Commercial asphalt repair

Most potholes start as an unsealed crack, which makes crack sealing the cheapest way to prevent them. Once a hole opens, filling it with cold mix leaves the soft base underneath, so the same hole often opens up again soon after.

On a parking lot, a pothole near an entrance, crosswalk or accessible route is a trip hazard as well as a tire problem. We usually make it safe right away, then schedule a permanent repair along with any other failed areas, which costs less than fixing one hole at a time.

Most parking lot repair comes down to a few trouble spots rather than the whole lot.

• Dumpster enclosures and trash truck approaches, where a concrete pad is often the better long-term answer
• Drive aisles at entrances, where every vehicle brakes and turns
• Low spots and areas around catch basins, where the base stays wet
• Utility cuts and old trench lines

Repair is the right choice when the damage is in a few spots and the pavement around it is sound. When the surface is worn across most of the lot but the base still holds, an overlay is usually better value. When the base is failing across the site, removal and replacement costs less than repairing it over and over.

Cold patch is fine for making a hole safe the same day, but it doesn't compact or bond like hot mix and won't last on a commercial lot. A permanent repair goes in these steps:

• Mark the failed area with a margin into sound pavement
• Sawcut the edges square and straight down
• Dig out the failed asphalt and rebuild any soft base
• Tack the edges, then place and compact hot mix asphalt
• Reopen once the asphalt has cooled and firmed up

After utility work, a trench usually gets a quick temporary patch. When a trench line sinks or cracks, the cause is almost always backfill that wasn't compacted. We rebuild and compact the trench section, then pave it to match the grade of the pavement around it.

On our two published repair programs, completed in 2020 and 2022 and both with 4 in full-depth repairs, the contract came to about $4.10 per square foot of repair. At The Crossings HOA in Fremont, 34,500 SF of repairs followed by seal coat, stall striping, stall stenciling and red curb came to $140,000, about $4.06/SF. At Marin Lagoon in San Rafael, 43,000 SF of 4 in repairs and 1,400 SF of 1.5 in overlay, plus concrete repairs, came to $183,400, about $4.13/SF.

Both were large programs on one property, and both prices include the work that followed the repairs. Asphalt and fuel costs have also gone up since these jobs were priced, so a bid today will usually come in higher. Treat these numbers as a guide, not a quote.

We measure and list every repair area in the proposal rather than writing "as required," so you get a number you can approve and check.

• Total repair area, and whether it is a few large areas or many small ones (small patches cost more per square foot, since the crew, equipment and trucking cost the same)
• Repair depth, and how much base has to be replaced
• Access, phasing and working hours on an occupied property
• Haul-off and traffic control; permit fees for street work are not included in our proposals
• Striping that has to be put back over repaired areas

Hot mix can't go down in the rain or on a wet base, so permanent repairs are usually scheduled for the dry season, with cold patch keeping things safe in between. A hot mix repair can usually take traffic the same day, once it has cooled. Because repairs are in specific spots, we can phase them so most of the property stays in use.