Potholes are always a pain, and the most annoying part is that they grow bigger and worse if you just leave them unrepaired. But don’t worry, potholes are actually easy to fix, so get your shovel and let’s go!
Potholes are usually caused by a tree standing there before that was cut, and the stump was left behind to rot and go back to the soil, thus leaving the hole on the road. It can also be caused by other things. In order to determine the reason behind your pothole, all you need to do is to grab your shovel and dig to find out what’s underneath. If there are some materials left in the soil, dig them out as well.
What’s a pack? It’s a mixture of stone and stone dust that you can use to fill trenches, gaps, and yes, even potholes. It’s the recommended material to use to fill your pothole because it can get as hard as stone when packed properly. Pour in a couple of inches of pack first, then tamp it down before you add another couple of inches. You can use a manual plate compactor in order to compact your pack in nice and tight. Do this a couple of times until you reach the required depth for you to put your asphalt in (usually two inches from the surface).
Remember, the pack should be really tight and compact in order to create a durable base for your asphalt.
The asphalt needs to have straight edges in order for it to attach nicely, so what you need to do now is to cut around the surface of your pothole with a wet saw with a diamond blade to ensure a nice clean cut.
Once you’ve got the entire circle cut off nicely, remove it and level it up with some pack again. The trick is to have a straight surface to work with that’s also tight and packed in solid.
Don’t worry, we promised that this repair is going to be easy, right? So what we’re going to use today is an asphalt cold patch. It’s a kind of asphalt that requires no preparation at all. Yes, that’s right. No heating required. You can use it straight out of the packaging.
Pour the asphalt mix in the middle of the hole, and with your shovel, spread it evenly throughout the surface. Make sure that it’s nice and flat, and yes, compacted. So it’s time to use your compactor again to make sure that the material is packed tight and solid. Remember the technique that we used earlier? Pour a level of asphalt and tamp it in before you pour in another couple of inches. Do this until the asphalt is in a nice flat level with your road.
Congratulations. That’s it! You’ve just repaired your pothole. You can now walk or drive across it without fearing for your car. The only thing that you have to keep in mind is to avoid turning your car on top of the surface for three to four weeks until the mixture is completely dry. Once it is, you can seal coat the entire surface and no one would ever guess that there was even a pothole there before!
"The work undertaken by Chris and his team exceeded our expectations. Our driveway has been transformed from a dirty gravel track to a smooth and profe..."
