Asphalt
Driveway Pothole Repair: How to Fix Asphalt Holes
Cojo
May 30, 2026
6 min read
A pothole is what a small problem becomes when it is ignored. Water gets into a crack, freezes or saturates the base, the asphalt weakens, and traffic punches a hole through it. Fixing the pothole is straightforward. The harder question is whether the pothole is an isolated repair or a symptom of a failing base. This guide covers the repair methods, what they cost, and how to read what a pothole is telling you. For the full driveway picture, start with our complete asphalt driveway guide.
Potholes almost always start with water. In Oregon, that water comes from months of rain in the valley and freeze-thaw cycles in the high desert and Cascades. The sequence is predictable:
Because it starts with a crack, the best pothole repair is preventing one in the first place through timely crack sealing, which our driveway crack repair guide covers.
Cold patch is asphalt mix that comes ready to use from a bag. You clean the hole, pour it in, and compact it. It is the DIY-friendly option and works as a quick, temporary fix.
Hot mix is the same material used to pave driveways, applied hot and compacted. It bonds far better and lasts much longer than cold patch, but it requires professional equipment and is done by a contractor.
When the base under the pothole has failed, patching the surface alone will not last. A full-depth repair removes the asphalt and the damaged base, rebuilds the base with compacted rock, and repaves. This is the right fix when the pothole keeps coming back or the base is clearly compromised.
You can handle a single small pothole with cold patch as a temporary fix. Clean it out, fill it, compact it firmly, and you have bought some time. But cold patch is a band-aid. For a repair that lasts, or for any pothole that signals a base problem, bring in a contractor for a hot mix or full-depth repair. Recurring potholes especially are a sign to stop patching and address the base.
This is the part most homeowners miss. A single pothole from one bad crack is a repair. But potholes that keep returning, or several potholes appearing across the driveway, usually mean the base has failed. At that point, individual patches are throwing money at a structural problem. The decision shifts to resurfacing or full replacement, which our resurfacing vs. replacement guide walks through.
Often the underlying cause is drainage. If water is reaching and washing out the base, fixing the potholes without fixing the drainage just resets the clock. Our driveway drainage solutions guide covers how to keep water away from the base in Oregon's wet climate.
Pothole repair costs scale with the method. Cold patch is just the price of a bag. Hot mix patching by a contractor costs more but lasts. Full-depth repair is the most expensive because it rebuilds the base. Industry baseline ranges vary widely with the size and number of potholes and the underlying cause, so a site-specific quote is the accurate figure. The cheapest approach overall is preventing potholes through crack sealing and drainage, both far less expensive than repairs.
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