The life of a commercial property manager is a constant balancing act. You need to maximize profitability for your property while also ensuring that you’re providing an environment that supports that profitability. Maintaining the building and grounds is part of that equation, and while it might seem a good idea to skip the expense of regular parking lot maintenance and allocate those funds elsewhere, that’s a decision you could come to regret later.
Why You Can’t Skip Parking Lot Maintenance
Maintaining your commercial property’s parking lot is much more important than you might think. You can’t consider the expense as just another line item you can cross out, as doing so can actually end up costing you more in the long run. That’s because a parking lot that’s not properly maintained can become an expensive, and even dangerous, eyesore quicker than you anticipate.
Asphalt is a great paving material, but it’s not perfect. It begins to wear over time and with exposure to the elements, and this results in moisture infiltrating the surface. This moisture can eat away at your lot, forming ever-widening cracks that can transform into big, ugly potholes that not only make your lot look unsightly and unwelcoming; they can turn a visitor’s ankle or damage a vehicle’s tires, leaving you to deal with a possible liability nightmare!
Lot Maintenance Doesn’t Have to Impact Your Bottom Line
The last thing you want to do is spend ridiculous amounts of money on insurance settlements or major parking lot repaving. Lucky for you, if you simply engage in regular parking lot maintenance, the impact on your bottom line is much more manageable. This is because the cost of preventative maintenance, or even just minor crack patching, is much more affordable than having to fill an extensive network of potholes across the entirety of your lot.
Patching minor cracks as you find them prevents them from growing into a more expensive problem in the future. Yes, regular maintenance means you’ll have to deal with the costs of having your paving company come out and check over your lot every few months or so, but this is just another cost of doing business, like paying for monthly utility costs for your building. You wouldn’t let the electric bill go unpaid for months at a time, so don’t go without parking lot maintenance, either.
Protecting Your Investment
Just as you wouldn’t postpone getting a leaky roof fixed or a broken window replaced, you can’t take your time when it comes to maintaining your commercial property’s parking lot. You have an investment to protect, and letting damage go unaddressed for too long will just result in bigger, and more expensive, problems down the line. Make the smart choice and protect your investment: rely on regular parking lot maintenance to keep your asphalt lot in good shape.