Parking lot striping and restriping for shops, offices, churches, apartment and condo lots across Philadelphia, Montgomery, Delaware and Bucks counties. The paint is the cheapest part of a parking lot. It is also the part that tells every driver where to go, where to stop, and which spaces are held for people who need them.
Restriping puts the existing layout back. After a lot is sealcoated every line is under the new coat, so before the sealer goes down the position of each stall end, arrow and marking is measured and ticked on the curbs and edges. Once the sealer has dried the lines go back exactly where they were. A faded lot that is not being sealed can also be restriped on its own, straight over the old paint.
A layout change is a different job. It starts with a measured plan: where the entrances are, which way traffic should flow, how many stalls fit, where the accessible spaces belong and where the fire lane runs. Owners usually ask for one when they want more spaces, when a tenant changes, when the old layout causes near misses at the entrance, or when accessible parking has to be brought up to the standard. The time to do it is right after a seal coat, when the surface is blank.
For most lots, water based paint put down fresh after every seal coat, with a touch up in the heaviest lanes in between, is the sensible balance.
Straight in stalls at ninety degrees with a two way aisle fit the most cars into a given area. Angled stalls, often at sixty or forty five degrees, are easier to pull into and back out of, work with a narrower one way aisle, and push traffic in a single direction, which helps on a narrow lot or a long drive along a building.
Stall width is the number that decides how many cars fit, and a few inches on each stall across a long row can add or lose a space. Wider stalls also mean fewer dinged doors, which tenants notice. Before any change, the planned stall and aisle sizes are checked against the zoning rules of the city or township the lot sits in, because they set the minimums and they are not the same everywhere. Double lines, sometimes called hairpins, help center cars in each stall on busy lots.
Inside the city, the Philadelphia Fire Code, which is built on the International Fire Code, says that where the fire code official requires it, fire apparatus access roads are identified with approved signs or markings that include the words No Parking and Fire Lane. In the suburbs the township's fire marshal or code office makes the same call for its own properties.
So we paint the fire lane where it is designated and in the form it was approved, and we do not invent one or move one. If your lot has a fire lane that has worn away to a faint outline, restriping it is one of the first things to put back, since a faded lane is easy for drivers to ignore and easy for an inspector to spot.
Stall lines are only part of it. Directional arrows keep a one way aisle one way. A stop bar at each exit puts drivers where they can see the street before pulling out. A painted crosswalk from the parking to the front door shows people where to walk and drivers where to expect them. Hatched no parking areas keep the ends of rows, the corners by the dumpster and the space in front of a hydrant clear. Stenciled words, such as loading only, visitor or reserved, finish the job. Most of this goes back like for like after a seal coat, and it is the part owners most often ask to change once they see the blank surface.
The 2010 ADA Standards for Accessible Design set the minimum number of accessible spaces from the total number of spaces in each parking facility (Table 208.2):
| Total spaces in the lot | Minimum accessible spaces |
|---|---|
| 1 to 25 | 1 |
| 26 to 50 | 2 |
| 51 to 75 | 3 |
| 76 to 100 | 4 |
| 101 to 150 | 5 |
| 151 to 200 | 6 |
| 201 to 300 | 7 |
| 301 to 400 | 8 |
| 401 to 500 | 9 |
| 501 to 1000 | 2 percent of the total |
| 1001 and over | 20, plus 1 for each 100 over 1000 |
Hospital outpatient facilities and rehabilitation facilities carry higher percentages, so a medical lot should be checked against those rows rather than the table above. The US Access Board's guidance also treats resealing and restriping a lot as an alteration, which is why a seal coat is the natural moment to bring accessible spaces up to the current numbers. We lay them out to the Standards and show you what is on the ground. We do not certify a property as compliant, because that is not ours to certify.
On a lot that has only been restriped, water based paint in warm, dry weather is firm enough for traffic in well under an hour, and each section stays coned until it is. Cool mornings, shade and humidity slow that down, and paint is not put down with rain on the way. On a lot that has just been sealcoated, the sealer has to dry before any paint goes on it, and the sealer's drying time, not the paint's, is what decides when the lot reopens.
Striping on its own is quick work, so most lots can be done early in the morning, in the evening or on the day the business is closed. Larger lots are split into sections so that at any moment there is an open entrance, an open exit and somewhere to park, and the accessible spaces are done in a window when they can be held empty for a short while.
When the striping follows a seal coat, it rides on the sealing schedule; the commercial sealcoating page explains how that is phased around tenants and customers. Associations with several lots can put all of them on one sheet through the HOA and property manager page.
On a sealcoating job, restriping the existing layout is inside the one price per square foot, together with the sealing, the crack filling and small patches. Striping ordered on its own, or a new layout, is quoted per job after a look, because it depends on how many stalls and markings there are, whether a plan has to be drawn, how many accessible spaces and signs are involved, and how many phases your hours require. You get one written number with the layout described.
Can you paint over faded lines without sealing? Yes, if the surface is sound. On asphalt that is dry and breaking up the new paint will not outlast the surface under it, and it may be worth sealing first.
What happens to the old lines in a new layout? On a freshly sealed lot they are already covered. Without sealing, old lines are blacked out with a coating that matches the surface, though they can show faintly in low light.
How long do the lines last? It depends on traffic. Lines in the drive lane and at the entrance wear first, and many lots get a restripe between seal coats.
My lot has no accessible space at all. Can one be added? Yes, and it should be. It is laid out with its aisle and sign on the route closest to the entrance.
Send the address and roughly how many spaces the lot has, and say whether you want the same layout back or a change. A photo from the entrance helps. The striping is carried out by local independent contractors.
