Nobody moves to Honolulu for the pavement. You only think about it the morning you back out, hear that thunk, and realize the pothole you've been swerving around all month finally got you.
I'm Kai. Honolulu Asphalt Paving is my company, locally owned, and we've been at this the best part of 15 years. Most asphalt companies on this island do one end or the other. We do both. In a normal week that's driveway paving for a family in Kahala, asphalt repair and crack filling on a condo lot, an asphalt patch and fresh parking lot striping before a lease walkthrough, and on the bigger ones asphalt milling and full asphalt resurfacing.
Mats still in good shape get sealcoating instead. We pour concrete driveways and concrete sidewalks too, when asphalt isn't the right answer.
What we won't do to you:
- Show up late, or not at all
- Push you into work your pavement doesn't need
- Leave your property dirtier than we found it
Our goal is simple. Done correctly, on schedule, at a fair price.
What happens when you call
You call, and you get me or one of my crew, not a call center three time zones away. We're on the phone nine to five on weekdays, and when a job truly can't wait, we'll put a crew on it over the weekend.
First I ask a few quick things: how big the area is, what parks on it, and how long it's been since anyone touched it. Then we come out and walk it with you. I'm looking at where water still sits a day after a good rain, how deep the cracks run, and whether the edges are crumbling where cars swing in.
That walk is what tells me whether you need asphalt repair on a few bad patches or a full rebuild, and I'd rather tell you the smaller answer when it's true.
Then you get the plan, the sequence, and a realistic start window. Nothing gets scheduled until you say go.
Below you'll find each service, where we work, and the questions folks ask first. Or just call (808) 808-9481 and we'll come take a look.
Asphalt Repair
A pothole by the gate. Loose gravel on the ground every time you back out.
That hole isn't a surface problem. Water found its way underneath, washed out the fine material, and the pavement above lost its footing. Leave it through a few months of afternoon downpours and something you could cover with a trash can lid becomes a full-depth dig.
Here's how we handle it. We saw-cut a square well past the soft edges, dig down to solid material, tack the vertical faces so the new hot mix actually bonds, then place it in lifts and roll it flush with the surrounding pavement. Skip that tack coat and the patch comes loose around the seam inside a year. Most repairs are done in part of a day.
Depth of the failure, square footage, truck access and whether it's one hole or fifteen scattered ones all change what the work runs. Give a fresh patch a few weeks to cure before sealcoating goes over it.
Sealcoating
Black asphalt gone gray and chalky. Grit comes up on your shoe soles.
That color change means the binder at the surface is spent, and once the top skin turns porous it drinks water and oil instead of shedding them. We sweep the whole surface, scrub and prime the oil-stained patch by the garage, then squeegee two coats on. Skip the sweeping and you're gluing sealer to dust, which peels off in sheets the first heavy rain.
Sealer won't rescue a mat that's already crumbling. When it's that far gone, driveway paving is the better spend, and I'd rather tell you that than sell you a coat of black paint. Size, how many stained areas need primer, tight access down a narrow drive, and how thirsty the old asphalt is all change the job. Most driveways are back in use the next morning. Ring us at (808) 808-9481 to get on the schedule.
Driveway Paving
Tire ruts where you park. Water sitting by the garage door after every shower.
Ruts and puddles mean the stone under your asphalt has shifted, and asphalt only holds its shape when what it sits on holds its shape. Skim a patch over that and the same dip comes back in a season. Leave it longer and water works down through the low spot, softens everything below, and the dip turns into a pothole your rims find first.
What moves the price on a home drive is length and width, whether we can get a paver and roller past the gate and the hedge, how thick the mix needs to be for your slope and your truck, and whether we're tearing out the old surface or building on fresh stone. We handle parking lot striping for retail lots; your driveway just gets clean cut edges, hot rolled lifts, and a day or two of parking on the street.
Parking Lot Striping
Lines you can barely make out, and cars parked wherever the driver felt like it.
When the paint goes, the lot loses stalls. Drivers angle in, the accessible aisle gets blocked, the fire lane fills with delivery trucks because nothing on the ground tells them otherwise. I lay out with a chalk line and a measuring wheel first, mask the accessible stalls and the striped aisle beside them, then spray traffic paint two coats on the arrows, numbers and crosshatch.
A small lot is usually a morning's work, and I like it dry overnight before the next shower rolls down off the Koolau.
What moves the money is stall count, whether we keep your old layout or redraw it, curb paint, and whether we can close half the lot at a time. A lot getting asphalt resurfacing gets striped fresh once the new mat has cured, since paint won't grip a chalky surface.
Asphalt Resurfacing
Patch on top of patch, ruts by the garage, and the whole surface feels rough underfoot.
That usually means the top layer is worn out while what sits under it is still sound. Resurfacing gives you a fresh wearing course, an inch and a half to two inches of hot mix laid over the old surface, with tack coat between so the two actually bond. We grind down at the garage apron and along the gutter so the new mat sits flush instead of leaving a lip you catch a tire on.
