Asphalt Patching

Patching is full-depth repair. If a section of asphalt has failed—pothole, alligator cracking, a sunken area where the base gave out—Premier Asphalt Repair cuts it out and replaces it. Cold-patch from a bag is a temporary fix that lasts a few months at best. Hot-mix patching done right lasts as long as the surrounding pavement.

We saw-cut a rectangle around the damaged area, cutting down to the base. Clean edges mean the patch bonds properly and doesn't unravel at the seams. Then we excavate the bad asphalt and check the base. If the base is soft or eroded, we dig deeper, add new aggregate, and compact it. If the base is solid, we just clean it and tack it.

“Cold-patch from a bag lasts a few months at best. Hot-mix patching done right lasts as long as the surrounding pavement.”

Then we fill the hole with hot-mix asphalt—same material we use for new paving—and compact it with a vibratory plate or a small roller. The patch should be level with the surrounding pavement, maybe 1/4 inch high to account for settling under traffic. Once it's compacted, it's ready for traffic as soon as it cools.

Patching works when the damage is localized. If more than 30-40% of your driveway or parking lot needs patching, resurfacing or full replacement is more cost-effective. But for isolated failures—a pothole at the apron, a sunken spot where a downspout drains, cracking around a utility cut—patching is the right fix.

We don't patch in freezing weather. The asphalt won't compact properly, and it won't bond to cold surrounding pavement. Spring through fall is patching season in Tennessee.

Premier Asphalt Repair handles patching across Greater Smith County—driveways with isolated failures, parking lot potholes, utility cut repairs, sunken areas where drainage has eroded the base. We bring hot-mix asphalt and the equipment to do it right, not a bag of cold-patch that fails in the next freeze.