Pothole & Crack Repair in Terre Haute, IN

Pothole and crack repair is how a driveway or lot avoids early replacement. Almost every pothole starts as a crack. Water gets in, freezes, expands and pushes the crack wider; then it softens the stone underneath, and traffic breaks the weakened surface apart. In a climate where January highs sit just above freezing and lows well below, that cycle runs many times each winter.

Crack sealing

We blow cracks clean, rout wider ones to make a clean channel, and fill them with hot-pour rubberized sealant that flexes in cold weather. Fine hairline cracks are left for the sealcoat. The best time is late summer through fall, when cracks are open and dry, before the first hard freeze.

Patching that lasts

The durable repair is to saw-cut a square around the failure, remove the broken asphalt, fix or replace the base, and place hot mix flush with the surrounding surface. HomeGuide puts saw-cut patches at $4 to $12 per square foot and simpler hot patches at $2 to $5. Cold patch, at $2 to $4, is a winter stopgap, not a permanent repair.

Edges and trenches

Edges crumble when nothing supports them or when water runs along them. We rebuild broken edges and backfill them with soil. Utility trenches across a driveway often settle; we cut back to solid pavement, compact the trench and patch.

Look for the cause

A patch that fails in the same spot every year means something underneath: a wet pocket of clay, a downspout emptying onto the pavement, a crushed culvert, a settling trench. We look for it at the visit and tell you if a repair alone will not hold.

Rentals and lots

For landlords and businesses, a repair visit often covers several properties or several areas of one lot at once, which helps with minimum charges.

Infrared repairs

Infrared patching heats existing asphalt so new material blends in without a seam. HomeGuide puts it at $2 to $6 per square foot. It works best on surface defects where the base is still sound.

Winter emergencies

When a pothole opens in January, cold patch makes it safe until spring. We come back with hot mix once the ground warms and replace the temporary fill with a proper saw-cut patch.

Repair, then protect

Once repairs cure, a sealcoat evens out the color and protects the whole surface. It is the logical next step after a round of patching and crack sealing.

Signs to act on

• Cracks wider than about a quarter inch
• Cracks joining into a web pattern
• Edges breaking off into the lawn
• Low spots that hold water after rain