What should I check before buying a line striping business?

A line striping business looks simple from the road: a truck, a machine and a crew painting lines. Behind it sit equipment that needs steady upkeep, paint that has to be bought and stored, and customers who call when lines fade. This page covers the points particular to striping. For sweeper trucks and recurring cleaning contracts, the parking lot cleaning page is the better fit.

Striping equipment and layout tools

List every line striper, truck-mounted rig, layout tool, stencil set and compressor. Ask for service records, who repairs them and what is leased or financed. Ask to see the equipment working, not only parked. Check whether the trucks are registered to the company or to the owner personally. An independent mechanic or equipment adviser can tell you what is near the end of its life.

Paint, materials and a short season

Ask what paint, beads and supplies are in stock and how they are stored. Old stock may be unusable. Then ask how the season runs. Painting depends on weather, so the work bunches into warmer months. Ask what the crew does the rest of the year, whether winter work fills the gap, and how the seller handles the rush when many customers want lines done at once.

Repeat work and one-off jobs

Sort the last few years of invoices into repeat restriping for the same lots and one-off jobs such as a new build. Ask how much work comes from repeat customers. Ask whether they are under written agreements or simply call each year, and whether the owner personally holds those relationships. Check how many lots one property manager controls.

Layout records, damage and callbacks

Ask for the layout drawings and measurements kept for each lot, since they make repeat work quick and accurate. Then ask about complaints: wrong spacing, faded lines, paint on vehicles, and damage claims. Ask for the insurance claims history and any open disputes. A tidy record tells you the work is checked before it is invoiced.