Asphalt Mix Types Chart for Homeowners and Small Contractors

Most asphalt on driveways, lots, and local streets is dense-graded hot mix, and for home and small commercial work it's almost always the right choice. The other types, like porous asphalt, SMA (stone matrix asphalt), and open-graded friction course, are specialty mixes for highways, drainage, or specific engineering goals. Cold patch and millings round out the list for repairs and budget surfaces.

What asphalt is made of → Buying from a plant →

Asphalt Mix Types Chart

Mix type	What it is	Typical use	Good for homeowners?
Dense-graded hot mix (fine)	Well-graded stone from coarse to fine, tightly packed	Surface courses on driveways, streets, lots	Yes, the standard top layer
Dense-graded hot mix (coarse)	Same idea, weighted toward bigger stone	Binder and base layers	Yes, as a lower layer
Stone matrix asphalt (SMA)	Gap-graded: big stone plus a rich binder mortar, little in between	Premium surface on heavy-traffic roads	Rarely
Open-graded friction course (OGFC)	Mostly uniform coarse stone with connected air voids	Thin top layer on high-speed roads to drain water	No
Porous asphalt	Open-graded mix built over a stone reservoir	Stormwater-friendly lots and paths	Sometimes, with design help
Asphalt-treated permeable base	Large stone, low binder, very open	Drainage layer under pavement	No
Warm mix	Hot mix produced at lower temperatures	Same uses as hot mix	Yes, if your plant offers it
Cold mix (cold patch)	Stockpiled mix that stays workable	Potholes and small repairs	Yes, for patches
Asphalt millings	Ground-up old pavement, not a designed mix	Budget driveways and paths	Yes, as a gravel alternative

Dense-Graded: The Everyday Mix

The Asphalt Paving Handbook, which the Airport Asphalt Pavement Technology Program (an FAA and National Asphalt Pavement Association, or NAPA, partnership) hosts on the web, sorts plant mixes into three gradation families: dense graded, open graded, and gap graded. It calls dense-graded mixes by far the most common type on roads and airfields. Pavement Interactive lists these mixes as suitable for all pavement layers and all traffic conditions.

Dense mixes are further named by stone size. A 9.5 or 12.5 mm mix is a typical surface. A 19 mm mix is a common binder. Larger sizes go into base layers. They can also be tagged fine or coarse depending on where the gradation falls. The handbook notes that some agencies build the binder grade right into the name. Its sample label pairs a 12.5 mm Superpave mix with PG 64-22 binder, so one short line tells you the stone size, how the mix was designed, and which binder it uses.

NAPA and the Federal Highway Administration jointly issued Information Series 128, a guide to choosing HMA mix types. It says its expert task group recommends only dense-graded mixes for the surface course when traffic is low. A home driveway sees far lighter traffic than a road, so the same advice holds.

Every one of these mixes is made to a tested recipe; see what a JMF is in asphalt.

Stone Matrix Asphalt (SMA)

SMA (sometimes called stone mastic asphalt) falls in the gap-graded family. Pavement Interactive says it was developed in Europe to maximize rut resistance and durability, has been used in the US since about 1990, and is almost always used as a surface course on high-volume interstates. The handbook credits its stone-on-stone structure for high rut resistance.

For a home driveway, it's overkill.

Open-Graded and Porous Mixes

These are designed to let water through. The handbook says open-graded friction courses typically use 12.5 or 9.5 mm stone and serve as a drainage layer at the surface to cut hydroplaning, tire spray, and noise. Pavement Interactive describes OGFC as typically around 1 inch thick and laid over a watertight dense-graded structure so water drains through and runs off the side.

Porous asphalt uses a similar open mix but lets water soak all the way down into a stone reservoir below. It can work for driveways and lots where stormwater is a concern, but it needs a proper design and different maintenance, including keeping fines and sealer off the surface.

Warm Mix

Warm mix is produced at lower temperatures with the help of additives or plant processes, and for the customer it behaves much like hot mix.

Cold Mix and Millings

• Cold patch is a stockpile product for filling potholes. It stays workable in the bag, which also means it stays softer than hot mix.
• Millings are recycled pavement ground up during road resurfacing. They pack down into a firm, dark surface but don't have a designed gradation or fresh binder. Our guide on asphalt millings covers them in depth.

If a quote lists two layers, binder course vs surface course explains what each one does.

What to Ask Your Contractor

When you get a quote, ask:

1. What mix is the surface course, and what's the stone size?
2. Is there a binder layer, and what mix is it?
3. What compacted thickness is each layer?
4. Which plant is supplying it?

The asphalt plant closest to you determines what's realistically available, and that matters more than chasing a specialty mix. Our guide on what asphalt is made of shows how stone and binder come together.

Pricing Notes

Rough planning numbers we use: about $90 to $130 per ton for dense hot mix and $15 to $35 for millings, before hauling. Local prices swing with region and season, so get quotes; our cost per ton calculator and millings calculator turn tons into dollars. Compare quotes on the same mix and thickness.

Bottom Line on Asphalt Mix Types

For most homeowners, an asphalt mix types chart boils down to one point: use dense-graded hot mix, with a fine surface layer and, if needed, a coarser binder under it. Cold patch is for repairs, and millings are a budget gravel alternative.