American with Disabilities Act (ADA) laws apply to State and local government buildings and facilities, public accommodations, commercial facilities, and public housing.  In the State of California, by inviting customers to your business you are automatically responsible to reasonably provide accessibility for persons with disabilities.  In addition there are less than scrupulous attorneys who will send bird dogs to survey  properties, at random, to see if they are ADA Compliant.  The easiest way for them to determine if the property is in compliance is to drive by the parking lot.  They don’t even have to get out of their car.  If any signage or pavement marking is not compliant a suit is filed against you the property owner.  Unfortunately until our state laws are changed the property owner does not have the opportunity to repair it before being sued and is on the hook for not only repairing the noncompliant issues but will more than likely be paying a settlement for being sued.  This could be around $5,000.00 to $25,000.00 a pop.  Be proactive!  Look at your parking accommodations.  Do you have only one ADA Parking Stall?  Is that parking stall “Van Accessible”?  Is the crosshatch  area the proper width?  Are your ADA parking signs up to date?  The specifications change frequently.  If you are unsure of any of this please call us for a site visit, we can help with your parking upgrade needs.

Planning to repaint the red curb in your community or HOA?  Here is some info you may find helpful especially if the paint is in poor condition or where many layers of paint exist.  Most stripers will, and should, hand scrap any loose paint that may be pealing but this will not prevent the newly applied paint from peeling again.  What occurs when fresh paint is applied the old paint underneath shrinks up causing the new paint to separate and then crack and peel.

Linear Striping highly recommends either pressure washing or sand blasting to remove the old paint, leaving a much better prepared surface to work with and potentially avoiding this problem altogether as well as a clean sharp painted surface.

Any property owner or manager who has had to deal with repainting of red curbs for Firelane purposes knows the process can be challenging.  Call backs and unsatisfactory results are common because the new paint continues to crack due to the underlying old paint.  If the old paint isn’t removed entirely, either by pressure washing or sand blasting, it is guaranteed to fail and shrink causing the new paint to crack and peel.  An ideal way to avoid this is to consider painting a Red Firelane on the asphalt rather than on the curb.  Over time your properties appearance will have better longevity without flaking and peeling curb.