Professional property managers often have demanding jobs. They must keep tenants happy, manage personnel, and handle dozens of other tasks, but one task that many property managers dread is creating an annual budget. Some expenses are relatively easy to predict. For example, vehicle loans, mortgages, and similar payments tend to remain the same every month throughout the life of the loan. To predict the amount to budget for other categories, it is often possible to look at the average monthly expenditure for the previous year, then perhaps increase that amount by a fixed percentage to account for inflation or price increases. However, things get a bit more complicated when creating an Austin paving budget.
Austin Paving Budget Tips for Property Managers
Why Do Property Managers Sometimes Have Difficulty Creating an Austin Paving Budget?
The main problem is that commercial asphalt pavements seldom age in a straight line. The first year or two of the pavement’s life, may not need anything more than routine cleaning and asphalt sealcoating if your asphalt company built the pavement correctly. By the third or fourth year, the pavement may need an asphalt repair or two to seal any cracks that might develop. When the pavement is seven or eight years old, asphalt patching may be needed to mend potholes or address other types of pavement distress. Even with excellent routine paving maintenance, when your asphalt pavement is 10 years old, you may need to start considering an asphalt overlay; most commercial asphalt pavements are ready for an overlay at some point between their 10th and 15th years. If you add that you only need some paving maintenance procedures every two or three years, you can quickly see how challenging it can be to create an accurate budget.
What Is the Best Way to Develop an Austin Paving Budget?
The first step is to find a trustworthy, experienced asphalt contractor to evaluate your pavement’s current condition. Most reputable asphalt contractors offer free pavement evaluations. They can recommend an appropriate schedule for your asphalt sealcoating, pavement marking, and other routine services that are seldom needed every year. The second step is to stop thinking of your budget in terms of a single year. For example, if you can create a reserve account into which you budget 10% of the expected cost of an overlay, you will already have the funds allocated by the time you need the work. Similarly, if your asphalt sealcoating contractor recommends that you seal your pavement every two years, you could set aside half of the predicted cost each year. The third step is to look for ways to reduce your potential asphalt repair expenses.
How Can Property Managers Reduce Their Asphalt Repair Costs?
The key to reducing repair costs for commercial asphalt pavement is to be proactive about your paving maintenance. Depending on the age of your pavement, the use it receives, and its current condition, you may need to do all of the following, or you may only need to do some of the following. Your contractor can help you if you need assistance.
• Asphalt sealcoating is by far the most cost-effective way to obtain a longer pavement life. Asphalt contractors recommend sealing a new pavement no later than 12 months after its construction. After that, most pavements need fresh sealcoating about every two or three years. However, you could need to have high-traffic areas refreshed annually, or you could go four or five years between applications.
• Be highly conscientious about keeping your pavement clean, especially during the months before its initial sealcoating. Even after sealcoating, clean up automotive fluids, and do not allow grass clippings, trash, fallen leaves, or other debris to stay on your pavement for more than a few days.
• If you find a crack, ask your contractor to repair it as soon as possible. Timely crack repairs can prevent structural damage to your pavement by keeping water from eroding the base layers.
• Watch for signs of drainage issues. Make sure that gutters and grates are clear, keep sprinklers aimed away from your pavement, and look out for puddles of water that linger long after the surrounding pavement has dried.
If you need assistance with your commercial asphalt pavement budget, contact Alpha Paving. We are an award-winning, full-service, Central Texas paving company with an exemplary reputation for professionalism, craftsmanship, integrity, and service. We routinely assist commercial property managers with their asphalt and concrete paving, maintenance, and repair needs. Our services include asphalt patching, sealcoating, asphalt overlays, asphalt crack repair, parking lot signs, asphalt milling, parking lot pavement markings and lot striping, speed bumps, thermoplastic pavement markings, and asphalt paving, and we also offer the construction and repair of concrete ramps, gutters, parking lots, and sidewalks. In addition to property management firms, our clients include lodging establishments, health care facilities, restaurants, airports, office parks, schools, retailers, apartment complexes, condos, HOAs, and local governments. To request a free quote and pavement assessment, fill out the online form, call 512-677-9001, or email [email protected].
