Commercial real estate has many uses for many businesses. From condo buildings to recreational use, you’ll see all kinds of businesses taking up commercial space. While you may find many different kinds of businesses inhabiting a commercial building or property, there are just a few categories these businesses fall under. What’s more, who keeps up with the building maintenance? Does the entire building or lot fall under one owner? Who’s responsible to call the commercial property maintenance Denver contractors? To better answer these questions, let’s take a look at the types of commercial property .

Commercial Property Types

More than likely you’ve seen a condo building, so you know that the majority (if not all) of the spaces in that building are used for renting or lodging. Each commercial property is maintained by the person or group who owns the entire building. Several owners may be involved in one large commercial property. Here are 5 types of properties you’ll find:

• Industrial – Industrial commercial properties involve tenants who usually use this facility for storage or manufacturing only. With industrial properties, the building’s exterior will look somewhat classy and professional, but maintain an overall clean appearance. Industrial buildings will include a variety of tenants that range from flex and bulk warehouses to storage spaces that are individually sized to accommodate the tenant’s business. Some examples could be showrooms for car dealerships or goods, refrigeration or cold storage, and heavy manufacturing (which consists of heavy machinery, power necessities, and chemicals).

• Retail – Commercial retail properties sell products or services directly to consumers. These are tenants that have restaurants or single shopping stores. To be considered retail, the tenant’s business would need to fit, for example, with the rest of the neighborhood strip malls or shopping centers. It could also have a complete standalone spot with a smaller operation. Community retail centers, however, are a mix of big box stores such as Target or Walmart, and are typically larger in dimension.

• Hospitality – Hospitality is another popular business venture. It caters to all kinds of traffic, from travelers to locals, and for business and pleasure. Hospitality can be an amusement park for the family or a motel or resort. Commercial hospitality businesses could be either extended-stay or budget hotels, full and limited service hotels, and even short-term rentals.

• Multi-family – These are typically residential properties with more than one unit. Oftentimes, the owner will transition from residential to commercial and turn these buildings into multi-family or multi-tenant properties. These commercial multi-family units can be duplex/triplex, mid-rise and high-rise apartments, garden apartments, senior assisted living, or even student housing, depending on the location and building type.

• Office – Tenants seeking a more professional business entity can seek commercial office space. Depending on the building and where it’s located, the office space can be used for medical purposes and commercially zoned homes, as well as suburban office space.

Commercial Maintenance

Whether you’re a renter or property owner, you know the importance of keeping up with regular maintenance. So, what does regular maintenance look like? Anything from turf installation and repair to hardscape installation and landscape lighting, your commercial property maintenance Denver team should include everything your property needs. This includes snow and ice management, drainage, shrub and tree planting, and even commercial lawn maintenance.

This should give you a pretty good idea of which category your future business will fit into, and how important it is to have regular property maintenance. The service professionals at Local Motion Services provide 24/7 commercial property maintenance and care. Call or email us today to get started!

What is Resurfacing a Parking Lot?

Your business is more than your brick and mortar. When you own your property, you own the surrounding areas like the parking spaces and lights for visibility. Your parking lot is actually the first element that stands out in front of your business. Cracked pavement, shifting concrete, and potholes should never be a problem in the parking lot of your business. With a little general maintenance and clean up, you can take care of this problem. Resurfacing your parking lot is just one of those necessary things!

Sealing the Deal

So what kind of maintenance does resurfacing require? Well, that would all depend on if your parking lot is concrete or asphalt. These two different materials are installed differently as well. Concrete is a mixture of aggregates, cement, and water. When the mixture dries, it hardens to create the look that we call concrete. It’s a quick-drying material so you don’t have to worry about finding temporary lot spacing. Concrete, if not mixed properly, can lack water, which makes the mixture denser and stronger, but this usually leads to cracking or brittle pavement soon enough. Concrete installation requires a bit more effort than that of asphalt. Whereas asphalt areas are simpler to prepare for an overlay, asphalt parking lots may also need a little more maintenance throughout the year, especially if you live in climate zones with colder weather.

Both installations take time and effort, and this is simply not a DIY project to take on yourself. It requires a skilled Denver parking lot repair contractor.

So depending on the type of lot, you can expect anything from general cleaning to restoring the pavement with the sealcoat. This is general maintenance. However, when it comes to resurfacing, you can expect a little more involvement. These maintenance procedures involve breaking through a few inches of the surface of your current pavement to replace it with new asphalt or concrete. This is done after 10 to 15 years, and it appears as a fresh new surface layer across your parking lot.

