A
- Access aisle
- The striped no-parking zone beside an accessible stall that gives room for a wheelchair, walker or lift. It must connect to an accessible route to the building and can be shared by two stalls.
- Accessible route
- A continuous, step-free path from the access aisle to the building entrance, usually including a curb ramp or flush transition.
- ADA stall (accessible parking space)
- A parking space reserved for vehicles with a disability permit, marked with the International Symbol of Accessibility, a sign, and an adjacent access aisle. In Florida these stalls are 12 feet wide.
- Alligator cracking
- A pattern of small, connected cracks that looks like alligator skin. It usually means the base under the asphalt is failing, so the area needs to be cut out and patched rather than just sealed.
- Asphalt (hot mix asphalt)
- The black pavement on most parking lots: crushed stone and sand held together by asphalt binder, laid hot and rolled until it is dense and smooth.
- Asphalt binder
- The sticky, tar-like petroleum product that glues the stone in asphalt together. As it dries out in the sun, the surface turns gray and starts to crack.
- Asphalt emulsion sealer
- The most common type of sealcoat: asphalt suspended in water with clay and additives. It is low-odor and easy to apply, and it dries to a deep black finish.
- Asphalt patching
- Cutting out a damaged section of asphalt and replacing it with new hot mix. Used for potholes, base failures and utility cuts.
B
- Barricades and cones
- Temporary devices that close off part of a lot while paint or sealcoat dries, so cars do not drive through wet work.
- Base course
- The layer of compacted crushed rock under the asphalt that carries the weight of traffic. Most potholes and soft spots start with a weak or wet base.
- Base failure
- An area where the material under the asphalt has broken down, often from water. It shows up as sinking, potholes or alligator cracking and is fixed by digging out and rebuilding the area.
- Blue outline (ADA)
- Florida requires every accessible parking space to be prominently outlined in blue paint. Faded blue outlines are one of the most common ADA issues on older lots.
- Bollard
- A short, sturdy post that protects buildings, storefronts, utilities or pedestrians from vehicles.
C
- Car stop (wheel stop)
- A concrete or rubber block set at the head of a stall to keep cars from rolling into sidewalks, landscaping or buildings. Pinned to the pavement with steel rods.
- Coal tar sealer
- A sealcoat made from refined coal tar. It is very durable, but it has a strong odor and is banned or restricted in some states and cities, so asphalt emulsion is now more common.
- Cold patch
- A bagged asphalt mix that can be packed into a pothole without heating. It is a quick, temporary fix until a proper hot-mix patch can be done.
- Compact space
- A smaller parking space meant for compact cars, usually marked with the word COMPACT. Local code decides whether they are allowed and how many.
- Compaction
- Rolling asphalt or base material with heavy rollers to press out air and make it dense. Good compaction is what keeps new pavement from rutting or settling.
- Crack filling (crack sealing)
- Filling cracks with a hot or cold flexible material to keep water out of the base, which prevents potholes from forming.
- Crosswalk
- Painted lines that mark where pedestrians cross. Styles include standard parallel lines and high-visibility "continental" or ladder patterns.
- Curb and gutter
- A concrete curb with a shallow channel along its base that carries rainwater to the drains. Common along drive aisles and lot edges.
- Curb painting
- Painting curbs to show restrictions (for example red or yellow for no parking or fire lanes) or simply to make them visible.
- Curb ramp
- A short sloped section of concrete that lets a wheelchair move between the parking surface and the sidewalk.
- Cure time
- How long a coating needs before traffic. Traffic paint usually needs under an hour, while sealcoat usually needs about 24 hours depending on heat and humidity.
D
- Detectable warning (truncated domes)
- A panel of raised bumps, usually yellow, installed where a curb ramp meets a drive aisle or street. It lets people with low vision feel where the walkway ends.
- Directional arrows
- Painted arrows that guide traffic flow through drive aisles, one-way lanes and entrances.
- Drainage and slope
- How water runs off a lot. Pavement is built with a slight slope toward drains; low spots that hold water break down the asphalt faster.
- Drive aisle
- The lane that cars drive through to reach the parking spaces. Its width depends on the parking angle and whether traffic flows one way or two.
E
- EV charging space
- A parking space reserved for electric vehicle charging, often marked with a green outline or an EV symbol and a sign.
F
- Fire lane
- A no-parking zone kept clear for emergency vehicles, usually marked with red or yellow curb paint, lettering and signs as required by the local fire marshal.
