Potholes appear when water gets through the surface into the base below. Traffic then pumps the softened material out, the surface loses support and breaks away. In the Western Cape, this usually happens in winter, when rain fronts arrive one after another and water sits in cracks for days. By spring, a small crack has become a hole that damages tyres and rims.
The good news is that most potholes on driveways, parking areas and private roads can be repaired permanently, as long as the repair deals with the cause and not only the hole.
Fill versus repair
A lot of pothole “repairs” are simply loose cold mix shovelled in and flattened with a spade. It looks fine for a few weeks. Then traffic pushes it out, water gets in around the edges, and the hole is back, often bigger.
A proper repair is different:
- Mark out a square or rectangle around the damaged area, extending into sound asphalt.
- Saw-cut the edges to give straight, vertical sides the new material can lock against.
- Remove all loose and soft material, down into the base if it is wet or weak.
- Rebuild and compact the base with suitable material where needed.
- Apply a tack coat to the sides and base of the hole so the patch bonds.
- Place hot asphalt in layers and compact each layer with a plate compactor or roller.
- Seal the joints around the patch so water cannot get in along the edges.
The finished repair sits flush with the surrounding surface and carries traffic the same day once it has cooled.
Where we repair potholes
- Residential driveways
- Complex and estate roads
- Shopping centre, office and school parking areas
- Farm and wine estate roads
- Industrial yards and loading areas
We do not repair public municipal roads unless appointed by the authority. For potholes on City of Cape Town roads, you can report them directly to the City.
When there are too many potholes
If a driveway or parking area has many potholes, widespread cracking and sinking, patching each hole individually may not be good value. At that point a resurfacing job, or a full rebuild as a new tar driveway or parking area, is often cheaper in the long run. We will show you both options in the quote.
Preventing new potholes
Most potholes can be prevented with simple maintenance:
- Seal cracks before winter. Our crack sealing service stops water reaching the base.
- Fix drainage problems. If water ponds in the same spot every time it rains, the surface there will fail first. We can regrade, add a channel or install a drain.
- Apply a surface seal. On older, dry asphalt, a slurry seal closes up the surface and slows down ageing.
- Repair early. A small repair today costs a fraction of a large one after another winter.
Pothole repair for complexes and businesses
For bodies corporate, managing agents and business owners, we can survey the whole site, map every pothole and crack, and give you a priced list split into urgent and non-urgent work. That makes it easier to plan a maintenance budget and approve work in phases.
How quickly can you drive on a repair?
Hot asphalt repairs can carry traffic once they have cooled, usually within an hour or two, so business yards and complexes are not closed for long.
Book a repair
Send us a photo and the address on WhatsApp or through the quote form. For urgent safety issues, we can make a hole safe with a temporary fill and return to do the permanent repair. Otherwise, we arrange a site survey and send your quote within 24 hours.