When You Should Consider Parking Lot Resurfacing

Aside from the obvious giant cracks or shifts in cement, your parking lot should be resurfaced depending on the age. Even if you don’t have too much damage and you perform regular maintenance, the surface area will eventually lose its luster. So, for visual aesthetics, resurfacing your parking lot will enhance the overall aesthetic of your property and business. Another valid reason to consider resurfacing is if you notice significant damage, year after year, on one particular spot that you maintain. This could be a sign of deeper damage that a Denver parking lot repair service can determine.

Damage done from snow plowing can increase the need to resurface or reseal your parking lot sooner. Faded lines from too much sun exposure, heavy rain, and wind are culprits in parking spaces or zones that require distinct lines. It’s important to keep these lines and spaces clear, especially for those who require handicap zones.

Commercial or industrial lots tend to be susceptible to warping. This warping can take place when heavy- duty trucks maneuver in and out of delivery zones or parking spaces. Warping can shift the surface to make it uneven, while causing a deeper issue internally.

A Denver parking lot repair service should be on your emergency list of VIPs. Your business is only as good as the property! Eventually, you’re going to need an expert to resurface your parking lot to enhance the functionality and quality of your business. The Local Motion experts offer 24/7 commercial property maintenance, including sweeping, handyman projects, asphalt work, concrete flat work, and more. Call them today!

Being a commercial property owner comes with plenty of responsibility. You have to worry about keeping your customers safe when they visit, and about keeping the property in a visually appealing way so that new customers feel comfortable stopping in. If you’re new to commercial property maintenance in Denver, you might want to consider a few ways to help make it easier. 

Know your space for commercial property maintenance

It’s important as a commercial property maintenance owner that you fully know every square inch of your property. Know the buildings and the surfaces on which customers walk and drive. Over time, you’ll even better understand the idiosyncrasies of the space and be able to develop a priority list for taking the best care of it. You should do routine inspections of the entire property, or, hire a trusted commercial property maintenance company to do so for you. 

Make a commercial property maintenance plan

It’s always smart to develop a plan and to establish priorities for taking care of your property and your investment. A little bit of forward-thinking, and a plan to complete preventative maintenance on the systems within your building, could save you a ton of money and heartburn in the long run. Consider regular inspections and your plumbing, electrical, HVAC, infrastructure, wear and term, and even landscaping. During inspections, you can identify what needs attention long before it causes problems on your property.   

The benefits of having a trusted partner

If you own commercial property within which you run a business, you won’t have time or energy for all of these inspections and ongoing maintenance. Instead, you should trust a responsive and reputable commercial maintenance company to handle it for you. If you need help finding one, you can ask fellow business owners, call the local Chamber of Commerce, or even search social media for these companies operating in your area. 

The benefits of professional property maintenance

There are tremendous benefits to hiring someone to worry about this stuff for you. You’ll quickly see that it will reduce your overall costs for maintenance. The crew will keep your property looking nice and in good shape. Regular attention will prevent accidents and injuries for customers and employees alike. And keeping up your property will probably even raise your values.

Depending on the climate you live in, the installation and material quality used, and the amount of traffic that drives on it, business owners can expect an asphalt driveway and parking lot to last about 20 years. Inevitably, the surface will require asphalt repair. Don’t be caught off guard when that time comes. Instead, learn more about the steps for repairs that will last. 

The first step for asphalt repair

The very first step in asphalt repair that will last is to remove all dust and debris from the existing service. This can be done with a combination of tools like a stiff broom, a pressure washer, and even a leaf blower. If you go the pressure washer route, you have to be sure the surface dries completely before proceeding with the repairs. You want to be sure you remove all debris that could get in the way of the new asphalt adhering to the surface.  

Removing any vegetation 

Once you’ve removed all the dirt and debris, you can turn your attention to removing any small plants that might be growing through cracks in the asphalt. Don’t be tempted to leave them behind and pour new material on top of them. You can use a gardening hoe to help with the process or even a flamethrower to kill those weeds for good. 

Problems that require asphalt repair

If your asphalt driveway or parking lot has seen better days, you probably know it just with a quick glance. Other specific problems to be on the lookout for include the formation of potholes, alligator cracking, bird baths and sink holes, and general surface failure. Each of these problems require their own unique fix and it pays to have a professional company handle it for you.   

How to find the best repair company

One good resource for finding the best repair company around is to ask fellow business owners who might have dealt with the problem already. Friends and family might also know someone in the business that you can contact. You can also call the local Chamber of Commerce or Better Business Bureau to get suggestions for this kind of business locally. 

