Meridian Asphalt Patching
Asphalt patching in Meridian, Idaho
We cut back to solid pavement, rebuild the base, and lay three inches of asphalt. If a patch will not hold, we tell you before we quote it.
Patch, overlay, or tear it out
This is the question most people arrive with, and the honest answer sometimes costs us the easier job.
When an overlay works
Only where the existing asphalt is still in reasonable shape. We clean the surface thoroughly, apply tack oil so the new layer bonds, use a finer mix rather than one with large aggregate, then place and compact it so it lays tight.
When an overlay does not work
Over severe alligator cracking, over existing potholes, or over widespread structural failure. Paving on top of a failed base buys you a season. The new surface fails in the same places, because nothing underneath it changed.
When a patch works
When we can cut back to solid asphalt on every side. That is the entire test. A patch does not work if one edge is still cracked or alligatored. The pavement around it keeps moving, and the joint opens.
"We look for solid asphalt on all four sides. If we cannot find it, a patch is not the answer, and we will say so before we quote it."
Gideon Duarte, Co-Owner
If it is sinking, the problem is underneath
Cracking is a surface problem. Sinking is a base problem. When pavement goes down under load, the material below it has lost its structure. Sealing or patching the surface does not put that structure back.
Loaded trucks concentrate far more weight on a small area than any car does, and where the base has failed, the surface follows it down. Alligator cracking is the same thing showing through. It is base failure, not a crack pattern that can be filled.
The Meridian Duripan
In Meridian there is usually a reason the base is wet. The city sits on silt loam over a cemented duripan twenty to forty inches down. Water gets into the silt and cannot drain through the pan.
The Idaho Department of Water Resources found that canal seepage and irrigation infiltration are the largest component of recharge to the valley's shallow aquifers. Shallow levels rise to or near the surface seasonally when the Nampa and Meridian Irrigation District runs its canals.
If the same soft spots show up in the same places every spring, patching the surface is treating a symptom.
How we build a patch
| Asphalt | Three inches compacted, and never less than about two. |
|---|---|
| Base | About six inches of three-quarter inch crushed road mix. |
| Base rule | Roughly twice the depth of the asphalt above it. |
| Compaction | In about two inch lifts. |
| Existing lot | Depth matched to the pavement already there. |
Water during compaction
Crushed aggregate compacts to a far higher density damp than dry. It is exactly the step a crew working to a price leaves out, and a base that looks finished but was compacted dry settles within a year.
Finished slightly high
We finish the patch slightly high rather than slightly low, so it sheds water. A repair that finishes low becomes a puddle, and a puddle becomes the next failure.
Meridian's Code
The city requires off street parking areas and driveways to be improved with a compacted gravel base of not less than four inches under concrete or asphaltic pavement. Our standard patch build exceeds that.
Edges
Where a lot has no curb, the asphalt edge has nothing holding it up. Cars, trailers and delivery trucks pull off it and break pieces away. We add a shoulder of landscaping rock or three-quarter inch minus to support the edge.
What it costs
| Minimum to mobilize for a patch | About $500 |
|---|---|
| Tear out and repave | About $4 per square foot |
| Where a paver has to come out | About $2,500 minimum, whatever the area |
| Crack wide enough to need a patch | More than about one inch |
The minimums are arithmetic, not markup. Bringing a paver means an extra truck, a trailer, crew setup and the time to mobilize, and that cost is the same whether we pave two hundred square feet or two thousand. It is also why larger jobs carry a lower price per square foot.
What we bring
This is our equipment and our crew. We are not subcontracting the part that matters. Hot mix comes from Knife River and Idaho Materials & Construction, both of which run plants in the valley.
- Chalk boxes & Hot saw
- Breaker bar
- Skid steer & Dump truck
- Asphalt paver
- 36" double drum roller
- Heavy duty plate compactor
Work we have done in Meridian
Cherry Lane Apartments
About 50,000 square feet. Potholes patched as part of a full restoration that also included cleaning, crack filling, sealcoating and striping. The whole complex in two days with a three man crew. A repeat customer, Table Rock Property Management.
Patching went in before the sealcoat, which is the only order that works. Sealing over a pothole hides it for about four months.
View our recent projects →
Questions we get
Should I patch my lot or repave it?
It depends on whether we can cut back to solid asphalt on all four sides. If we can, a patch will hold. If one edge is still cracked or alligatored, it will not, and we will tell you that before quoting.
How thick should an asphalt patch be?
Three inches of compacted asphalt over about six inches of three-quarter inch crushed road mix, compacted in two inch lifts. Never less than about two inches of asphalt.
What does alligator cracking mean?
It means the base underneath has failed, not the surface. Filling it or paving over it does not fix anything, because the problem is below what you can see.
How wide does a crack have to be before it needs a patch?
More than about an inch. Below that it is a crack filling job.
Why is there a minimum on a small paving job?
Bringing a paver means an extra truck, a trailer and crew setup, and that cost is the same regardless of area. That is why very small paving jobs have a floor of about $2,500 and why larger jobs cost less per square foot.
Why do the same spots keep failing every spring?
Usually groundwater. Meridian sits on a cemented duripan that water perches above, and the local water table rises when the irrigation canals fill. Patching the surface does not change what is underneath it.
Can you patch over a pothole?
We cut it out and rebuild it. Filling a pothole from the top without addressing what is under it is why the same hole comes back.
Get a free estimate in Meridian
If your pavement is sinking rather than just cracking, the problem is under the surface. We will tell you which one you have before we quote it.