Potholes on the roads in a busy city like Vancouver can wreak enough havoc on your vehicle without help from the potholes in your driveway. While there isn’t much you can do about the potholes around the city, you can easily repair the potholes in your dirt or gravel driveway by following a few simple steps. The sooner you take care of the potholes on your driveway, the easier the repairs will be.
Steps to Repair potholesÂ
1. Cleaning the Pothole
The first thing you have to do to make sure your pothole repairs are a success is to thoroughly clear out any loose debris from inside the pothole. You should also make sure the sides of the pothole aren’t falling apart before you start filling the area with new dirt or gravel. Simply take a shovel and cut any excess debris from the side of the pothole. By making the edges firm and straight, you’ll make it easier to fill in the hole later.
2. Fill it In
Most potholes are caused by water damage underground combined with the pounding of vehicles over the surface of the driveway. Water can expand inside the small space under your driveway, causing cracks which eventually lead to potholes. To make sure this problem doesn’t repeat itself, you should start filling in your pothole with coarse gravel. The gravel will give water enough space to drain away from the driveway without getting concentrated at a certain point. Once you have the gravel piled about three inches high, you can tamp the gravel down so it sits flat.
For dirt driveways, you can now add the dirt to the pothole. Add enough dirt so the hole is filled about three or four inches higher than the desired level. Once you have enough dirt, water the area and start tamping the wet soil into the ground until it sits level with the rest of the driveway.
For a gravel driveway, you can fill in the hole with enough gravel to match the level of the driveway. Lightly tamp the gravel into place, and then put a thin layer of additional gravel on top. You can then smooth out the area with a rake so the new gravel matches up with the rest of the driveway.
If you have potholes in your dirt or gravel driveway and the DIY approach just isn’t for you, feel free to contact the friendly paving professionals at Pacific Coast Paving today! We can help with any and all of your driveway repair needs, so be sure to give us a call when you need us.
