dealing with that stuff at the dealership & now my own driveway
I prefer concrete, but mine was asphalt when I moved in here
PITA, reseal every 2-3 years
doing it at the dealerships
the cold asphalt patch crap in the bags or buckets from Home Depot or Lowes
is temporary at best
the sticky glue seam sealer crap in a bucket
same deal/cold method is the same
temporary at best
any of it needs to be compacted
the hand tampers are for small holes
if they are much bigger than the tampers flat surface
get a gas compactor from a rental place, go slow don't be a wild man
you can cause more cracks around the holes
then the cracks filled & pushed down with a trowel at a min
the hot method, IMO it flows better & gets down in the cracks
way better, seals it too
do it like it was a wall & taped & them painted,
the sealer is the paint, all the patchwork done first (seems obvious)
I've seen guys use mops & brooms too
I think it depends on the weapon of choice or texture desired
wear some shitty clothes & shoes
if you can get a heater, or a way to heat up the tar & "the glues"
some places rent hoppers
or some asphalt places will dump it (hot asphalt) in your truck bed
on a big tarp, with plastic under it to protect the truck
fold the tarp over it to keep it warm on the drive home
do it relatively quick
have all the other stuff ready, rentals if needed beforehand
because the asphalt won't be hot that long... an hr + maybe
The liquid cracks sealer stuff to pour in the holes/cracks
or line the holes to patch
& then trowel them down after it's filled & compacted
feather the edges so it doesn't make a bump
do your sealers/liquids, on top of that,
for good color continuity & coverage
don't be skimpy, it needs to be thick, to last, spread it out well & evenly
spread it with like a huge squeegee-like 3' wide, long handle
& 3" alum or steel with a rubber section on the bottom
rubber/flat/straight bottom edge
'both outside corners curved forward if you can', helps to push a puddle better
*cold sealer may be OK (In my experience it's not as good thou)
kind of stay a bit away from the edges,
watch the puddle flow, to the edges, like you would
"doing cutin with a paintbrush"
I'd highly suggest
Go get 'hot patch asphalt' from a local asphalt place better yet
after all the patching & cracks are done & leveled out
then sealed
I'd pay a company to come & use a hot sealer method
if you don't have the means, to do a hot sealer too
&
make sure you line the hole, to be patched all sides
with the tar/hot tar/hot liquid, as sort of a bonder
then overfill it (the holes) & compact it back down to be level/even
(stay off it for at a min. a few hrs, don't drive on it yet, if it's hot out wait 24 hrs)
then scrape off the edges, a flat shovel or long-handled trowel works
while still warm, scrape off the edges like you're doing a drywall patch
feather it in/out
doing it in 2 stages is best, patch one day & sealer the next
if you do the hot stuff, unless it goes well
all the tools are available to do it right, at most home improvement places
where they sell the shitty cold patch stuff too
I'm no asphalt contractor by any stretch
but I've done many a section of a parking/car lot (or my own driveways)
that's what I was told to do by the Civil Contractors
that did the asphalt pavement/parking lots sales lots originally...
I've done the cold patch too, that's why I brought it up
it sucks ***... temporary ****
good luck