Working cracks get routed and sealed first, because crack filling before the overlay is what stops the old pattern ghosting back through by next summer.
Size, access for the paver and roller, how much patching we cut out first, and a dry window between showers all change the job. Call me at (808) 808-9481 and I'll take a look.
Crack Filling
Cracks you can slip a dime into, with weeds coming up through them.
That crack is a funnel. Every rain shower runs straight down it, softens what's under your asphalt, and the next delivery truck flexes the edges until one crack becomes five. That's the whole story of how a driveway turns into a pothole.
We rout the crack out first, blow the dirt and roots clear, then pour hot rubberized sealant and squeegee it flush. Cold caulk from a bucket looks fine for a season and then shrinks away from the sides.
Total footage, how wide and deep they've opened, and how much cleaning the surface needs before we start are what change the job. So does waiting for a dry stretch. If the cracking has gone to a spiderweb, we'd talk about asphalt milling instead.
Asphalt Milling
Puddles that sit for days, and the pavement edge now sits higher than the gutter.
That's what happens when overlay goes on top of overlay. Each one adds an inch or so, and eventually your lot is taller than the curb it's supposed to drain into. The water can't leave, so it sits in the low spots, soaks into the seams, and takes the surface apart from the edges in.
Milling puts the height back where it belongs. We grind the old surface off at the depth the job calls for, sweep it down, haul the grindings out, and pave back to a grade that actually sheds water.
Size, cut depth, whether a machine can get in, and hand work around manholes and gutter pans all move the price. Concrete driveways get sawcut and replaced instead. Ring me at (808) 808-9481.
Concrete Driveways
Concrete isn't asphalt, and I'll say it plainly: sometimes it's the better call. Most asphalt paving companies won't point you that direction, but if your drive climbs the way they do up off Wilhelmina Rise, black surfacing can soften and scuff under a hard afternoon sun where a 4 inch slab won't. Six inches with mesh if a work truck lives on it.
Either way the base does the real work, so we compact before anything gets poured, cut control joints every 8 to 10 feet, and leave a broom finish so it isn't a slide the first time a Kona storm comes through. Skip the joints and the slab picks its own cracks, usually diagonally across the middle.
Concrete wants about a week before you drive on it and a month for full strength; laying asphalt driveway surfaces has you parked back home in a day or two. Slab thickness, reinforcement, truck access and any bricks paving border you want are what move driveway paving cost.
Concrete Sidewalks
One slab sitting higher than the next, and somebody has already caught a shoe on it.
That lip is almost always a root doing what roots do, and it will not settle back down on its own. What you own in the meantime is a trip hazard on a walkway the mailman and every neighbor uses, and that is a conversation you do not want to have twice.
We saw cut the bad panels out clean, cut the roots back and set a barrier so the same slab doesn't lift again, then pour four inches with control joints every few feet and a broom finish so it isn't a skating rink when the afternoon shower rolls through. Walk on it the next day. Keep a truck off it for a week.
Panel count, root depth, how far we wheel the mix from the curb, and hauling the old slab out are what change the number.
Residential and commercial asphalt paving in Honolulu
Residential and commercial asphalt paving in Honolulu covers everything from a two-car driveway in Nuuanu to a hotel service lot off Kalakaua that can't shut down for a single lunch rush. Homeowners, small businesses, property managers, HOA boards and general contractors all call the same asphalt contractors here, and I price nothing off a menu. Parking lot paving is the same crew and the same trucks as a driveway; what changes is the hours we can work.
I walk the property first, look at slope and drainage, see how a dump truck and a roller actually get in, and find out what hours you can spare us.
That walk is where the two kinds of jobs split. You want your car back in the carport fast, so residential driveway paving and asphalt driveway maintenance get done in a day or two, with sealcoating scheduled later once the mat has settled. A property manager wants phasing: half the lot at a time, asphalt resurfacing and parking lot striping timed around deliveries so no tenant loses a stall.
Small work counts too. Pothole repair at a church entrance, crack filling before the wet months, an asphalt patch around a water meter. So does asphalt milling and repaving a whole warehouse yard, or an asphalt parking lot that has not been touched since the building went up. We pour concrete driveways and concrete sidewalks as well, and if concrete is the smarter call on your property, I'll say so. Reach me at (808) 808-9481.
Why Honolulu homeowners and businesses choose us
Honolulu homeowners and businesses choose us because we've been laying and fixing asphalt here for the best part of 15 years, and we run houses and commercial property with the same crew: a two car driveway in Nuuanu one week, and plenty of paving companies pick one end and stay there, an asphalt repair on a forty stall lot the next.
We're licensed, bonded and insured, and the certificate is there if you ask for it.
That crew is ours, not day labor rounded up on the morning of. They run hot mix behind a paver and a roller, and they know asphalt resurfacing over a base that's already failing is money you'll spend twice, so we mill first where the surface calls for it. Where asphalt is the wrong answer, we form concrete driveways and pour concrete sidewalks instead.
