Pothole Repair in Dallas, TX
Square-cut, full-depth hot mix patches for parking lots, driveways and private roads. We fix the wet base under the hole, which is why the patch stays put.
Why potholes form here
Dallas doesn't get the long freezes that wreck northern roads. Our potholes come from clay and water. Rain gets in through a crack. The base under it turns soft. Traffic flexes the unsupported asphalt until it breaks into pieces, and the pieces get thrown out by tires.
So the hole you see is the last step. The real damage is the wet base underneath, and it's always wider than the hole.
Two kinds of repair
The quick fix is cold patch, the bagged material from a hardware store, shoveled in and driven over. It's fine for an emergency. In a wet hole it lasts a few weeks.
The lasting repair is a full-depth patch. We cut a rectangle around the damage, take out everything down to firm ground, rebuild the base and fill it with hot mix. It costs more and you only do it once.
Fix a pothole once it's bigger than a dinner plate or about 2 inches deep. That's deep enough to damage a tire or turn an ankle, and on a commercial lot that's a claim waiting to be filed. If holes keep opening across the whole lot, patching has stopped being the answer and it's time to look at resurfacing.
How we patch a pothole
- Mark and saw-cut. We mark a rectangle about 12 inches past the visible damage on every side, into sound pavement, and cut it with a diamond saw. Straight vertical edges give the patch something to lock against.
- Dig out the base. Broken asphalt and wet base come out until we reach firm, dry ground. New flex base goes in and gets compacted.
- Tack the edges. The cut faces get a coat of tack so the new asphalt bonds to the old and water can't get down the joint.
- Fill and compact in lifts. Hot mix goes in 2 to 3 inches at a time, and each lift is compacted with a plate compactor or roller. We finish about a quarter inch high so traffic seats it flush.
When Dallas potholes show up
Most calls come in March through May, after spring storms have soaked the ground. A second wave follows the first heavy rains in fall, when clay that shrank and cracked all summer takes on water again.
Check the low corners of your lot and the area around drains after a storm. If water is still standing a day later, that's where the next pothole will open. Fixing the grade there costs less than patching the same spot every year.
We patch through most of the winter. Hot mix needs to go down above about 40 degrees on a dry surface, and Dallas has plenty of those days in January.
What it costs
Full-depth patching typically runs $4 to $7 per square foot. A single small patch costs more per foot, because the truck, the saw and the hot mix still have to come out. It pays to fix several at once and to seal the cracks on the same visit. We'll count and measure every hole and give you one price for the list.
Pothole questions
How long does a pothole patch last?
8 to 10 years or more for a full-depth hot mix patch on a dry, compacted base. It should last as long as the pavement around it. Cold patch in a wet hole lasts weeks.
Can you repair potholes in winter?
Yes, through most of a Dallas winter. Hot mix needs about 40 degrees and a dry surface. In a hard cold snap we make the hole safe with a temporary patch and come back.
Why did my pothole come back?
Because the wet base under it was never replaced, or the patch was shoveled into a ragged hole. Without square edges and a dry base, any patch works loose.
Related pages
Got a hole that's getting bigger?
Tell us how many and roughly how big. We'll price the whole list in one visit.