Asphalt Repair & Patching in Davie, FL

Asphalt repair and patching is mostly about stopping water. A typical pothole in a South Florida driveway or parking lot starts the same way: sun-hardened asphalt cracks, rain gets through the crack, and the base underneath softens. Once the base is soft, tires push the surface down and break it apart. Filling cracks early keeps water out, and patching a pothole properly means fixing the soft base that caused it.

Crack filling

Narrow cracks are cleaned out, dried and filled with a crack filler that stays flexible as the pavement heats and cools. Sealing small cracks keeps water from percolating down to the base, which is the whole point. Very wide cracks, or cracks that have spread into a pattern of small pieces, are past crack filling; they are a sign the pavement needs patching.

Alligator cracking and sunken areas

When cracks join into a pattern that looks like reptile skin, called alligator or crocodile cracking, the pavement has usually failed under load and water has reached the base. Filling those cracks does little. The repair is to saw-cut around the damaged area, remove the asphalt and the wet or soft base, rebuild and compact the base, and pave a new patch flush with the surrounding surface.

Types of patches

• Cold patch: a quick, temporary fill for small holes until a permanent repair can be made
• Hot-mix patch: hot asphalt placed and compacted in a cleaned, squared-off hole, the standard permanent repair
• Saw-cut, full-depth patch: removing and rebuilding the base and asphalt in a failed area
• Infrared patch: heating the existing asphalt so new material blends into it, suited to some surface defects

We recommend the type that fits the damage and explain the choice in the quote.

After storms and flooding

Standing water is hard on pavement. Water trapped under asphalt softens the base and the ground beneath it, and edges next to swales and lawns can wash out. In April 2023, a single storm day put 25.91 inches on the Fort Lauderdale airport gauge, and rain like that can leave damage that only shows once the water drains. If a section of driveway or lot sank or cracked after standing water, have it checked before traffic breaks it up further.

Tree roots and crumbling edges

Roots from nearby trees can lift asphalt and crack it from below, and unsupported edges crumble when tires run off them. Root-lifted areas may need the root dealt with before patching; check with your city first if the tree is protected or stands in the right-of-way. Crumbling edges can be cut back and rebuilt with firm support.

When repair stops making sense

If patches cover a large share of the surface, or new failures keep appearing around old patches, resurfacing or replacement may cost less over time than repeated patching. We will say so at the estimate.