Asphalt and Bitumen Repairs Gold Coast

Asphalt repair specialists, big or small

Repairs are what we do best. Most of our work on the Gold Coast is fixing asphalt and bitumen surfaces that have started to fail, before they turn into a full replacement. That might be a single pothole at the bottom of a home driveway, a row of broken patches across a shopping centre car park, a sunken section in a body corporate complex, or the edges of a long rural driveway that are breaking away.

Whatever the size, the approach is the same. Find out why the asphalt failed, fix the cause, then rebuild the surface in hot mix so it lasts. If only part of your driveway or car park has gone, you only pay to repair that part.

Small holes and cracks let water in

Every big pothole started as something small. A hairline crack, a loose stone, a tired old patch or a join where new asphalt meets old. On their own they do not look like much. The problem is what they let through: water.

Once rain gets through the surface, it runs into the crushed rock base underneath. The base softens, fine material washes out, and the asphalt on top loses its support. Every car that drives over it then flexes the surface a little more until it cracks into pieces and breaks away. That is a pothole. In a wet Gold Coast summer, a small crack can become a hole you can lose a wheel in surprisingly quickly.

Asphalt is only as good as its base

This is the single most important thing to understand about asphalt. The black surface you see is a relatively thin layer, often around 30 to 50 millimetres on a driveway and thicker on car parks and roads. It is not what carries the weight. The compacted base underneath does that.

When the base is strong and dry, asphalt can last for decades. Once the base fails, the asphalt fails with it, no matter how good the surface looks. That is why we never just patch over a soft spot. If the base is wet or broken, we dig it out, replace it with new road base, compact it, and only then lay new asphalt on top.

How we repair asphalt properly

Step one is cutting out the damage. The failed area is saw cut or profiled square, past the broken edges, back to solid asphalt. Square edges are stronger and seal better than a ragged hole.

Step two is fixing the base. Loose and soft material is removed, new road base is added where needed, and it is compacted so nothing moves under the new surface.

Step three is the tack coat. A bitumen emulsion is sprayed onto the base and the cut edges so the new asphalt bonds to the old instead of sitting loose in a hole.

Step four is laying and rolling. Hot mix asphalt is laid, raked to level and compacted with a roller or plate until it is dense and flush with the surface around it. The result is a square, sealed repair with no lip for water or tyres to catch on, usually ready for traffic the same day.

What we repair

Potholes of every size. Asphalt and bitumen driveways that are cracked, sinking or breaking up. Crocodile cracking, where the surface looks like scales. Failed old patches and cold patch fills that have lifted. Broken edges along gardens, kerbs and lawns. Asphalt that has sunk or broken around pits, drains and grates. Ruts and dips in wheel paths where water sits. Damage from trucks, skip bins, cranes and machinery. Tree root damage.

Where a larger area has worn out, we can profile off the old surface and resheet it with new asphalt in one go. It gives you a brand new surface without digging out and rebuilding the whole pavement.

Driveway repairs and driveway resurfacing

Asphalt and bitumen driveways are one of the most common jobs we do on the Gold Coast. In most cases you do not need a whole new driveway. If the base under most of it is still sound, we repair the failed sections and leave the rest. If the surface is tired and patchy across the whole drive, driveway resurfacing with a new layer of asphalt over the repaired base is usually far cheaper than full replacement.

We also repair long rural driveways, shared driveways and body corporate drives, working in sections so residents keep access.

Car park and commercial asphalt repairs

Shopping centres, service stations, fast food sites, schools, churches, sporting clubs, medical centres, industrial yards and business parks all rely on their car parks. We repair commercial asphalt in planned stages, early mornings, nights or weekends where needed, so customers and deliveries keep moving. Heavy traffic areas like entries, bin pads and truck routes get a thicker repair to suit the load.

Once repairs are finished, worn line marking can be reinstated by arrangement so bays, arrows and pedestrian crossings are clear again.

Hot mix asphalt, not cold patch

Cold patch from the hardware store has its place as a short term make safe. It is not a repair. It is shovelled into a hole with no cutting, no base repair and no tack coat, tamped down with a boot or shovel, and left. Without proper compaction or a bond to the surrounding asphalt, it usually ravels and lifts out after rain and traffic, and the hole comes back bigger.

Hot mix asphalt is produced hot, laid hot and compacted while it is still workable. That is what makes it dense, waterproof and bonded into the pavement.

What an asphalt repair costs

Price comes down to the size and depth of the damage, the condition of the base, access for the truck and roller, how many repairs are on the site, and when the work is done. A small repair costs far less than most people expect, and several repairs done in one visit are cheaper each because the crew and gear are already there.

We give you a fixed written quote before any work starts. Send a photo with something in the shot for scale and we can usually give you a price idea the same day.