Cold lay vs hot mix
Updated: October 2026
You have a hole in private tarmac and a bag that costs tens of pounds on amazon.co.uk. Cold lay vs hot mix is that choice: a cold bag when the hole is local and the course around it is still sound, and hot mix or a resurface when the surface itself has failed. They do not become the same product. Written on 20 October 2026 from Road Note 44 and HAUC. If you stay with a bag, the five listings are on the [cold asphalt comparison](/hub/flooring/cold-asphalt). A purchase through our links can earn us a commission at no extra cost.
You have a hole in private tarmac and a bag that costs tens of pounds on amazon.co.uk.
You have a hole in private tarmac and a bag that costs tens of pounds on amazon.co.uk. Cold lay vs hot mix is that choice: a cold bag when the hole is local and the course around it is still sound, and hot mix or a resurface when the surface itself has failed. They do not become the same product. Written on 20 October 2026 from Road Note 44 and HAUC. If you stay with a bag, the five listings are on the cold asphalt comparison. A purchase through our links can earn us a commission at no extra cost.
Our top picks
| Badge | Product | Standard named | Weather claim | Review base | Note | Price | Offer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best overall |  GravaHaus Greenpatch cold lay macadam, 23 kg | HAPAS bullet | Wet, cold, freezing | 1, no text | 2.1 | about £16.99 | View offer |
| Best value |  EZ Street EZ Street asphalt, 20 kg bucket | None | Wet or dry | 15 reviews | 7.0 | about £27.99 | View offer |
 Laeto Laeto cold lay asphalt, 25 kg | None | -10°C to 35°C | 123 reviews | 8.1 | about £23.99 | View offer |
On this page
They are not the same material
Hot mix is asphalt made and laid hot. It needs a plant, heat on site, and compaction before it cools. Cold lay is a bitumen and stone mix you place without that plant: you break it up, put it in the hole, and compact it. Buying it cold does not make it hot mix.
Deferred-set material is the third name folded into the word cold. HAUC's note on deferred-set mixtures to PD 6691 treats that class as interim, not as a permanent reinstatement. A certificated permanent cold-lay material can stand in defined road types, and that standing is a current Product Acceptance Scheme certificate, not a shopping title. Greenpatch's bullet names HAPAS and PD 6691 together. Those are different statuses. None of the five files shows a certificate number.
Road Note 44 classes regular cold-applied asphalt as a temporary repair. That is not a named verdict on EZ Street or Laeto. Refuse the line that cold lay is just as permanent once it sets, unless a current certificate is in front of you.
When the bag is the right side
A bag is the right side when you have one or two holes in sound private tarmac and you can compact them. The rim should stay firm when you lean on it. A dinner-plate hole in asphalt that is otherwise intact beside the garage is the scale these 20–25 kg packs are sold against. On 19 October 2026 those bags were tens of pounds, not a crew day, and not a quotation for a new drive.
A title that says permanent does not promote ordinary cold mix into a hot-laid course. If the rest of the bay is sound and the hole is on your own property, stay with cold lay. Use the cold asphalt buying guide to check the weight line, the weather sentence, and any standards bullet before you open a row.
When hot mix or a resurface is the right side
Hot mix, or a contractor resurface, is the right side when the course has failed rather than been punctured. Widespread cracking, a bay that has slumped, a soft base, or a drive you want as a new surface are not another bag. None of these five listings prints a coverage figure, so do not multiply a shelf price until it looks like a quote.
Street works are a separate exit. A retail bag is not a substitute because the word permanent appears in a title. A public pothole is a report under section 41 of the Highways Act 1980, not a choice between this basket and hot mix from a shop. On a private drive that has lost its shape, the crew brings the hot material and the compaction plant.
Where the cracks join up across the parking bay and the surface rocks under your foot, that is a failed course. A dinner-plate hole with firm edges nearby would still be a bag.
The recommendation
Use cold lay for a local hole in sound private asphalt, if you can compact it and you accept that ordinary cold mix is often the temporary class in Road Note 44. Use hot mix or a resurface when the course itself has failed, or when you are laying a new drive rather than filling a hole. Do not use either retail option on the public highway. Report that defect to the highway authority.
A certificated permanent cold lay remains a real class for defined street works, and it is not what these shopping files show. The condition is the hole in front of you, not the word permanent on the sack. The lifts, if you stay with a bag, are on how to lay cold asphalt.
Common questions
Is cold lay the same as hot tarmac once it sets?
No. Hot mix is made and compacted while it is hot, with plant you do not have in a car boot. Cold lay is placed cold and densified by tamping or a plate. Setting does not convert one into the other. Road Note 44 treats regular cold-applied asphalt as a temporary repair in highway practice, while a certificated permanent cold lay is a separate class.
When do I need hot mix?
You need hot mix, or a resurface by a contractor, when the asphalt course has failed or you want a new driveway surface. Widespread cracking, a slumped bay, and a soft base are the signs. Do not price that visit by multiplying the shelf price of a sack.
What is deferred-set material?
Deferred-set mixture to PD 6691 is an interim cold-lay class in the HAUC note. It is not the material that note allows for a permanent reinstatement. A retail bullet that mentions PD 6691 has not, by itself, joined the permanent class.
Does permanent on the bag mean the same as a hot-laid course?
No. Permanent on a shopping title is a claim. In street works, a permanent cold-lay reinstatement needs a current Product Acceptance Scheme certificate, and deferred-set mix is the interim route. Greenpatch names HAPAS and PD 6691 in one bullet, and those are different statuses, with no certificate number in the file.
Can I overlay a whole drive from bags?
Not as a fair reading of these listings. A whole drive is a new course, which is hot mix or a contractor resurface, not a stack of 25 kg bags. None of the five files prints a coverage figure, so you cannot count bags against the area without inventing a rate. A private road that took two bags in a review was still a local repair.
Related pages
Sources
Public UK sources on highway maintenance, street-works reinstatement and cold-mix classes. Prices and star lines are amazon.co.uk listing figures from 19 October 2026, not a live-price promise.
- Highways Act 1980, section 41 (retrieved 19 October 2026)
- Highways Act 1980, section 163 (retrieved 19 October 2026)
- Report a pothole, GOV.UK (retrieved 19 October 2026)
- Reinstatement after street works, GOV.UK (retrieved 19 October 2026)
- Permanent cold-lay materials, HAUC (retrieved 19 October 2026)
- Deferred set mixtures, HAUC (retrieved 19 October 2026)
- Road Note 44, Transport Scotland (retrieved 19 October 2026)
- EZ Street installation guide (retrieved 19 October 2026)
- amazon.co.uk listings, 19 October 2026 (retrieved 19 October 2026)