Effective Ways to Reduce Car Park Building Maintenance Costs

Car park building maintenance costs are much more expensive than many people realise. These heavy-duty structures must hold thousands of tonnes of weight, which requires almost constant testing, improving, and monitoring.

Maintenance is not an area where you want to cut corners, though. It would be an enormous liability, not to mention that it would threaten and endanger hundreds of lives every day.

Still, there are effective ways that you can maintain the best standards possible and cut down on some of your costs at the same time. Let’s look at five of them now.

Use Rubber on the Columns, Corners, and Walls

The columns, corners, and walls are the most vulnerable surfaces in your car park. Rubber is a much less expensive material to use on these surfaces. It is also extremely durable, shock-absorbent, and flexible, so it lasts a long time and can take a beating. For that reason, we highly recommend using rubber as it also requires less maintenance than the alternatives.

Use an Anti-Corrosive Coating

Corrosion is an area of concern of car parks. The conditions within a car park are ideal for the formation of carbonic acid (carbon dioxide and types of moisture, plus the fumes released by the cars themselves).

A durable polyurethane coating can go a long way in preventing damage from corrosion. This can protect your structure from needing more major repairs or more intensive cleaning. Most importantly, it helps keep the structure safe.

Cover Car-Park Joints with Waterproof Zip Block Seals

Parking garages and car parks take serious beatings. Cars are enormously heavy, and hundreds of them drive through a car park every day. Therefore, the joints, which help support the structure and its incredible weight, have a very important job to do.

Over time, all sorts of environmental factors can wear the joints down. They are expensive to replace and you will have to shut down part or even all of your parking spaces while they’re made.

That’s why it is a good idea to protect them with a waterproof zip block seal. Since they are mostly made from metal, water can cause damage over time. This seal protects against not only water, but also other liquids and sources of moisture as well as other environmental exposure.

Prevent Unnecessary Clean-up of Graffiti

One of the most common unplanned-for expenses when it comes to maintaining car parks is cleaning up graffiti. Because they are dark, relatively unpatrolled or empty and there are many spaces to hide, vandals love to hit car parks.

The clean-up from graffiti can be very expensive, even running into the thousands of dollars. Cleaners and painters first need to remove the unwanted illustration as best as they can, and then cover it with multiple layers of paint.

One way to prevent this from happening in the first place is to use an anti-graffiti coating on the walls. While it needs to be applied regularly, it can save time and money in the end and it frustrates would-be vandals, who are less likely to return.

In addition, consider installing security cameras. This is not an inexpensive endeavour, as many cameras are typically needed to monitor most corners and crevices, but vandals – as well as other criminals – stay away from them. Be sure to post conspicuous signs about the security system.

Even if you do get hit, cameras also mean that there is a much greater chance of catching someone, who can then be held personally responsible for the damage. It helps customers feel safer, too.

Hire Professionals for Car Park Cleaning

In addition to unsightly graffiti, there are lots of other messes to deal with inside car parks. That’s why our last tip on this list is to hire professionals to do the car park cleaning for you.

Believe it or not, there are actually cleaning companies that specialise in these kinds of services. Car park cleaners empty trash cans, pick up garbage left behind, and clean stains from spilled food and beverages, the cars themselves, bodily fluids, and gum. They also fully clean the elevators and stairwells, and can clean any ticket booths you have.

This ongoing maintenance is much less expensive than waiting to deal with these messes until they become massive, overwhelming projects. It is much easier to take care of a few small messes than many major ones, which saves you money in the end.

Maintenance Is Key

When it comes to managing a car park or parking garage, maintenance is certainly one of the most important parts of the job. Still, there are clever things that you can do, as well as preventative measures to cut down on costs without skipping safety.

Try rubber coating, anti-corrosive coating, waterproof zip block seals, vandalism prevention, or regular cleaning and see what works for you.