Somebody answers the phone weekdays, nine to five. If we say driveway paving starts Tuesday, the truck is there Tuesday. The estimate is free, built from measured square footage, access, depth and how far the surface has gone; it doesn't grow later.
And if an asphalt patch ravels or a line of crack filling opens up early, we come back.
Areas we serve
The areas we serve stretch from town out past Pearl City and around both sides of the Koolaus, and I'd rather name the places our trucks actually reach than pretend we cover everything.
- Waikiki
- Ala Moana and Kakaako
- Makiki
- Moiliili and McCully
- Kapahulu
- Palolo
- Waialae and Kahala
- Aina Haina
- Niu Valley
- Nuuanu and Liliha
- Moanalua
- Salt Lake
- Aiea
- Pearl City
- Waipahu
- Ewa Beach
- Mililani
- Kailua and Kaneohe
- Waimanalo
- Wahiawa
- Haleiwa
Windward jobs live on dry mornings. Sealcoating in Kailua or Kaneohe gets scheduled early, and crack filling goes in first so we're not sealing over a wet joint. Out toward Ewa the sun cooks the surface brittle instead, which is where asphalt repair and asphalt resurfacing do the heavy lifting on lots that haven't been touched in years.
Hillside driveways in Palolo and Niu Valley are steep, narrow, and full of tight turns. Driveway paving up there means smaller loads, more hand work at the edges, and a longer day than the same square footage on flat ground. In older Nuuanu and Liliha lanes we're often patching asphalt right up against concrete sidewalks that heaved a decade ago, and some folks there go with concrete driveways instead.
The limit: Haleiwa and the North Shore are a real drive. A single small asphalt patch out there waits until we've got a second job nearby to pair it with. Parking lot striping and asphalt milling we'll schedule anywhere on this list.
Frequently asked questions
The frequently asked questions I get on the phone, answered the way I would answer them standing in your driveway.
How much does it cost to pave an asphalt driveway?
The number comes off a tape measure, so size sets the baseline and everything else moves it from there. Depth matters, access matters, and a narrow lane in Nuuanu that my truck can't back down adds hours of hand work. The biggest swing is whether we can lay over what you have or have to tear it out and rebuild the rock base underneath.
Is two inches of asphalt enough for a driveway?
For cars and a pickup, yes. Two inches after rolling, sitting on a solid base, holds up fine for a residential driveway. Commercial traffic is a different animal and wants three inches or more, put down in two lifts. What usually kills a driveway isn't the thickness anyway, it's soft ground under a thin mat, and that shows up as alligator cracking in the first heavy wet season.
How long does an asphalt driveway last?
Fifteen to twenty years if you keep water out of it. Sun cooks the binder out of the top eighth of an inch, so an asphalt reseal every three to five years, plus crack filling before the rains come, buys you most of that life. Skip both and you're back to bare rock and potholes closer to year ten.
What's the difference between patching and resurfacing?
Asphalt repair fixes the bad spots and leaves the good surface alone. If you have three failures and the rest is sound, pothole repair, saw cut square and filled full depth, is the smart money. Once cracking has spread across most of the area, asphalt resurfacing is the answer, usually with asphalt milling of the top inch or two first so the new layer sits flush with your garage slab and your gutter line.
How long am I off it after you pave?
Drive on it in about two days, three if it's been baking. Stay off it with jack stands, kickstands and anything else with a point for roughly a month, because fresh asphalt dents under a small footprint long after it feels hard. Sealcoating is quicker, usually back in service the next morning.
Do you pour concrete too?
Yes. Some jobs want it, like a steep slope that would bleed on a hot afternoon or a trash enclosure pad. We pour concrete driveways and concrete sidewalks, and on a commercial site we tie that work in around the asphalt.
Do you offer a warranty or guarantee for your work?
I do, whether it's driveway paving, an overlay or parking lot striping. We go through exactly what it covers when I come out and measure. Work done right the first time is what actually saves you money, because a thin mat that fails in two years costs more than the job you should have bought.
Contact Honolulu Paving Co now
Contact Honolulu Paving Co now and you get me, Kai, on the phone instead of a call center somewhere on the mainland. One asphalt paving company, one number, and the person who answers is the person who does the walk. Tell me what you're looking at.
Sometimes the fix is small. Crack filling before water works its way under the mat, or an asphalt patch cut square and packed hot rather than the shovel-and-pray pothole repair that pops back out by the next wet season. Sometimes the surface is finished and we're into asphalt milling and a fresh lift, or asphalt resurfacing where the base underneath is still solid.
Same crew handles new driveway paving, asphalt repair where a lot has gone soft at the entrance, sealcoating and parking lot striping before the holiday rush, and concrete sidewalks where asphalt just won't hold up. I'd rather come look than guess. Square footage, whether a truck can actually reach the work, how deep we have to go and what the old surface has turned into all change the plan.
Call (808) 808-9481 and let's get a time on the calendar.