High-quality road markings are highly appreciated by drivers and pedestrians alike. With the significant increase of vehicles on the road, as well as the people crossing them, unclear or faded road markings can be the cause of many accidents, and arguments.
Road markings are one of the most common and effective ways of informing and regulating road users, which is why the markings must always be in a good condition. This is exactly why having thermoplastic road markings is the best option for ensuring road safety and why they are widely offered by all road marking service providers.
Why Thermoplastic?
When it comes to road markings, paint and thermoplastic are the two main options available. While each of them has their strengths for specific circumstances, thermoplastic is often the more efficient option. Why is that? Let’s have a look at how paint and thermoplastic compare to one another:
Durability
Thermoplastic easily lasts upwards of 4 years without any wear. It is extremely resistant to impact and practically any weather conditions that come its way. It performs well in any climate, with the exception of extremely cold environments. Thermoplastics can handle any type of traffic and the only time it is less durable is when heavy traffic and extremely cold temperatures combine. Contrary to paint, thermoplastic also stays vibrant not just throughout the year, but for many years to come.
Traditional paint, on the other hand, can start fading within a few months of being applied and it often needs repainting before a year is through. It is nowhere near as impact resistant as thermoplastic, and its lifespan is heavily reduced by rain and UV light too. Most traditional paints also do not perform very well against traffic. Those that do can come with significant costs.
The best possible solution for keeping important markings, such as the zebra crossing and the Stop Sign marking, in good condition for longer, is to invest in thermoplastic road markings to ensure longevity and durability.
Cost-Efficiency
In general, paints are cheaper than thermoplastic, but they also last for a lot less time. Paint could certainly be the better option for a short-term solution, before permanent road markings are laid. If you are looking for a long-term solution though, having to re-apply paint on a yearly basis will be much more expensive than having your thermoplastic road markings maintained once in up to 10 years.
Convenience
Closing off a road for maintenance can cause a lot of inconvenience for road users. The longer it is closed, the greater their discontent. So, what if you’re having to do that every year?
Paint is far from ideal when it comes to the convenience aspect of installing road markings. Apart from having to do it annually, paint takes hours to dry, which means in some cases a road may take a day or more to re-open completely!
Thermoplastic, on the other hand, bonds with surface within half an hour. It’s easy to install, quickly ready to use, and needs maintenance just once in a decade in most cases. Thermoplastic line road markings will save everybody hours of waiting!
Design
Another of the bigger downsides to a paint marking is the possibility of compromised designs. The reason for that is that the paint markings can easily spill over, can be tampered with before they dry and require a lot of experience to be applied properly.
Thermoplastic requires expertise to apply too, but the process is spill-safe, and the material hardens so fast that it’s easy to keep it secure. Plus, our thermoplastic road markings are cut with a state-of-the-art waterjet cutting machine which means we’re able to create much more intricate designs. It can also be tricky to get the same texture and consistency when you paint your Road arrows and junction markings. Thermoplastic ensures a much neater finish!
Overall, our clear winner is thermoplastic, but there are in fact more reasons as to why we rely on thermoplastics. We wholeheartedly believe it is the best option for offering the highest quality products to our customers! It meets the required standards for road safety with ease when it’s designed and installed properly, which is something the team at SOPM have years of experience with. If you want to know more about why high-quality road markings are important, check out Rua Seguridad’s article on 5 reasons why road markings take care of drivers and pedestrians.
Why choose us?
We take special pride and care in sourcing high standard material and products to match road safety standards, whilst ensuring great value for money. In a sea of different prices, qualities, colours, and durability, we make sure to offer a great balance between them all. To add to this, the SOPM team have over ten years industry experience and many successful projects behind us. So, if you have any questions, let us know. We’d be pleased to help!
