Property owners often use "paving" broadly, but contractors typically separate the work into distinct scopes. Asphalt paving usually means installing new asphalt or replacing a larger pavement area, including base preparation, grading, and compaction. Asphalt repair means fixing damaged areas — potholes, sawcut patching, dig-outs, or localized full-depth patching — rather than replacing the whole surface.
An asphalt overlay places a new layer of asphalt over existing pavement, and can work well when the existing surface is stable enough to support it. An overlay is not a good fit when the underlying pavement has widespread base failure, drainage problems, severe alligator cracking, or major grade issues — full removal and replacement is usually necessary in those cases, even though it costs more upfront.