driveway surface

ifconfig

I'm looking for some advice regarding driveway surfacing.

I'd say our preference would be tarmacadam for the driveway surface
and concrete kerbing separating it from the lawn (probably the most
common option).

The chap who is helping us with garden landscaping and site levelling
has put some fine ground stone on his own driveway. It's quite fine
stone and he says the cost is not much more than the usual cut
stone (803?) which he has put in some sections of the ground
which will eventually become the driveway.

He suggests that tarmacadam should go in very much towards the end
after he has shifted soil for levelling so that the tarmacadam surface
doesn't get dirty from all of the soil movement,etc which will go on
as he completes the site levelling job.

My question is .. 1. What roughly would I be paying for tarmacadam
surfacing per sq metre ?
2. My landscaper says that he can steamroll this dusty/broken stone
(it has a dark tone to it) and that down the road (excuse pun) we
could tar over it with more expensive tarmacadam. I am wondering
if we might be better off just waiting and putting tarmacadam on from
the beginning and sparing ourselves expense of another layer of
stone and labour to go on before the tar is laid.

Anyone got comments/help on this ?
Mayo is the location
-ifc

squire1

First of all he is right about leaving the tarmac until last. Heavy machinery and soil movement would not be good for a tarmac driveway.

I’m not sure what it is that he is proposing to put down on your drive but it sounds like it could be crushed stone or quarry run.

In order to have a decent tarmac driveway the tarmac will have to be put down on at least 100mm of suitable sub base. If not it will sink and crack. If he puts down this sub base now and it is kept relatively clean, it can be re-graded and rolled before the tarmac is put down.

The tarmac finish will be about 75mm thick so make sure he allows for this when he is putting in the kerbs.

The best thing you could do at the moment is to contact a tarmac company and have them come out and speak to your landscaper to make sure he is doing everything correctly to save you having to change it later.

As for the cost of laying tarmac, I think I’ve seen figures of around €17-€20 per meter on this forum before but best to contact a contractor and get them to both advise and quote you now.

hobie

definitely the last job you want to do ....... heavy equipment involved in other parts of your project will destroy a tarmacadam surface ....

I had to tidy up a crushed stone drive recently ..... purchased approx 3 tons of 14mm clean limestone chips .... cost was 45.00 yo yo's (using a guy with a small truck) .... looks great and will do untill a final decision on surface is made (if ever!!!!) ....

stapeler

We've had 804 down for years and finally when all building etc. was completed we decided on tarmac. I phoned various places and quoted from €3000 to €8500. We settled on a chap who quoted €3500 for area approx 350m. His cousins arrived and levelled the area, put down a load of 804 and a layer of 75mm tarmac. Very professional job and finished on a day. Very happy with their work and they did a lot more that I had expected for the price. The end result looks great and the only negative is cleaning clay, leaves, dirty tyre marks off it in the dry weather...

Stapeler

watchingandwait

Does anyone have any experience of using tar and chip on the driveway as opposed to tarmac? Does it hold up over time?