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How to Repair an Asphalt Pothole | Ask This Old House



Ask This Old House landscaping contractor Roger Cook teaches a homeowner how to fill a pothole in an asphalt driveway to make it safe. (See below for a shopping list, tools, and steps.)
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Shopping List for How to Repair an Asphalt Pothole:
– 4 bags of paver base [https://amzn.to/3505hP1] (more or less depending on depth of hole)
– 2 bags of 50-lb commercial-grade blacktop repair [https://amzn.to/34TLgtb], used to seal hole

Tools for How to Repair an Asphalt Pothole:
Shovel [https://amzn.to/32WEu3V], used to dig out excess debris
Steel tamper [https://amzn.to/2O9LRkD], used to compact stone dust, aggregate, and blacktop repair
Wet saw [https://amzn.to/2OcSC58], used to cut asphalt
Hose [https://amzn.to/2QkO13D], used for water flow to wet saw

Steps for How to Repair an Asphalt Pothole:
1. Use a shovel to dig out the excess rock, dirt, and other debris until you reach subsoil.
2. Use paver base to fill in the hole, compacting it with the tamper every 2 to 4 inches until you’re within 2 inches of finished grade.
3. Cut the edges around the rough hole to make a cleaner surface, using a wet saw with a diamond blade.
4. Dig out any remaining excess of rock, dirt, and debris.
5. Use a high-performance blacktop repair, which is a mix of stone and asphalt binder to fill in the hole.
6. Put it down in 1.5-inch-thick layers and smooth it out.
7. Compact each layer until the patch meets the edges.
8. Let it sit 3 to 4 weeks before making any turns on it with a car.

About Ask This Old House TV:
Homeowners have a virtual truckload of questions for us on smaller projects, and we’re ready to answer. Ask This Old House solves the steady stream of home improvement problems faced by our viewers—and we make house calls! Ask This Old House features some familiar faces from This Old House, including Kevin O’Connor, general contractor Tom Silva, plumbing and heating expert Richard Trethewey, and landscape contractor Roger Cook.

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How to Repair an Asphalt Pothole | Ask This Old House
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20 comments

  1. I have never seen anybody in Michigan fix a pothole the correct way. All they ever do is dump fresh asphalt mix in the hole and smack it with a shovel, done! Lazy SOB's!

  2. They need to use perma-patch permanent pavement repair cold patch

  3. Back in the day when race and gender were a non-issue….and we just were all Americans.😢

  4. 'salute to these private citizens

  5. What is the name of the stone dust used to fill up the hole
    Avsilable vat home depot

  6. $2500 Pothole Repair…but guess it will last longer than most….

  7. Brilliant video I learned a lot .

  8. I have a gaper like this smack dab in the middle of my driveway. I should really do this before the Amazon delivery guy falls in and needs to be rescued.

  9. Great instruction. Thank you for the time and effort you took to make this video and share it with us. Greetings from Croatia.

  10. Cutting the edges first would have been my choice, then once the hole is cleaned out continue the process. One of the most important items is to know just how compact to tamp the hold. Too much compaction and the asphalt pothole mix will crack.

  11. a lot worse things to find buried than a drywell.

  12. didnt Ron Swanson explain how to do this

  13. Guys kinda a jerk to her lol

  14. That’s literally what she said 1:21

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