Driveway Repair in Gaston, Oregon: Crack, Pothole & Resurfacing

Driveway Repair in Gaston, Oregon

Asphalt driveways in Gaston take a beating. Long rural approach drives carry farm trucks and equipment, the clay-heavy valley soil shifts with every wet winter, and freeze-thaw cycles pry cracks wider every year. The question most homeowners face is not whether their driveway needs work but what kind: a quick crack-fill, a patch, a resurface, or a full replacement. Picking wrong wastes money in either direction.

Cojo Excavation & Asphalt repairs driveways across Gaston and the surrounding Washington County area from its Willamette Valley base. Below is the honest decision tree we use to size up a driveway.

The Repair Decision Tree

Driveway problems fall on a spectrum, and the right fix depends on how deep the damage goes.

• Crack filling is the answer for individual cracks under about half an inch wide in an otherwise sound driveway. It is the cheapest intervention and, done early, it stops water from getting into the base and turning a small crack into a big one.
• Patching handles isolated potholes and localized failures. A clean cut, fresh base, and new asphalt restore the bad spot without touching the rest of the driveway.
• Resurfacing (overlay) makes sense when the surface is worn, faded, and lightly cracked but the base underneath is still solid. A new asphalt layer goes over the old.
• Full replacement is the call when you have widespread alligator cracking, base failure, drainage problems, or a driveway that has been patched into a quilt.

Our driveway cracking repair options guide walks through how to tell these apart in more detail.

What Driveway Repair Costs in Gaston

Repair pricing depends on the type and extent of the damage. The figures below are industry baseline ranges. Actual costs in the current market frequently run higher, especially when base failure or drainage problems are involved.

Industry baseline ranges shown below. Actual costs vary and are often higher based on damage severity, driveway size, and underlying base condition.

Repair Type	Industry Baseline Range
Crack filling (per linear foot)	$0.50–$3.00
Pothole patching (per sq ft)	$2.00–$5.00
Resurfacing / overlay (per sq ft)	$2.00–$4.50
Full replacement (per sq ft)	$4.00–$9.00

A handful of cracks filled early is cheap insurance. A driveway that has been ignored until the base fails is a much bigger number. For help reading the warning signs, see signs your driveway needs repaving.

Alligator Cracking and Base Failure

When you see a web of interconnected cracks that looks like reptile skin, that is alligator cracking, and it is bad news. It almost always means the base beneath the asphalt has failed, usually from water getting underneath and undermining the support. You cannot crack-fill your way out of alligator cracking. The affected area needs to be dug out, the base rebuilt, and new asphalt placed. On Gaston's clay soils, alligator cracking often traces back to a drainage problem that has to be corrected at the same time, which can tie into excavation and site prep work.

Frost-Heave and the Valley Wet Season

Gaston's repair pattern is driven by water and cold. The clay soil holds moisture all winter. When a cold snap freezes that saturated ground, it swells and lifts the pavement, and when it thaws, the surface drops back unevenly. Repeat that cycle over a few winters and you get cracking, heaving, and rough spots even in a driveway that was fine a couple of years ago.

The defense is keeping water out of the cracks and out of the base. Filling cracks early and keeping the surface sealed are the cheapest things you can do to slow the cycle. Our driveway sealcoating in Gaston guide covers that protective side.

Repair vs. Replace: The Honest Math

A good contractor will tell you when repair is throwing good money after bad. If your driveway is structurally sound with isolated problems, repair is clearly the right call. But if you are patching the same areas every year, if the cracking is widespread, or if the base has failed, repeated repairs cost more over a few years than a clean replacement would. We give you the straight read so you can make the call with real information.

Why Use a Local Repair Crew

Driveway repair is judgment work. Telling surface wear from base failure, and a fixable crack from a drainage problem, takes someone who has seen a lot of valley driveways. We repair driveways across Washington County, including nearby driveway repair in Forest Grove, and we will tell you honestly which fix your driveway actually needs.