Property manager checklist
Kitchener Parking Lot Line Painting Pros paints lots across Kitchener, Waterloo, Cambridge and Guelph, and the jobs that go best are the ones where the property manager prepared the lot a week or two ahead. A crew that arrives to an empty, swept lot finishes sooner, and lines painted on a clean, dry surface last longer.
This guide covers what to do two weeks before, the day before and the day of your line painting job, and which parts we handle ourselves. It is written for property managers, condo boards, plaza owners and facility staff, and it draws on more than 550 jobs since 2015.
Prep timeline
Preparing a parking lot for line painting comes down to three jobs: tell the people who park there, get vehicles and heavy debris out of the work zone, and confirm the weather. Here is the timeline we give every client, with who does what.
| When | Task | Who |
|---|---|---|
| Two weeks out | Confirm the date, the work zones and whether the job is a restripe or a new layout | You and us |
| Two weeks out | Book a sweeper truck if the lot has heavy winter sand, gravel or debris | You, through your sweeping contractor |
| Two weeks out | Plan tenant notices, any towing policy and where displaced cars will park | You |
| 72 hours out | Post notices on doors, in lobbies and on windshields | You, using the printable notice we supply |
| 48 hours out | Check the forecast: dry pavement, 10°C and rising, no rain for 4 hours after painting | Us, with a call to you |
| Day before | Remind tenants, confirm gate codes, lighting and an after-hours contact | You |
| Day of | Cars out of the first zone, gates open, irrigation off | You |
| Day of | Blowing and light sweeping, layout, painting and coning | Us |
| After | Cones up until drivable; before and after photos emailed the same day | Us |
Turning off lawn irrigation is the step most people forget. A sprinkler zone that runs at 4:00am can streak a whole row of lines painted the evening before.
Tenant notices
A good notice tells people exactly which areas close, when, and where to park instead. Post it at least 72 hours ahead, which is the standard we work to for condos, and give plaza tenants a week so they can tell staff and delivery drivers.
We send a printable notice with every booking, filled in with your dates and zones. Whichever version you use, it should cover these points.
Sample wording: "Line painting is booked for Tuesday from 7:00pm to 11:00pm, with Wednesday as the rain date. Rows A to C close at 6:30pm, so please park in rows D to F until the cones are removed."
Surface prep
We blow off and lightly sweep every line before painting, but a lot covered in winter sand, gravel or leaves needs a sweeper truck first. Winter sand is the main problem on spring jobs in Waterloo Region, because it collects in every crack and along every curb.
Paint sprayed over sand bonds to the sand, not the pavement, and comes up with it at the first rain.
Power blowing and hand sweeping along every line, stencil, stop bar and crosswalk on the day, so the paint lands on bare pavement.
A full sweep by your sweeping contractor when sand, gravel or debris covers more than the line areas, ideally within a day or two of painting.
Because we only do line painting, we work alongside the sweeping and paving contractors you already use. Booking their sweep for the morning of a night job is the easiest way to hand us a clean surface.
Weather
We paint outdoors when the air and pavement are 10°C and rising, the surface is dry, and no rain is forecast for at least 4 hours after painting. If the forecast fails any of those tests 48 hours out, we call you and move the date.
Rain dates are part of planning, not a failure. Put one on your tenant notice so a weather postponement does not mean a second round of notices.
In April and late October we may switch to solvent-based paint, which cures better on cool asphalt and is legal outside the May 1 to October 15 VOC window. Our guide to traffic paint types and VOC rules explains why.
New pavement
Wait about 30 days after paving before final striping, so the oils in fresh asphalt can cure and the paint bonds properly. Temporary layout lines can go down sooner so the lot can open.
Sealcoat must be fully cured before any line paint goes on it. Cure time depends on the product, temperature and traffic, so confirm the interval with your sealcoater and book the painting after it.
Every sealcoat covers every existing line, so plan the sealcoat and the restripe as one project. If the lot is being re-planned at the same time, our new parking lot layout service lays out the new rows on the fresh surface.
Photograph the old layout before the sealer goes down. If there is no site plan, those photos are the only record of where every stall, arrow and accessible space used to be.
Aftercare
Fresh lines need protection for the first hour and a little care for the first few days. These four steps keep a new restripe looking sharp.
Lines are dry to the touch in 10 to 15 minutes on a summer day but need 30 to 60 minutes before cars cross them, or up to 2 hours when cool or humid. Our cones stay up until then, so please do not move them early.
Arrows, symbols and stop bars take the most tire scuffing. For the first day, ask drivers and delivery trucks not to turn sharply on them, especially in a drive-thru lane.
Ask your sweeping and power washing contractors to skip the new lines for the first few days while the paint hardens.
We email before and after photos the same day. Check stall counts, accessible stalls and arrows against them, and our 1-year labour warranty covers peeling or flaking caused by our application.
Book a date
Pick a date and we will send the printable tenant notice with your confirmation, then call 48 hours ahead with the forecast check. Our parking lot line painting crews work evenings, overnight and weekends so your lot stays usable.
Spring evenings book up first, so ask for a quote early. Our annual restripe program reserves the same slot every year.