Painting and Wallpapering Around Chaos: Tips for Parents and Others

Two Tips for Those Who Plan to Have a Pedestrian Crossing Added to Their Commercial Car Park

9 May 2019 by Francis Ortiz

If a professional painter will be adding a pedestrian crossing to your commercial car park soon, here are some tips that you might find useful.

Ask the painters to use the highest-quality ground paint available

There are some circumstances in which it is perfectly acceptable to use a bucket of cheap-and-cheerful paint. For example, if you need to paint the walls of a rarely-used room in your house or your garage interior, then there is nothing wrong with opting for an economy paint brand. However, if you will be using the paint to create something as important as a pedestrian crossing area, then it is vital to ignore any urge you may have to be frugal and to instead instruct the painter to use the best ground paint available.

The reason for this is as follows; it is safe to assume that a pedestrian crossing in a busy commercial car park will be subjected to an unusual amount of wear and tear. It might, for example, be trampled on by several dozen people over the course of an average day, and by thousands of people over the course of a year.

It will also be exposed to the weight of many heavy vehicles, as well as to ultraviolet light, heat, rain and frost. If the paint from which the crossing has been made is cheap, it will deteriorate in the face of these type of environmental conditions. More specifically, it may fade, develop cracks or even peel off.

As this deterioration occurs, the pedestrian crossing will become less and less effective, as drivers may find it harder to see in low light if it has faded dramatically or if patches of it have peeled off. This could then increase the chances of a driver accidentally colliding with someone who steps off the pavement and onto the pedestrian crossing whilst they are driving over it.

Conversely, if you instruct the painter to use the highest quality paint available, this paint should remain vibrant and fully intact, even if it is located in a harsh and busy environment.

Prevent access to the crossing until the paint has fully dried

As soon as the painter has finished creating the pedestrian crossing lines, you should use hazard tape or some type of temporary barrier to stop people from walking on the crossing whilst it is still wet.

If you don't do this, two issues could arise; firstly, the people who walk across the wet crossing may end up with paint all over the soles of their shoes. If their footwear happens to be very expensive, they could file a complaint with your business.

Secondly, if people walk on the crossing before the paint has dried, the lines may end up with footprint-shaped gaps in them, in which case you would have to get them repainted.

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