Asphalt Repair in Pittsburgh, PA

Asphalt repair is what most Pittsburgh driveway and lot owners need after a hard winter, and it is often the best money to spend. A driveway that is sound overall but has a few potholes, a heaved section or a crumbling apron does not need to be replaced. It needs those areas cut out, the wet or broken base under them corrected, and new hot mix compacted in their place. Done that way, a patch blends into years of service. Done as a shovel of cold patch dropped into a wet hole, it is gone by the next thaw.

Why asphalt fails in spots

Around Pittsburgh, most local failures trace to water and frost. A crack lets water into the stone base. When it freezes, it expands and lifts the pavement; when it thaws, it leaves a void and soft, wet stone. Repeated through the winter, that cycle breaks the asphalt into alligator cracks and then a pothole. Downspouts that empty onto the drive, low spots that hold meltwater and runoff from the street speed it up. On hillside lots, soil can also wash or creep away from the side of the pavement until the edge has nothing under it.

How we repair

Saw-cut patching

We cut a clean rectangle around the damaged area, past the edge of the cracking, and remove the broken asphalt. Wet or soft base is dug out and replaced with compacted stone. The cut edges get a tack coat, then hot mix is placed and rolled flush with the surrounding surface. This is the standard repair for potholes and alligator-cracked areas.

Heaved and sunken sections

A section that rises every winter and settles every spring usually sits on base that holds water. Patching the surface will not stop it. We remove the asphalt, take out the wet material, rebuild with draining stone and repave the area.

Edge and apron rebuilding

Broken edges and crumbling street aprons are cut back to sound asphalt, the base is extended and compacted, new asphalt is placed, and soil is backfilled so the edge is supported. Inside the City of Pittsburgh, changes to the curb cut itself go through DOMI.

Utility cuts and trench repair

Where a plumber, sewer contractor or utility crew has cut through the driveway, the trench backfill often settles. We bring the trench back to grade with compacted stone and patch it with hot mix.

Repair, resurface or replace?

If failed areas are scattered and the rest of the surface is firm, repair is the right call. If the whole surface is faded, cracked and raveling but still firmly supported, resurfacing may make more sense. If failures cover most of the area, replacement is usually the better value. We tell you which category your pavement is in and why.

Timing

Permanent hot-mix patches need dry ground that is not frozen, and asphalt plants supply hot mix in the paving season. Cold patch is a temporary winter fix, and we tell you when that is what you are getting. The best time to schedule repairs is late spring through fall, ideally before the first hard freeze, so the next winter has less to work with.