Parking lots are critical areas for commercial properties. And parking lots with clear lines provide a better experience for anyone visiting a commercial property. They’re also necessary for safety reasons and their upkeep is an important component of the overall maintenance of your space. So if you’re a commercial property owner with a parking lot that’s seen better days, here’s what you can expect from your parking lot striping job.  

The first step for a parking lot striping job is:

Before you can get to any of the fun stuff, you need to prepare the area. Paint applied to debris or dirty surfaces won’t adhere as it should and a great-looking paint job won’t last very long. It’s important to ensure the surface you’re working with is clean and that any cracks in the asphalt are repaired well before any paint is applied to the surface of your parking lot striping job. 

Measure twice, paint once

If your parking area has existing parking spaces, then this step might not be necessary. But, if it’s a brand new lot, the parking area needs to be measured to ensure that parking spots meet standard dimensions. Parking spaces are typically 18 feet long by 9 feet wide with a clear path out of the lot from each space. If it’s been a while since your existing lot was striped, it might be a wise idea to double check those dimensions too.  

Putting down paint for your parking lot striping job

Once the area has been cleared and spaces measured out, it’s finally time for the paint. Painting a parking lot can be done by hand or with a stripping machine, which is much easier. These machines are easy to operate and apply paint in a neat and uniform fashion. Be sure you have plenty of the proper paint on hand to get the job done without having to run back to the neighborhood paint store.  

Clean up and let dry

Once all the lines have been painted, all that’s left to do is clean up the area and wait for the lines and symbols to dry. As that happens, it’s important to keep all traffic out of the area. Depending on the paint you choose, the drying time could be as little as 30 minutes or as long as a couple of hours. 

If you own commercial property, you know that your investment comes with its own share of headaches. Things break, things need to be maintained, and it takes effort and time to keep your property looking great. For all these reasons and more, it pays to have a partner for commercial property maintenance. 

Commercial property maintenance helps protect your investment

Having a partner to help with commercial property maintenance means that there is another set of eyes on your investment. The crew will work to keep the property looking great. And because they’re keeping a close eye on it, they’ll likely spot any problems ahead of the game so that those small problems can be addressed before they become big ones.    

You’ll be glad after that next big snow storm

Hiring a company dedicated to your property maintenance might also include plowing services. This means that next time Mother Nature decides to dump the white stuff all over town, you won’t have to deal with removing it. Professional snow removal service provides safety for your customers and much needed maintenance for your property. It’s also one less thing you’ll have to worry about. 

Keeping tabs on your parking lot

Parking lots take more of a beating than most people realize. And when you live in a place that deals with snow and the corrosive effects of salt in the winter, the wear and tear is even worse. Having a professional company keeping tabs on the upkeep of your parking lot will alert you to potential problems well in advance and probably keep your parking area in good shape for much longer than the alternative.  

Property maintenance keeps things looking sharp

Another great aspect of having property maintenance come by regularly is you’ll have much less garbage and debris laying around. When they take care of your property that will include the removal of any trash that’s found its way there. Your customers will definitely notice the difference. 

Maintaining parking lot striping is the responsibility of the property owner. Without clear striping, visitors to the building won’t know where to park, the parking area will be disorganized, and a lack of clear directional markers could even cause an accident. If you’re a property owner with striping that you use a refresh, here’s what you can expect during the project. 

The first step in parking lot striping

The best way to begin a new striping project, or to refresh an existing one, is to check the area for any potholes or cracks first. If any are found, those should be repaired before new striping paint is added. This will ensure the most effective striping and will go a long way in keeping the parking lot striping lines in great shape for years to come.   

Temporarily relocate current parking

While your parking lot undergoes new striping, you’ll need to figure out a way to relocate the cars that regularly park there. If those cars belong to employees, you’ll need to find an offsite place for them to park. If customers regularly park in the space, you’ll need to arrange somewhere close by that they can park instead and clear directional signage so that they know exactly where to go. 

Clear away dirt and debris before parking lot striping

Clearing away dirt and debris is as important as surveying the integrity of the asphalt or concrete for potholes and cracks. A clean base on which to apply paint will ensure that the paint adheres better and will extend the lifespan of the striping. If you skip this step, striping paint will easily fleck away during the next high wind or rainstorm, or even underneath regular traffic. 

Leave the rest up to the pros

Parking lot striping should be done by a professional group with experience and that knows what they’re doing. It requires specialized tools to get the lines exactly as they should. Professionals will also ensure compliance with handicap parking, fire lanes, and more.