Reitman Sealcoating, Inc. provides hot patching, seal coating and driveway repairs to its clients across Long Island. Our hot patching services are specific to the difficult Long Island climate, giving you the best value and the highest quality work.
Hot patching is the permanent way to repair potholes, broken edges and failed sections in a blacktop driveway or parking lot. We cut out the damaged pavement, fill the area with hot-mix asphalt and compact it, so the repair bonds to the pavement around it and carries traffic like the rest of the surface.
We do hot patching across Nassau and Suffolk counties from our yard in Huntington Station. Bob Reitman has president and founder, started in the trade in 1977 and has 49 years of paving and sealcoating experience, and we have served more than 14,000 Long Island customers. Call (631) 549-5455 or request a free written quote.
What Hot Patching Is
Hot patching means repairing pavement with the same material it was built from: asphalt that is delivered hot, placed while it is still workable, and compacted before it cools.
- Sawcut the damage out. Every hot patch starts with a saw cut back to solid pavement, so the edges are clean and straight. Loose and crumbling material around a pothole has to go, or the patch will fail along the same line.
- Check and fix the base. If the base under the hole is soft, wet or washed out, it is dug out and rebuilt. Most potholes start from below, so this is the step that decides whether the repair holds.
- Tack the edges and fill with hot asphalt. Hot asphalt cement is applied along the sawcut edges so the new asphalt bonds to the old, then hot-mix asphalt is placed in the cut-out area and raked level.
- Compact. The patch is compacted until it is tight and flush with the surrounding surface, so water cannot sit on it or get in around it.
Hot Patch vs Cold Patch
Cold patch is the bagged material sold at home centers. It is useful for getting through a winter emergency, but it is a temporary fix. It never fully hardens, it does not bond to the pavement around it, and traffic and plows push it back out.
Hot patch is a permanent repair. It is the same hot-mix asphalt used to pave the driveway, it is compacted into a properly cut and prepared hole, and it bonds with the existing pavement. If you have refilled the same pothole with bagged patch more than once, that is the sign it needs a hot patch.
When a Patch Is Enough, and When It Is Not
A hot patch is the right repair when:
- You have one or a few potholes and the pavement around them is solid.
- An edge has broken off where cars drive off the side of the driveway.
- A section has sunk by the garage, by the apron, or over an old trench.
- A plow or a heavy truck has gouged or broken one section.
- A tree root has lifted or cracked a section. We sawcut the damaged pavement out, remove the root, and patch the section.
Patching is not the answer when cracking covers most of the driveway in a connected “alligator skin” pattern, when water stands on the surface, or when earlier patches keep failing. Those point to a failed base, and the honest recommendation is new pavement. See Blacktop Paving. We will tell you which one you need. Many of the driveways we look at can be saved.
Why Potholes Form on Long Island
Pavement fails from the bottom up. Water gets in through small cracks and reaches the base. In a Long Island winter the temperature crosses the freezing point again and again. Each time the water freezes it expands and lifts the pavement, and when it thaws it leaves a gap. Traffic breaks the unsupported blacktop into that gap, and you have a pothole.
This is why early repair costs less. A crack that is sealed does not let water in. A small break that is hot patched this year does not become a large failed section next spring. More on this: Long Island Asphalt Driveway Repairs.
How Long the Work Takes
Hot patching is a same-day job, and you can drive on the patch as soon as the crew is finished. We hot patch year round; our hot box trailers keep the asphalt at working temperature, so a pothole does not have to wait for spring.
If you are also having the driveway sealcoated, the patching is done first. We wait one to two days for the oils in the new asphalt to dry, then the sealer goes on. Sealcoating protects the seam around the patch and blends the new black patch with the rest of the driveway so the repair does not stand out. See Sealcoating.
What Affects the Cost of a Hot Patch Repair
We price each repair after seeing it, and the quote is free and in writing. The price depends on:
- The total area being cut out and replaced, and how many separate spots there are.
- Depth and base work. A hole that needs the base rebuilt costs more than a surface break.
- Access. How close the truck and equipment can get.
- Combining work. Patching and sealcoating in one visit costs less than two trips, and if neighbors on your street book the same day we pass the travel savings on.
Hot Patching Questions
What is hot patching?
Hot patching is a permanent asphalt repair. We sawcut out the damaged pavement, fix the base if it has failed, apply hot asphalt cement along the cut edges, fill the area with hot-mix asphalt and compact it flush with the surface.
Is hot patch better than cold patch?
Yes, for a lasting repair. Bagged cold patch is a temporary fix that never fully hardens and gets pushed out by traffic and plows. Hot patch is the same material the driveway was paved with, and it bonds to the pavement around it.
Do potholes mean I need a new driveway?
Usually not. If the damage is in a few spots and the surrounding pavement is solid, hot patching and sealcoating fix it for a fraction of the cost of repaving. Widespread connected cracking or standing water points to a failed base, and that may need new pavement.
How soon can I drive on a hot patch?
Right away. The patch is compacted flush with the surface before the crew leaves, so it carries traffic immediately.
Can I sealcoat right after a hot patch?
Wait one to two days so the oils in the new asphalt can dry, then sealcoat. We schedule both together: patching first, sealer one or two days later.
Will the patch match the rest of my driveway?
New asphalt is black and older blacktop fades to gray, so a fresh patch shows at first. Sealcoating the driveway after the repair gives the whole surface one even color.
Can potholes be repaired in winter?
Yes. We hot patch year round. Our hot box trailers keep the asphalt at working temperature, so a pothole that opens in January can be repaired in January. Call (631) 549-5455.
Content reviewed by Bob Reitman, Reitman Sealcoating, Inc. Last updated September 2026.
Hot Patching and Driveway Repair by Town
