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Line marking | Effective tips to mark a road

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Line markings are a necessary measure to provide guidance to vehicles. They give information to both pedestrians and drivers and go a long way in avoiding confusion. These markings show vehicles where they are allowed to park, tell trucks where to load and inform pedestrians where to cross. That's why line markings need to be done effectively. Rushing and doing a poor job will lead to immature peeling of the markings. If you're a line marker just starting out and need a few tips on how you can do a great job, here are a few working ways.

Surface preparation

This is among the first steps before you begin road line marking. Here's where you get rid of the debris and all dry leaves that may be present on the surface. The best way to do this is by first having a warning sign to show that some construction work is going on. That way, vehicles may not pass by and cause disturbance.

Another important thing when preparing the surface is to ensure that it's dry. You can use a blow/vac to ensure that there's no moisture that may prevent the line paint from adhering to the surface. If there are any oils on the surface, then wash the surface using oil remover solvents.

Go for latex paint

While there are many paints available for line marking, using latex paint would yield more advantages. Unlike alkyds, latex paint is unreactive and would not react with concrete to form any silky surface. Such a reaction would lead to adhesion problems.

The focus here is on the PVC content. So if there are no latex paints, then go for the one with the lowest PVC content. You want to have that chemical a bit lower. Paints with a lower PVC content have a higher binder and glue content, which makes them more suitable for painting on concrete or high traffic roads.

Go for preform thermoplastics

If you're working on an extremely high traffic area, then you'd better go for preformed thermoplastic markings. This is a type of marking system that involves installing pre-cut lines using intense heat. The road surface is preheated to very high temperatures of about 300 degrees to melt it. The thermoplastic material is then placed on the melting surface, and more heat is applied till the thermoplastic aligns to the underneath surface.

Using this technique produces a longer lasting finish as compared to using standard paints. Additionally, the area becomes ready for traffic immediately the stripping material cools.


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