Commercial Parking Lot PavingSanford, Florida
The lot of a new commercial building in Sanford, with the paver feeding the mat, two rollers behind it and the crew working the edges by hand. Both photos on this page were taken during the work.
Project at a glance
- Location
- Sanford, Seminole County
- Property
- New commercial building
- Scope
- Parking lot and drive paving
- Equipment
- Paver and two rollers
New Construction
What goes into paving the lot of a brand new commercial building?
A building that is not finished still needs a finished lot. In this frame the entry canopy is up, survey stakes with pink flagging still mark the edges, and the base is already under the new asphalt.
New construction is different from resurfacing. There is no old pavement to follow. The base has to be graded to the engineer's plan and rolled hard before the first truck backs up, because a soft spot under new asphalt turns into a dip within a season. Skip that, and no amount of good asphalt will save the surface above it.
Seminole County has been planning new commercial development around the Orlando Sanford International Airport, and sites like this one run on schedules set by other trades. At M&S Asphalt Paving, we fit commercial asphalt paving around the electricians, the landscapers and the inspector, and we show up when the base is ready, not before.
The Rollers
Why do two rollers follow one paver?
Because hot mix cools fast. The roller has to catch it while it still moves. Falling behind early means you never catch up.
On this lot you can see yellow rollers working at different distances behind the paver, with the crew's rakes still moving between them. The paver lays the mat a little thicker than the finished depth, and the rollers press it down to our standard two inches. Fall behind and the mat stiffens, the air stays in it, and water gets in later.
Most new Florida commercial sites carry a stormwater pond like the one behind the fence here, and the lot has to be graded to feed it. We cover the city side of that work on our asphalt paving in Sanford page, from small lots to full building pads. Water that cannot drain off the mat sits on it, and standing water is the first thing a new lot has to survive.
After Paving
What happens after the asphalt goes down on a new lot?
The lot cools, and then the finishing work starts. Patience pays here. Stripes, stall markings and wheel stops all wait until the surface can take them.
Hot mix leaves the truck at several hundred degrees, and a Sanford afternoon in summer keeps it soft longer than you would think. We tell the owner when the mat can take foot traffic and when it can take delivery trucks. Turning a loaded truck on warm, fresh asphalt scuffs it, and the scuffs stay. We would rather wait a day than patch a scuff.
Whether the lot serves a shop near the Sanford Riverwalk or a warehouse near the airport, the order is the same. Pave, cure, stripe, then add curb stop installation where the plan calls for it. One walk-through at the end catches the small items, like a stall line that sits off or a drain grate that needs adjusting, before the tenant does.
Want to see another commercial job?
The Orlando shopping complex build starts earlier in the process, with the site cut to grade and the spoil hauled out before any asphalt went down.
Building a new commercial site in Seminole County?
Send us the plans or call with the address. We look at the base, the grade and your schedule, then give you a straight price with the scope written out, in English or Spanish.
Call us today (386) 215-7466