Striping Machines: Making Your Parking Area Painting Easier

You are the owner of a business with a parking area that needs refurbishing. You decide one day that it’s time for that parking lot renovation you’ve always planned. You go out and buy a number of paints, accessories, stencils and manuals to help you with your job. Being a bit of a handyman, you decide you want to do this job by yourself.

So you wake up early, put on your overalls and prepare to repaint your curbs yellow. You open your can of paint, and bend down to dip the brush into the liquid. All of a sudden your back goes out. You then keel over facing the sky, curled into a fetal position still holding that wet paint brush. A couple of kids come up to look you over. But rather than help you they laugh at you, after which they turn around and basically leave you alone in excruciating pain. Then it starts to rain.

While this seems like a funny scenario, throwing out your back in the middle of a job is not an uncommon occurrence. Back pain is the 2nd most common reason for doctor visits. In fact, most back injuries are mechanical and non-organic, meaning they are not caused by more serious conditions such as arthritis, infection or fracture. The simple act of picking up a pencil from the floor can cause back pain.

It therefore makes sense to take precautions when doing work that may stress your back. Today, there are several kinds of equipment that take that stress off your back. One example is a back brace, which are worn by workers to help maintain a proper lifting posture. In the case of the aforementioned pavement painting, the proper tool to use is a striping machine.

Striping machines help one maintain an upright position when painting or striping the pavement. There are many types of striping machines for a wide range of applications. Typically, when painting or striping pavements, one uses a walk-behind striping machine. It is called this because you “walk behind” the machine as you operate it, like pushing a cart. Walk behind striping machines themselves come in either motorized or non motorized types.

Non-motorized striping machines also come in two types: those that use hand-pumped air pressure or those that use spray paint cans. The hand-pumped air pressure type has a cylinder which you manually pump to a certain pressure. It’s this air pressure that causes the paint to be released.

Those striping machines that use spray paint cans work by utilizing the inherent pressure built inside spray paint cans. What you do is you insert a can of spray paint into the receptacle of the apparatus upside-down. These types of machines have a triggering mechanism that you pull on in order to release the paint.

Both have their inherent advantages and disadvantages. The hand pump machine can hold up to 4 gallons of paint, meaning you can cover more area with a single load. The downside is once the pressure falls below ideal, you have to stop and give the machine a few pumps before you could start again.

The machines that use spray paint cans need no hand pumping but coverage is limited to how much paint is in the can. Once the can is empty, you have to replace it.

These factors notwithstanding, striping machines are the proper tools to use when you need to repaint your parking area. These machines are easy to operate and are relatively affordable. When the need arises, consider using a striping machine. Your back will thank you for it later.