If the base under the pavement is sound, cracks are a maintenance problem: fill them and the surface keeps working. If the base has failed, you will see alligator cracking, depressions or pumping, and no amount of filler will hold. Our crack repair guide walks through how to tell the two apart before you spend money.

Cold-pour is convenient for small jobs and cooler weather but does not bond or last like the alternatives. Hot-pour rubberized sealant is the commercial standard. It is heated and poured so it bonds to the crack walls and stays flexible through temperature swings. Mastic is a thicker overlay product used for wider, more deteriorated cracks and spalls.

As a rule, cracks at roughly a quarter-inch and wider should be filled, which is about the point where water starts reaching the base rather than evaporating off the surface. Narrow hairline cracking is usually handled as part of a seal coat program.

Yes. Seal coating over open cracks just seals water in. Standard commercial practice is crack fill first, then seal coat, then re-stripe in one mobilization, and the sealer protects a surface that is actually watertight.

Hot-pour sealant needs a dry crack and dry pavement to bond, so work waits for a dry window. In wet months we handle drainage problems and temporary repairs, then schedule permanent crack sealing and seal coating when the weather allows.