- Fog seal
- A light spray of diluted asphalt emulsion that refreshes old, dry pavement. It is thinner than a sealcoat and contains no sand.
- Full-depth replacement
- Removing the asphalt and base in a failed area and rebuilding it from the bottom up. Used when patching or overlaying would not last.
H
- Hatching (cross-hatch)
- Diagonal stripes painted inside an area where parking or driving is not allowed, such as access aisles, islands and no-parking zones.
I
- Infrared asphalt repair
- A repair method that heats the existing asphalt, mixes in fresh material and re-compacts it for a seamless patch.
- International Symbol of Accessibility
- The familiar wheelchair symbol painted in accessible stalls and shown on accessible parking signs.
L
- Layout (snapping lines)
- Measuring and marking the new lines on bare or freshly sealed pavement, usually with chalk lines and a measuring wheel, before any paint goes down.
- Lift
- One layer of asphalt placed and compacted in a single pass. Thicker pavements are built up in more than one lift.
- Limerock base
- Crushed limestone used as base material under asphalt. It is common in Florida because limestone is plentiful in the state.
- Line color
- Most lots use white or yellow lines. On public roads yellow separates opposing traffic and white separates lanes going the same way; private lots follow local rules and the owner's preference.
- Line removal
- Getting rid of old lines before a new layout, by grinding, water blasting, or covering them with black paint or sealcoat. Painting over them alone can leave 'ghost lines'.
- Line width
- Parking lot lines are usually about 4 inches wide. Fire lanes, crosswalks and stop bars are often wider.
- Linear foot
- A straight-line foot of painted line. Long runs such as curbs, fire lanes and road edges are often priced per linear foot.
- Loading zone
- A marked area kept clear for deliveries or pick-ups, usually hatched or labeled and posted with a sign.
M
- Mil thickness
- How thick the paint is applied, measured in thousandths of an inch (mils). Thicker coats last longer; a typical parking-lot coat is around 15 wet mils.
- Mill and overlay
- Grinding off the top layer of worn asphalt and paving a new layer in its place, which keeps the surface level with curbs and drains.
- Milling
- Grinding off the top layer of old asphalt before a new layer is placed, so the new surface keeps the right height at curbs and drains.
- Mobilization
- The cost of bringing equipment, materials and setup to a property. It is why very small jobs often have a minimum charge.
- MUTCD
- The Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices, the federal standard for signs and pavement markings on roads. Many private lots follow it for arrows, stop bars and crosswalks.
N
- New layout
- Designing and striping a fresh plan for a lot: stall size and angle, drive aisles, traffic flow, fire lanes and the correct number of accessible spaces. Used after paving, sealcoating that covered the old lines, or a redesign.
- Night and weekend work
- Scheduling striping or sealcoating when a property is closed or quiet, so the lot stays usable during business hours.
O
- Oil spot primer
- A treatment applied to oil and gas stains before sealcoating so the sealer bonds instead of peeling.
- Overlay (resurfacing)
- Placing a new layer of asphalt over an existing, structurally sound lot. Usually cheaper than a full replacement.
- Oxidation
- The sun and air slowly drying out asphalt binder. It turns black pavement gray and brittle, and Florida's strong sun speeds it up. Sealcoating slows it down.
P
- Parallel parking
- Spaces laid out end to end along a curb or aisle, parallel to the direction of traffic.
- Parking angle
- The angle of the spaces to the drive aisle: 90 degrees, or angled at 60 or 45 degrees. Angled spaces are easier to pull into and usually work with one-way aisles.
- Pavement legend
- Words painted on the pavement, such as STOP, FIRE LANE, NO PARKING or COMPACT, usually done with stencils.
- Pavement preservation
- Regular, lower-cost maintenance such as crack filling, sealcoating and restriping that keeps asphalt in good shape and delays the need to repave.
- Pavers
- Interlocking brick or concrete blocks used for driveways, walkways and entrances. They are cleaned and sealed with a paver sealer, not asphalt sealcoat.
- Permit
- Some cities require a permit for paving, a new parking layout or ADA changes. Restriping the existing layout often needs none, but local rules vary.
- Ponding (birdbaths)
- Water that sits in low spots after rain. It softens the asphalt and the base and is a common place for potholes to start.
- Pothole
- A bowl-shaped hole where the asphalt has broken apart, usually after water got into cracks and weakened the base.
- Preformed thermoplastic
- Thermoplastic symbols, letters and arrows that arrive pre-cut and are fused onto the pavement with a torch.
