Repairs and patching
Fix the crack this year or replace the section it turns into.
The cheapest work we do is the work that stops you needing the expensive work. Crack sealing is unglamorous, it does not look like much when it is finished, and it is the single highest-return thing you can do to asphalt in this climate.
If you send us photos of what you are seeing, we can usually tell you whether it is a sealing job, a patch, or a section that has gone too far — without either of us spending a morning on it.
A crack is a funnel into your base
Every hairline crack collects water. Water in the base freezes, and freezing water expands by about nine percent, which widens the crack and pushes the surrounding asphalt apart. It thaws, drains, and washes fines out of the base. Next freeze the gap is bigger. Two or three winters of that and you are not looking at a crack any more, you are looking at a section that has to come out. This is why we lead with sealing. Sealing a crack costs a few hundred dollars. Replacing the section it becomes costs a few thousand.
An explainer graphic for this page is scheduled in Phase 6 of the build (BUILD-PLAN.md §11) — the freeze thaw diagram.