What Is the Best Asphalt for Potholes?

Heavy spring rains can often create potholes in Fort Lauderdale, Tampa, West Palm Beach, and many other areas in Florida. A pothole in your business’s parking lot can make it look less inviting to customers, and it can damage cars that visit. To prevent these problems, make sure you get any potholes repaired as soon as possible. Here are some of the best kinds of asphalt for repairing potholes.

Hot Mix

Hot mix, also called hot asphalt filler or asphalt millings, contains asphalt cement, sand, stone, and gravel. When filling a pothole, the first step professionals such as U.S. Pave take is often to use special tools to make the edges of the pothole wider and smoother and remove any debris inside. Then, we heat the asphalt to more than 300 degrees Fahrenheit and pour it into the pothole.

This type of asphalt cools quickly, helping you prevent traffic jams in your parking lot. You can use the pavement soon after we’ve tamped the asphalt down and smoothed it with specialized compaction machinery. We can also use an infrared asphalt heater to help the asphalt dry more quickly. Water can’t penetrate the patch after it dries, so the pothole doesn’t form again over time.

Hot asphalt filler is very strong, and it works well for permanent pothole repair. Since the ground should be more than 40 degrees Fahrenheit when you use hot mix, it works best in spring and summer. It’s ideal for high-traffic areas and large potholes, and it can withstand extreme heat and cold, shrinking and expanding instead of cracking as the temperature changes. It also absorbs heat to help melt ice and snow more quickly.

Hot mix is often more costly than other options, but it can last for many years and help you save money over time by avoiding future pothole repairs. Applying it requires a variety of special equipment, so you shouldn’t attempt to use it to patch any potholes by yourself.

Cold Patch

If you have a pothole that’s getting bigger quickly or keeping people from visiting your business, you can use a cold patch to fix it temporarily until someone from U.S. Pave can come and repair it permanently with hot mix. Many hardware stores offer cold patch asphalt.

You usually can’t rely solely on this type of asphalt. It’ll start deteriorating again in a few months, and many potholes reappear within six months to a year. Repairs with cold patch are quicker and less costly than those with hot mix, but you could keep having to fix the same pothole. It doesn’t provide a watertight seal around the edges of the pothole to keep it from reappearing. This can make a cold patch more expensive than hiring a professional to use hot mix as soon as you can.

Cold patches should be about 2 inches thick. If the pothole is deeper, you can fill it with gravel and then apply the cold patch asphalt on top of it. This kind of asphalt is already mixed, and you don’t need to heat it.

To start, prepare the pothole by sweeping away any debris, such as leaves, trash, and dust, with a wire street broom. Pour the cold patch into the pothole, and spread it with a rake. It should be about a 1/2 inch above the asphalt or concrete around it. Some types of cold patch asphalt are water-activated, meaning you should pour a small amount of water on the patched area to help it harden. If the brand you choose isn’t water-activated, skip this step.

You can use an asphalt tamper tool to make the cold patch level with the rest of the parking lot or driveway. If needed, you can also drive over it a few times to make it more compact. Pour more cold patch asphalt over the top of the pothole if it’s lower than the pavement around it. Otherwise, water will pool there when it rains, and you’ll have a puddle and then another pothole.

Warm Mix Asphalt

Warm mix asphalt contains the same materials as hot mix, but you can pour it at a lower temperature. It has some additional binders and additives for a cooler installation, and it doesn’t produce as many fumes or unpleasant smells as hot mix. This type of asphalt is as durable as hot mix, and it doesn’t require as much energy to manufacture as hot mix. This helps the environment by saving energy and reducing carbon dioxide emissions.

You can use warm mix in colder temperatures than hot mix, and it’s very durable. However, it’s still best to use a professional to install warm mix asphalt.

Asphalt Crack Filler

Cracks in your asphalt can lead to potholes, and they provide places where weeds can grow. You can repair a crack with a liquid filler by pouring it in and smoothing it with a sponge or squeegee. If your pavement has lots of cracks, U.S. Pave can cover it with an asphalt seal coating. It can make your parking lot’s pavement more durable and attractive, and it can extend its life, making it last more than 50% longer than pavements that are left unsealed. To keep your parking lot in great condition, it’s a good idea to have it resealed every two or three years.

U.S. Pave provides a range of advanced commercial paving solutions. We can help you patch small or large potholes and mitigate the effects of spring rain, winter ice, and many other types of weather. Fixing a pothole before it becomes hazardous can prevent flat tires, customers tripping, puddles where mosquitoes could breed, and more. Repairing potholes can also attract customers by making your pavement look more appealing. Contact us for a free estimate if you’re in the Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach, or Tampa areas of Florida. We’re open from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday.

Pot Holes by Mike Mozart is licensed with CC BY 2.0