Driveway Pothole

Figure A (click to enlarge) Figure B (click to enlarge) Figure C (click to enlarge) Figure D (click to enlarge) Figure E (click to enlarge)

Home repair expert Henry Harrison shows a guest how to patch a pothole in her asphalt driveway (figure A). On his elbow grease scale of one to four, Harrison gives this job a one.

Tools:

industrial shop vacuum
piece of wood for tamping
trowel
brush and dustpan
knee pads
standard work gloves and rubber gloves
cold asphalt filler

Steps:

1. Put on kneepads and work gloves and remove large debris from hole by hand. Use the brush and dustpan to clean up around the hole. Vacuum up small debris with industrial vacuum (figure B).

2. Slip on some rubber gloves and pack cold asphalt filler into hole. Use the trowel to fill the hole with filler, and use your hands to push it to the sides and fill up any empty areas off to the side of the exposed hole (figure C).

3. Use a 2x2 post or similar board to tamp down the filler (figure D). Continue alternating adding filler and tamping until hole is slightly overfilled.

4. Smooth out the patch by placing the blade of the trowel on top of the patch and tamping the trowel with the board (figure E). If you're dealing with a larger patch, drive a car back and forth over the patch to smooth it out.

Also in this Episode

Help Around the House : Episode ARH-223
•	Staining a Deck
•	Driveway Pothole
•	Replace a Mantel
•	Ladders