Saw-cut, full-depth patching
Kitchener Asphalt Paving Pros repairs potholes by cutting the damage out, not by shovelling cold mix into it. We saw-cut square edges into sound pavement, dig out wet or loose base, rebuild it with compacted stone and lay hot mix that is rolled flush with the surface around it.
Homeowners book us for a single pothole by the garage or a broken edge at the street. Property managers book multi-area patch programs for plaza lots, condo roads and industrial yards, and rural owners call when one soft spot on a private lane starts to spread.
After 14 seasons of asphalt driveway repair in Waterloo Region, the call we get most often is about a pothole someone else filled last year. Fixing the reason it formed is what keeps it from coming back.
What we patch
We patch everything from one driveway pothole to a lot-wide repair program on a commercial property. Crews work out of our Kitchener shop and patch regularly in Waterloo paving and repair jobs and on Cambridge plaza and driveway work along Hespeler Road and in Galt and Preston.
Most residential patches sit where tires turn at the garage, where a downspout drains onto the asphalt or along an edge with no lawn or curb holding it in. We patch the hole and, where the edge has crumbled, rebuild the stone shoulder that supports it.
We walk the lot, number every failed area and patch them in one mobilization, working around entrances so the business stays open. Larger rebuilds are handled through our parking lot paving crews.
Truck traffic needs deeper patches with an HL8 binder lift under the HL3 surface. We patch condo roads, farm lanes and industrial yards built by our private road and laneway paving team or by anyone else.
When the base is sound and the damage is shallow, infrared asphalt repair heats and blends new mix into the old surface with no saw-cut seam. We tell you on site which method fits each spot.
Root causes
A pothole comes back when the repair filled the hole but left the water and the weak base that made it. Winter freeze-thaw does the rest, a cycle our asphalt repair overview explains stage by stage.
When we open up a repeat pothole, we nearly always find one of these four causes underneath.
Cold mix shovelled into a hole and tamped with a truck tire rests on whatever mud is at the bottom. It never bonds to the hole's edges, so the first thaw pumps it loose.
A round hole with broken, tapered sides has no vertical face to hold new asphalt. Thin edges crack off under traffic and let water straight back in.
A downspout outlet, a low spot at the garage slab or a settled catch basin keeps feeding water to one area. Until the drainage changes, the base there stays soft.
Cracks leading into the area carry water under the new patch. Sealing them with our hot-pour crack sealing service on the same visit is the cheapest way to prevent the next pothole.
Your options
We use three kinds of patch, and the right one depends on the depth of the damage and the time of year. Full-depth saw-cut patches are the permanent fix; the other two have narrower uses.
The table compares them, and the notes below explain where each one fits.
We remove the asphalt down to firm ground, rebuild any soft base and repave the hole with hot mix in compacted lifts. It is the only patch that fixes the cause as well as the hole, so it is our default for potholes and alligator-cracked areas.
Where only the top surface has ravelled and the base below is firm, we tack the old asphalt and lay a thin lift of HL3 or HL3 Fine over it. It costs less but depends entirely on that bond, so we do not use it over cracks that move.
Hot mix plants usually close in December, so a pothole in January gets cold patch to make it safe. It is a temporary fill that rarely lasts past spring, and we tell you so before we place it.
Once the plants reopen, we cut the area out and patch it properly with hot mix.
| Patch type | How long it lasts | Season | Relative cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Full-depth saw-cut patch | As long as the pavement around it, when the base is rebuilt | Paving season, about late April to mid-November | Highest per sq ft: $8 to $15 residential, $6 to $12 commercial |
| Skin patch or shallow overlay | Several seasons on a sound base; edges can lift under heavy turning | Warm, dry days in paving season | Lower than full depth, since no digging |
| Infrared repair | As long as the surrounding asphalt on a sound base, with no seam | Paving season, extended with a hot box | $450 to $900 for the first residential area |
| Cold patch | Weeks to a few months | Any time, as a stopgap | Lowest up front, but always redone |
Our process
A saw-cut patch takes a few hours on site and follows the same seven steps every time. Square, vertical, sealed edges are what make a patch last.
We paint a square or rectangle about 300 mm (1 ft) past the last visible crack, into solid asphalt. Sides run parallel and square to traffic so tires cross the seams cleanly.
A diamond-blade saw cuts straight, vertical walls through the full asphalt depth. Vertical faces give the new mix something to bond and lock against.
The old asphalt comes out with a skid steer breaker or by hand and goes to recycling. We check the base for wet clay, missing stone or roots, and book Ontario One Call locates first if the dig goes below the base.
Soft material is dug out and replaced with Granular A, compacted in lifts with a vibratory plate. Wet clay gets a layer of non-woven geotextile so the new stone does not sink into it.
SS-1 asphalt emulsion is brushed onto the cut walls and the base of the hole. That tack coat glues new asphalt to old.
Hot mix goes in lifts, HL8 at the bottom of deep commercial patches and HL3 on top, each one compacted while still above about 85 C. The final lift is rolled flush so the patch holds no water and does not catch a plow blade.
The joint between new and old asphalt is the weak line, so we seal it with hot-pour rubberized sealant. Water that cannot reach the seam cannot start the next pothole.
Pricing
Residential asphalt patching starts at $350, and small patches typically run $8 to $15 per square foot before HST. Commercial full-depth patches run $6 to $12 per square foot, because larger areas spread the setup cost.
Grouping repairs is the easiest way to lower the cost per patch. Ten patches on one visit cost far less each than two patches on five separate visits.
Each quote lists every patch with its size and depth, so you can compare it line by line against any other contractor.
FAQ
These are the patching questions homeowners and property managers ask us most often.
A saw-cut, full-depth hot-mix patch on a rebuilt base usually lasts as long as the pavement around it. Throw-and-roll cold fills often fail within a season because they never bond to the edges of the hole.
We can fill it with cold patch to make it safe, then replace it with a permanent hot-mix patch once the plants reopen in spring. On a dry, snow-free surface, infrared asphalt repair may also be an option, and we confirm that when you call.
Yes. We roll the final lift flush with the existing surface so it sheds water and does not catch a snowplow, though the new asphalt will look darker until it weathers or the driveway is sealed.
Only as a short-term fix to get through a season. If alligator cracking covers a large share of the surface, patching money is better spent on driveway removal and replacement, and we will tell you when that point has come.
Usually only a narrow strip. An edge breaks because nothing supports it, so we cut back to solid asphalt, add compacted stone along the side and then patch, and you reseed or re-sod the strip afterward.
Free quote
Send us photos of the potholes or book a site visit, and we will mark each repair and price it in writing. Add crack sealing to the same visit so the cracks around your patch do not become next spring's pothole.