laying a driveway cheaply

mikelata

Hi all,

The tarmac based driveway of my house is in a very poor state. It is old, messy and bumpy.

I was wondering, what is the cheapest option to lay a driveway? I am just looking for something that looks clean

thank

tipptom

mikelata wrote: »

Hi all,

The tarmac based driveway of my house is in a very poor state. It is old, messy and bumpy.

I was wondering, what is the cheapest option to lay a driveway? I am just looking for something that looks clean

thank

Hire in a machine,just pull the layer of tarmac of,presuming there is a decent base under it,if so,then roll it and put a blinding of small drainage stone/pea shingle over it,finito,cheap job.

ShiverinEskimo

I put pea gravel down. Cheap alright but a pain in the ass at times as it gets stuck in the grooves of your shoes and gets into your car and house easily. Grand for tiles, lethal for wooden floors.

tipptom

ShiverinEskimo wrote: »

I put pea gravel down. Cheap alright but a pain in the ass at times as it gets stuck in the grooves of your shoes and gets into your car and house easily. Grand for tiles, lethal for wooden floors.

Cant say we had that problem as the stone doesn't get stuck,the shingle I get might be slightly bigger than yours.
Apparently millwaste is supposed to be a right pain bringing it in on your shoes both in Summer and Winter for floors and carpets.

ShiverinEskimo

Don't have many problems on that front. Seems quite clean and in fairness it's getting better the more I drive in and out - car is compacting it down. But around the steps for the backdoor and that it's still quite loose and so gets wedged.

Not a deal-breaker by any means. It's nice and noisy too so we can tell when someone drives in which is handy. Looks grand too. We have a dry-stone wall to the front so it all blends nicely.

tipptom

ShiverinEskimo wrote: »

Don't have many problems on that front. Seems quite clean and in fairness it's getting better the more I drive in and out - car is compacting it down. But around the steps for the backdoor and that it's still quite loose and so gets wedged.

Not a deal-breaker by any means. It's nice and noisy too so we can tell when someone drives in which is handy. Looks grand too. We have a dry-stone wall to the front so it all blends nicely.

Yea,i think its a great cheap job and looks good and compared to the colourered stone(90-110 a ton),it can be got for €10 a ton.


Thought I would have an issue with traction as I have a steep hill but no probs and way better on icy mornings than tar-mac.

rebellad

tipptom wrote: »

Yea,i think its a great cheap job and looks good and compared to the colourered stone(90-110 a ton),it can be got for €10 a ton.


Thought I would have an issue with traction as I have a steep hill but no probs and way better on icy mornings than tar-mac.

Tipptom do you have any issue with the stone moving when it rains due to it being on a steep hill. I am looking at doing something similar on my driveway but there is an incline on it so I would be worried that it will all just end up in a big pile when it rains.

tipptom

rebellad wrote: »

Tipptom do you have any issue with the stone moving when it rains due to it being on a steep hill. I am looking at doing something similar on my driveway but there is an incline on it so I would be worried that it will all just end up in a big pile when it rains.

No,and I live on a hill and take all the water from on top but if you have it coming down like a river like I had one time it can be a problem,but with ordinary rain its fine.


I only put enough just to cover the well compacted 804 and its surprisingly stable,give it a rake now and again and it looks great.

mikelata

Thanks a lot for your replies

That sounds like a very good solution.

I am not very DIY gifted :-) , how much money do you think it would cost to get someone to pull the layer of tarmac ? We are talking about 20 sq m

Where do you buy the shingles?

Thanks

tipptom

mikelata wrote: »

Thanks a lot for your replies

That sounds like a very good solution.

I am not very DIY gifted :-) , how much money do you think it would cost to get someone to pull the layer of tarmac ? We are talking about 20 sq m

Where do you buy the shingles?

Thanks

You need to hire in a machine with a driver who brings out his machine in a lorry that can take away the tar mac as well.
Probably best to get an all in price of somebody like that for pulling up tar mac,remove of site and compact area.(top of my head €450-600).
Get a price for a couple of ton of drainage stone delivered and spread it yourself by shovel and rake.

Peter Tormey

Does anyone know how much is costs to get Tarmac done? Is it priced by sq meter?

macadam

Peter Tormey wrote: »

Does anyone know how much is costs to get Tarmac done? Is it priced by sq meter?

Per M2 is the norm, what are have you got what is the current condition of the driveway and where in this fair land are you based.

mikelata

Hi all

Unfortunately, the single layer idea has a low WAF (Wife Acceptance Factor) .

I was recommended to seal the Tarmac ... like TarmaSeal... any experience with that stuff?

Thanks

tipptom

McAdam is your man I would say for this but I suspect if its the stuff I am thinking about,it is really only for a cosmetic look,if there is any structural damage to the tarmac it would not be much good.


20m2 is not a big area and if there was a reputable tar mac crowd working in the area they might give you a decent price on the job.

macadam

mikelata wrote: »

Hi all

Unfortunately, the single layer idea has a low WAF (Wife Acceptance Factor) .

I was recommended to seal the Tarmac ... like TarmaSeal... any experience with that stuff?

Thanks

Single layer 50mm should suffice so long as the sub base is strong enough, if however the sub base is not sufficient, it will need replacing or strengthening with a base course, the 50mm will be the finished compacted depth, with a base course of 60mm the finish surface can 40mm.
As for sealing it is not required to seal 10mm SMA finish surface, but you can always renew the surface when it weathers or is damaged by other factors, what I would recommend is Liquafix S, do not use anything else you will just be wasting money..

mikelata

macadam wrote: »

Single layer 50mm should suffice so long as the sub base is strong enough, if however the sub base is not sufficient, it will need replacing or strengthening with a base course, the 50mm will be the finished compacted depth, with a base course of 60mm the finish surface can 40mm.
As for sealing it is not required to seal 10mm SMA finish surface, but you can always renew the surface when it weathers or is damaged by other factors, what I would recommend is Liquafix S, do not use anything else you will just be wasting money..

Thanks for the advice. When i saw that tarmac sealing product http://www.tarmaseal.co.uk/ ,i thought that it was too nice to be true, but i guess it is just cosmetics ast @tipptom mentioned.

SO, i guess that i would need a proper Tarmac layer. I will keep an eye if there is someone already working in the vicinity

Thanks

macadam

mikelata wrote: »

Thanks for the advice. When i saw that tarmac sealing product http://www.tarmaseal.co.uk/ ,i thought that it was too nice to be true, but i guess it is just cosmetics ast @tipptom mentioned.

SO, i guess that i would need a proper Tarmac layer. I will keep an eye if there is someone already working in the vicinity

Thanks

Where you from, I may know someone in your area but wait till the ground temp rises a bit.

mikelata

macadam wrote: »

Where you from, I may know someone in your area but wait till the ground temp rises a bit.

I am in Dublin 12 area. Thanks!

macadam

Ill pm you a few reputable contractors numbers, the drive is small so not all may be interested..