Crack filling, patching, pothole repair and failed spots cut out and replaced, across Greater Dayton and Greater Cincinnati. Most driveways do not need to be replaced. They need the few places that have failed dealt with properly, before the water that gets in through them takes out the rest.
The patch most people have seen is cold patch from a bag, pressed into a hole. It fills the hole for a while and is fine as a stopgap. It rarely lasts, because it does not bond to the edges and nothing was done about why the hole appeared.
A lasting repair cuts the failed area back to sound asphalt with clean straight edges, removes the broken material, fixes the base if the base was the problem, and fills it with hot asphalt compacted in layers. The edges are then sealed so water cannot get in along the seam. It takes longer and it is the version that is still there in five years.
Small patches are done before the sealer goes on and are included in the sealing price. Larger areas, or repairs on their own without sealing, are quoted as their own job.
Water runs into the crack, soaks the stone base under it, and freezes. Frozen water expands, pushes the crack wider and lifts the edges. It thaws, more water gets in, and it happens again, dozens of times between November and March in the Miami Valley. A crack you could lose a coin in by fall can be a broken edge by spring, and a broken edge becomes a pothole.
That is why crack filling and patching are the cheapest thing you can do for a driveway. Every failed spot you close keeps water out of the base around it.
On a parking lot the damage concentrates where the weight does: the entrance, drive lanes, dumpster pads and anywhere delivery trucks turn. Those areas are patched first, then the whole lot is sealed and restriped so the repairs and the rest of the surface wear together. For an HOA or a property manager, the repair list goes on the same written sheet as the sealing, so the board sees one plan and one number. More on parking lot sealcoating and striping.
Crack filling and small patches are inside the one price per square foot for a sealcoating job. A repair on its own, or a larger area that has to be cut out and rebuilt, is priced per job after it has been looked at, because the cost depends on how big the area is, how deep the failure goes, and whether the base needs rebuilding. You get one written number before anything is done.
Will the patch show? Yes, at first. New asphalt is blacker and smoother than a driveway that has been out in the weather for years. Sealing the whole drive after the repair is what makes it read as one surface again, which is one reason repairs and sealing are usually done together.
Can it be done late in the year? Crack filling and small patches can go in later than sealer can, but hot asphalt still needs dry ground and temperatures above freezing to bond and compact. A repair done before winter stops the freeze and thaw from making the damage bigger over the colder months.
Can you fix only the apron? Yes. The apron often fails first because it takes the turning load and the runoff from the street. If it sits in the city's right-of-way, the permit is part of the quote.
How long does a proper patch last? A cut-out and rebuilt patch is built like new driveway, so it should last as long as the asphalt around it, provided water is kept out of the seams with regular crack filling and sealing.
Send the address through the form, and a photo of the damage if you have one. You will be told what it is, whether a patch and a seal will do or whether it has gone past that, and what it costs. Repairs are done by local independent contractors.
