Crack filling, potholes, heaved and broken sections, and failed spots cut out and rebuilt, on drives and lots around Cleveland. Lake Erie winters find every opening in a driveway. Close the openings properly and the drive carries on; leave them and each winter makes them bigger.
When failures cover much of the drive, fixing them one by one costs more than an overlay or new drive, and you will hear that. See asphalt driveway paving.
In the middle of winter, bagged cold patch is the right tool. The plants that make hot asphalt are closed, the ground is frozen, and a hole in the drive is a hazard. Tamp it in, keep the water out, and get through to spring.
It is not a repair. Cold patch does not bond to the old asphalt and it works loose. Once the season opens, the proper version is done: the broken area is cut back to sound asphalt with straight edges, the loose material and any wet base come out, stone goes back where the base failed, and hot mix is compacted in layers. The seam is sealed so meltwater cannot get down the edge. That is the repair still in place several winters later.
Small patches done ahead of a coat are included in the sealing price. Larger areas, or repairs on their own, are priced separately.
The two look alike in April and have different causes. A heave is a spot that rose over the winter, often with a crack across its crown, and sank back most of the way when the ground thawed. It means water is sitting in the base and freezing there. A settled spot sinks and stays down, and it gets a little lower every year. It means the ground underneath is still compacting or washing away, often over an old trench, a filled hole or a leaking downspout line.
Both are cut out, but the rebuild differs. A heave needs the wet base replaced with clean stone that drains. A settled spot needs whatever is washing or compacting under it dealt with first, or the new patch follows it down.
If the budget only stretches to part of it, this is the order that saves the most drive. First, fill every open crack, because each is a way in for water. Second, deal with any spot where water pours or pools: a downspout on the drive, a low spot by the garage. Third, rebuild the edge where the snow will be piled. Fourth, the potholes and the rest. A drive that goes into winter sealed tight comes out of it in far better shape than one that went in with open cracks.
On a lot, look where the plow pushed the snow last winter. The corners and islands that held the piles spent months wet, and the asphalt beneath them is often the worst on the property, along with entrances, drive lanes and dumpster pads. Those are patched first, then the whole lot is sealed and restriped. An association or manager gets the repairs and the sealing on one sheet. See HOAs and property managers and parking lot sealcoating.
How is a repair priced? Crack filling and small patches are inside the one price per square foot for sealing. Anything larger is priced per job once it has been seen, because size, depth and whether the base needs rebuilding all change the work. One written number before anything starts.
Will the patch show? For a while. New asphalt is blacker than a drive that has been through a few winters. Sealing the whole drive afterwards makes it one colour again.
Can a heave be pushed back down? Not in any lasting way. If the base under it holds water, it will lift again next winter. It is cut out and rebuilt to drain.
Only the apron? Yes. If it is in the city's right-of-way, the permit and the contractor registration that city asks for are part of the quote.
Send the address through the form, with a photo of the damage if you have one. You will be told what it is, whether a repair and a coat will carry the drive, and what it costs. Repairs are done by local independent contractors.
