How to Fix Potholes and Cracks in a Driveway
Potholes and cracks are a water problem before they are a surface problem
Every driveway repair that fails does so for the same reason, which is that the hole got filled and the water that made the hole was left exactly where it was, so it came back through the winter and undid the lot. Before you buy a single bag of anything, walk the driveway while it's raining, or straight after, and watch where the water sits and where it runs, because that 10 minutes tells you more than any amount of filling will.
Gravel, and why the same pothole keeps coming back
A pothole in a gravel drive is a low spot that's collecting water, and tipping loose material into it does nothing, because the first car through pumps the water out and takes the fresh material with it. The fix is to square the hole out so you've got firm edges and a flat bottom, put the material in over a couple of layers rather than one, and compact each layer before the next one goes on. Then get the crown back, so the middle of the driveway sits a little higher than the edges and water runs off it instead of sitting in it.
We don't carry gravel or road base, so that part comes from a quarry or a landscape supplier, and the useful thing we can tell you is what size to ask for and how much you'll need for the area.
Concrete and bitumen crack for reasons you can usually see
A hairline crack across a concrete slab is often just the slab doing what slabs do, and it's worth filling because water getting under a slab is what turns a hairline into a step you can trip on. A crack that keeps opening, or one where one side has dropped below the other, is telling you the ground under it has moved or washed out, and filling that one is treating the symptom. Follow the water first.
On bitumen, a pothole gets squared up and cleaned out the same way as gravel, then filled with a cold mix repair product and compacted hard, and the compaction is the part people skimp on and then blame the product for.
Where the water should end up
The water has to go somewhere it can soak away or run off, and on a rural block that usually means a table drain along the edge of the driveway, or a length of stormwater pipe under it where the driveway crosses a natural run. A pipe through the wrong spot is worse than no pipe, so work out where the water already wants to go and put the pipe there rather than where it's convenient.
What compaction actually means
Driving the car back and forth over a repair isn't compaction, it's four narrow strips of compaction with soft material sitting in between them, which is what makes a wheel-packed repair go bumpy inside a month. Damp material compacts far better than dry, so wet it down, then work it with a hand rammer or a hired plate compactor in layers of no more than about 100mm at a time.
The maintenance that stops all of this
Keep the crown on a gravel drive, keep the table drains clear so they can actually carry water, and deal with a low spot while it's still a dip rather than waiting until it's a hole. A driveway that sheds water is a driveway you hardly ever touch, and one that holds water is a job every single year.
Shop related products
- Adbri general purpose concrete mix 20kg. For a patch in a slab, a post or a small pour.
- Adbri Speedset cement 30kg. When the repair needs to take traffic sooner.
- Adbri mortar mix 20kg. For bedding edging or repairing brickwork alongside the drive.
- Plumma's blue glue PVC solvent cement 250ml. For joining stormwater pipe properly.
- Plumma's red PVC pipe primer 250ml. Goes on before the glue, and the joint fails without it.
Did you know we also stock Dingo bitumen quick repair in 20kg bags, PVC stormwater pipe in 75mm and 90mm with the fittings to go with it, and rakes, shovels, mattocks and wheelbarrows. Not all of it is on the website, so give us a ring on (08) 8536 4333 to check what's on the shelf.
The rest of it is in building materials, and cement is heavy, so local delivery is $5 into Strathalbyn and $10 across the regional run on our delivery days.
Keep reading
- Looking after a long gravel driveway, dust, grading and drainage
- How to grade a gravel driveway with a tractor
- Weed control on a rural block, what actually works
Fill the hole and you've bought yourself a year. Fix the drainage and you've bought yourself the rest of them.
Cheers,
Candeece
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