The short answer: cold mix for rapid repairs you need right now, hot mix for permanent repairs you can wait for dry weather to schedule. Most Auckland sites benefit from using both — cold-mix now to solve the immediate problem, hot-mix in summer for the spots that matter long-term. Cold-mix asphalt is a polymer-modified bitumen-and-aggregate blend that can be applied at ambient temperature. Hot-mix asphalt is conventional paving material: aggregate combined with bitumen at a plant, loaded onto a truck at 150–160°C, delivered to site, placed while still hot, and compacted by a roller.
