EXPERT ADVICE
NO BLACKOUT BEFORE
van-accessible stalls instead of one and no black-
ing out.
Take a close look at the “before” image. You
may be able to see a chalk line along the base
of the stalls. I call that a “baseline”. That base-
line serves three purposes: 1) It’s the beginning
of the new striping. I don’t necessarily care how
long the stripes are, but I want them all the same
length; 2) I will lay my handicap stencils along
this line – they’ll be lined up, straight and at the
same height, within the stall; 3) I will also stripe
along the inside of that baseline for the bottom
of each gore. Again, everything will be lined up,
it’ll be pretty and it’s quick.
I’m also a fan of snapping a chalk line all the
way across for the diagonal, hashed-out lines.
That way they’re also lined up. These two partic-
ular gores were too far apart, and the angle was
such that I could not affect that. So, I measured
off the concrete. I made the dimensions the
same for both gores. I snapped the lines. They
came out great.
Let me offer this: I rarely black out. I use grey.
NO BLACKOUT AFTER
I mix a little black into two gallons of white.
Battleship grey is fine. I store that in a 5-gallon
bucket. I place a 9-inch roller, just like the one
you’d use on your living room wall bought from
a dollar store, inside that bucket and snap the lid
back on. I use this only to hand roll and never to
spray from. I never clean the roller. I just store it
back, submerged, and snap the lid back on. It’s
ready for the next job.
That leads me to this: I had a job where my
client wanted everything shifted. I suggested
that they not have me grey out the old, very fad-
ed lines prior to striping the new, bright yellow
lines. They declined and chose the grey.
I needed to spray the grey paint first because
the new, yellow stripes would cross over too
many times. I used new, clean, grey paint. I
then began the new layout. I sprayed the yel-
low lines and it looked like a tic-tac-toe board.
Friends, you cannot match the grey pavement,
and you cannot make grey invisible. It will show
as brand-new grey.
To be clear, I am simply not a fan of leaving a
parking lot looking like a tic-tac-toe board, a zebra
or a bumble bee. I’m just not. I do, however, grey
out stencils because no two are alike. You’ll see a
nice, properly sized, well-located, grey, rectangle
background with a brand-new, white or yellow
stencil that’s squarely centered. But, if it’s not nec-
essary to black out or grey out the stripes, I won’t.
Bottom line: Try not to view the ADA re-
quirements as daunting. There aren’t too many
rules, and years may go by without you ever be-
ing asked to recall them. If you are asked, take
your time. Take a look at your overall dimen-
sions and do some simple math. Make a few
pencil sketches. Move things around. Offer your
client the options and ask what they would pre-
fer.
And remember -- It may be that you don’t
need to black out.
I’m Dan Zurcher and I own
The American Striping Company.
Columbus Ohio • 614.237.8884
www.AmericanStriping.com
American Striping Company
• The all time best,
small business start up, ever.
• 6K to start. No shop. No inventory.
• Part-Time or Full-Time.
• Almost any economy.
Contact Me Today!
(614) 237-8884
[email protected]
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July 2019