7 Signs Your Driveway Needs Replacement (Not Just Repair)

When Patching Stops Making Sense

Every asphalt driveway eventually reaches the point where another round of crack filling and patching is throwing good money after bad. The hard part is knowing when you have crossed that line. Repairs are cheaper than replacement, so the instinct to keep patching is natural — but a driveway with failed structure will keep failing no matter how many times you fill the cracks.

Here are seven signs that point to replacement rather than repair. One sign alone may not be decisive, but two or three together usually mean the base has failed and a fresh start will cost less over the next decade than chasing problems on the old surface. If your situation is borderline, our guide to resurfacing vs. replacement cost breaks down the decision in detail, and the complete Oregon asphalt driveway guide covers the full lifecycle.

1. Alligator Cracking Across Large Areas

Alligator cracking — a web of interconnected cracks resembling reptile skin — is the clearest sign of structural failure. It means the asphalt is fatiguing because the base beneath it can no longer carry the load. A small patch of alligatoring can sometimes be cut out and repaired, but when it spreads across significant portions of the driveway, the base has failed broadly and replacement is the durable answer. You cannot seal or fill your way out of alligator cracking; sealing it just hides a failing foundation.

2. More Than About a Quarter of the Surface Is Cracked or Broken

A useful rule of thumb: when roughly 25 percent or more of the driveway shows significant cracking, crumbling, or patches, the cost and futility of continued repair tips toward replacement. At that point you are no longer fixing isolated problems — you are managing a surface that is failing everywhere at once. Spot repairs on a driveway that is mostly compromised do not hold, because the surrounding pavement keeps moving and cracking around each patch.

3. The Driveway Is Sinking or Has Birdbaths

Low spots that hold water (birdbaths) and areas that have visibly sunk indicate the base or sub-grade beneath has settled or washed out. A surface that is no longer level cannot be fixed by adding material on top, because the underlying support is gone. Sinking is especially common on Oregon properties where wet clay or poor drainage has undermined the base over years. Standing water also accelerates further damage, so a sinking driveway tends to get worse fast.

4. Potholes Keep Coming Back

A single pothole is a repair. Potholes that keep returning in the same area — or appearing in new ones each spring — signal that water is reaching a saturated, unstable base and washing out support repeatedly. Cold-patch fixes pop out within a season because the problem is below the surface, not at it. Recurring potholes across the driveway are a base failure announcing itself, and base failure is a replacement issue. Our crack repair guide covers what is still fixable before it reaches this stage.

5. The Driveway Is Past Its Service Life

A well-built asphalt driveway in Oregon typically lasts somewhere in the range of 15 to 30 years with good maintenance. As a driveway approaches and passes the upper end of that window, the asphalt itself oxidizes, loses flexibility, and cracks more readily no matter what you do. If your driveway is 25-plus years old and showing multiple problems, age has caught up with it. Repairs on aged, brittle asphalt simply do not last the way they would on a younger surface.

6. Drainage Has Failed and Water Pools or Runs Wrong

Drainage is the leading cause of premature driveway death in wet climates. If water now pools on the surface, runs toward the house, or has eroded channels along the edges, the original grading has failed — often because the base settled unevenly. Resurfacing over a driveway with broken drainage just re-creates the same problem on a new surface. Correcting drainage usually means rebuilding the grade, which is a replacement-scale project. In Oregon's rainy climate, getting this right is worth doing once, properly.

7. Widespread Edge Crumbling and Raveling

When the edges are breaking away along most of the driveway and the surface is raveling — shedding aggregate and turning rough and porous — the asphalt binder has deteriorated throughout. Raveling across the whole surface means the pavement is breaking down at a material level, not just in spots. Combined with any of the structural signs above, widespread raveling and edge loss point to replacement.

How These Signs Add Up

Industry guidance for the repair-versus-replace decision. A site assessment governs your specific driveway.

What You See	Likely Verdict
A few isolated cracks, otherwise sound	Repair / crack fill
Surface fading, minor cracks, good base	Resurface / overlay
Alligator cracking in spots	Localized repair, watch closely
Alligator cracking widespread	Replace
25%+ cracked, sinking, or recurring potholes	Replace
Failed drainage or grade	Replace (rebuild grade)
25+ years old with multiple problems	Replace

The pattern is simple: surface problems can be repaired or resurfaced; structural problems — base failure, sinking, drainage loss — call for replacement. When in doubt, it is the condition of the base, not the look of the surface, that decides.

What Replacement Involves and What It Costs

Full replacement means removing the old asphalt (and often the failed base), correcting the sub-grade and drainage, rebuilding a properly compacted base, and paving fresh. It costs more than a repair up front, but on a structurally failed driveway it is the only fix that lasts — and spread over 20-plus years of new service life, it is usually the cheaper path than repeated patching. For pricing context, see our asphalt driveway cost in Oregon guide.

If you are not sure which side of the line your driveway is on, the most useful next step is a professional assessment. We will look at the surface and the base, tell you honestly whether repair or replacement makes sense, and provide a free quote either way.