ForConstructionPros.com

People around Marinette, WI, know who to call for pavement maintenance done right. Dan Biehl, owner of Dun-Rite, offers a broad range of pavement maintenance services, including sealcoating, striping, hot rubber crackfilling, parking lot signs, patching, and sweeping.

Dun-Rite has been a growing company since Biehl's brother started the business in 1976, with two employees doing mostly sealcoating and striping jobs. And Biehl sees even more growth in the future.

"Every year we grow a little bit — we've never gone backwards," Biehl says. "We used to just cover a 30-mile radius around the Marinette/Menomonee (MI) area, now we're working out to a 50-mile radius, and even further into Michigan's Upper Peninsula. We're a little bit more mobile, and I have plans to become even more mobile in the future. Every year there's more asphalt. And when the economy's tight, maintenance grows."

Biehl's business is split evenly between residential and commercial jobs, and job sizes are across the board.

"We do jobs from $30 to $50,000 — we don't turn anything away," he says.

About 40% of Dun-Rite's business is in cracksealing. Biehl believes the key to keeping a parking lot or other stretch of pavement in good condition is crackfilling. He says that some people ask for a sealcoat and restripe, thinking those services will make their parking lots look better. But he explains that isn't enough protection against the elements and traffic.