A well designed court will not have trees locates too close to it. They present a number of maintenance problems. The most visible are the dropping of leaves, sap, twigs, bark and now and then branches. Sometimes elimination of the problem requires significant branch cutting. If this is not done regularly, removal of the debris will be required.
One of the most irritating problems is sap. It falls and sticks to the surface. It is not water soluble and therefore just stays on the surface and builds up.
Leaves will affect the court surface as well as they become wet and then bleach out with a hot sunny day. Some of the leaf stains will bleach and leave a dulled mark on the surface itself. The constant wet surface under the leaves can lead to bubbles and blisters.
Another moisture problem, which comes from under the asphalt itself. Blisters or bubbles are common problems. This usually is a result of improper court construction or malfunction of the drainage system. When the sub-surface water becomes excessive and it’s not properly drained away from the court it can breathe through the asphalt in vapor form and create hydrostatic pressure under the coatings. This pressure build more in a weaker surface area and creates a blister or bubble of the coating.
We are frequently asked “how many Handicap Spaces does my parking lot need?”
All parking lots for customers, visitors or businesses with the exception of valet parking; should have handicap accessible spaces for vehicles and should be marked properly.
When a business, state, local agency or other covered entity restripes its lots it must provide accessible parking spaces per ADA requirements. Businesses or privately owned facilities that provide services or products to the public should have their parking lot striped per ADA requirements.Meaning they must have a specified number of handicap spaces.
A handicap space should be in a location which is the shortest, safest route to travel to a handicap accessible entrance to a building. Sidewalks at these locations should have curb cuts for accessibility. If there are multiple accessible handicap entrances with adjacent parking, the handicap spaces should be divided up, and located closest to the accessible handicap entrances.
An accessible route to the accessible entrance must always be provided. The accessible routes should not have a slope greater than 1:12 in the direction of travel. No curbs or stairs should be in the way of the travel route and the route should be at least 3 feet wide. The handicap spaces should be in clusters. The clusters maybe in more than one location.
A normal handicap space is 8 feet wide with a 5 foot hashed off area or a total of 13 feet. The hashed off areas can be shared by two handicap spaces. The slope in the access isle or hashed area is 1:50 maximum slop in all directions. A van accessible space is 16 feet, it is a 8 foot parking space with an 8 foot (96 inches) hashed off areas. Again, two handicap spaces can share the one hashed off area. The wider hashed off area is to accommodate the wheelchair lift.
Each spot should also have a sign with the handicap accessible logo. If it is a van spot it should be labeled van accessible. The height of the sign should be between 5 and 8 feet to the top of the sign.
Below is a list of numbered handicap spaces needed for parking lots. Each parking lot should have a minimum of 1 van handicap accessible parking space.
There are a few exceptions to this guide. Any outpatient facilities should have 10% of their spaces to be handicap accessible. Facilities specializing in treatment or for patients with mobility problems must have 20% of their total spaces dedicated to handicap accessible spaces.
If you would like someone to take a look at your line striping please contact us today.
We offer FREE estimates Call, Email or Visit our Website today!
Wow, you just spent $30,000.00 for your new tennis court. Now, should you spend another $4,500.00 to $5,000.00 to colorcoat the new asphalt or should you just paint the playing lines on it?
You bet you should have it colorcoated! Here are three reasons why you should colorcoat your tennis court.
Colorcoating protects the new asphalt from the damaging UV rays of the sun(the sun is trying to turn your asphalt back into gravel).
It provides a rich and aesthetically pleasing contrast for ball visibility.
Colorcoating provides an evenly textures surface for a consistent ball bounce and speed for sure footed traction for you and your opponents.
Ok, you decided to colorcoat the new court. Next you want to make sure the coating contractor applies the coating with a squeegee NOT a roller. A sport squeegee with 50-60 durometer softness of rubber is ideal for the application of colorcoating. This is important because a court that is squeegee applied will have a thicker coating (3 coats in total should be applied) which will last a lot longer. The thinner surface will simply not wear well if the colorcoating is rolled on. Remember, new evenly rolled and properly compacted asphalt is still very porous.
As the squeegee passes over the asphalt it leaves the coating in the pores and wipes away most of the excess coating from the high spots eliminating the roughness and porosity. The roller can only coat everything evenly; resulting in a texture almost the same as the original asphalt surface. The colorcoating material does not want to go deep into the pores when applied by a roller. Every coat rolled on after the first would have the same dynamic. The finished court surface would look almost as rough and pitted as the original asphalt.
Before Colorcoating After Colorcoating Squeegee Applying Colorcoating