- Pressure washing
- Cleaning a surface with high-pressure water to remove dirt, oil and loose material. Paint and sealcoat stick best to clean pavement.
R
- Raised pavement markers
- Small reflective markers glued to the pavement to guide drivers at night. In Florida, blue markers in the road are used to show where fire hydrants are.
- Raveling
- When stones start coming loose from the asphalt surface as the binder wears out. The surface looks rough and gravelly.
- Recycled asphalt millings
- Old asphalt that has been ground up and reused. It is a lower-cost surface for driveways, back lots and overflow parking.
- Reflective glass beads
- Tiny glass beads dropped into wet paint so the lines reflect headlights at night. Common on roads, fire lanes and crosswalks.
- Restriping (re-striping)
- Repainting existing lines in the same layout, directly over the faded ones. It is the most common and least expensive striping job, and many lots can be restriped in a single night.
- Retroreflectivity
- How well a marking bounces headlight light back to the driver. Glass beads in the paint are what make lines easy to see at night.
S
- Sand additive
- Fine silica sand mixed into sealcoat to add traction and help the coating wear longer.
- Saw cutting
- Cutting straight, clean edges in asphalt or concrete with a saw before patching, so the new patch has a tight, square joint.
- Sealcoating
- A protective liquid coating spread over asphalt to shield it from sun, water, oil and gas. It restores the deep black look and slows cracking. Lots are usually sealcoated every 2–4 years, then restriped.
- Single-line and double-line stalls
- Spaces can be marked with one line between stalls, or with two lines (sometimes joined in a U, called hairpin or loop striping) that help center cars. Some local codes require one style.
- Slurry seal
- A thin mix of asphalt emulsion, fine stone and additives spread over pavement to seal it and add texture. More common on roads and large lots.
- Solvent-based paint
- Traffic paint that uses solvents instead of water. It dries fast and works in cooler, damper conditions, but has a stronger odor than waterborne paint.
- Speed bump / speed hump
- Raised sections of pavement that slow traffic. Bumps are short and sharp, while humps are longer and gentler. Both are usually painted for visibility.
- Square foot and square yard pricing
- Sealcoating and paving are usually measured by area, in square feet or square yards, while striping is usually measured by the number of stalls or linear feet of line.
- Stall count
- The total number of parking spaces in a lot. It drives the price of most striping jobs and decides how many accessible and van-accessible spaces are required.
- Stall dimensions
- The width and depth of a parking space. Standard stalls are commonly around 9 feet wide by 18 feet deep, but the exact size is set by local code.
- Stall numbering
- Numbers painted at the head of each space, often used for reserved or assigned parking at apartments, condos and offices.
- Stencil
- A template used to paint symbols and words: the accessibility symbol, arrows, NO PARKING, FIRE LANE, numbers, and similar markings.
- Stop bar
- A thick solid line across a lane that shows drivers where to stop at a stop sign or intersection.
- Subgrade
- The natural soil under the base course. If it is soft or holds water, the pavement above it will not last.
- Surface preparation
- Blowing off, sweeping or washing a lot and treating oil spots before paint or sealcoat goes down. Good prep is the biggest factor in how long the job lasts.
T
- Tack coat
- A thin, sticky asphalt spray applied between layers of pavement so the new layer bonds to the old one.
- Thermoplastic
- A heavy-duty marking material that is heated until it melts and then applied to the pavement, where it hardens in minutes. It costs more than paint but lasts several times longer, so it is popular for crosswalks, stop bars and arrows.
- Tow-away sign
- A sign stating that unauthorized vehicles will be towed. In Florida, towing from private property is governed by section 715.07 of the Florida Statutes, which sets requirements for these signs.
- Traffic paint
- Fast-drying paint made for pavement markings. Most parking lots use waterborne acrylic traffic paint, which is usually dry to drive on in under an hour in good weather.
V
- Van-accessible space
- An accessible stall with a wider access aisle (or wider stall) and higher vertical clearance, so a van with a side lift can unload. At least one of every six accessible spaces must be van-accessible.
W
- Waterborne paint
- Water-based traffic paint, the most common choice for parking lots. It has low odor, cleans up with water and usually dries in well under an hour in warm weather.
- Weather window
- The stretch of dry weather a job needs. Sealcoating needs dry pavement and no rain for many hours after it goes down, which in Florida often means starting early to beat afternoon storms.
- Wheel stop pins
- Steel rods (usually rebar) driven through a car stop into the pavement to hold it in place. On concrete, stops are often anchored with epoxy.
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See also our guide to ADA parking requirements in Florida.
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