavement first. Lines on bad asphalt are a waste. If the lot needs crack filling or sealcoating, do that, let it cure, then stripe.
• Use the right paint. We use commercial-grade water-based traffic paint on most lots. It bonds well and holds up to Connecticut winters. We do not use house paint, and you should not let anyone else use it on your lot either.
• Keep records. Note when the lot was striped and what was done. It makes budgeting easy and gives you a date to point to if an inspector asks.

Put it on the calendar

The simplest approach is to pick a season and stick with it. Most of our customers go with spring, after the sand is swept, or early fall, before the plows come back. Both work. The lot gets striped when the weather is reliable, and you never find yourself in July looking at a lot that should have been done in April. Our post on the best time of year to stripe covers the weather side.

Not sure where your lot stands? Send us a photo or the address and we will tell you straight whether it needs a full re-stripe, a touch-up, or another year. Request a quote or call (860) 906-7740.