Problem with Tarmac

Tiecon

We recently got Sma tarmac after 1 week brown patches came through. We were told it was due to rain and would resolve. Now few weeks on our whole drive looks brown like a dirt/rust look. Called contractor (reputable contractor) back and has promised it will resolve in a few months when weather improves. Are we being fobbed off? Anyone have this happen? Where can we take it from here

BryanF

Hi welcome to boards. One post is enough, the others asking the same thing, have been deleted.

Skipduke

Tiecon wrote: »

We recently got Sma tarmac after 1 week brown patches came through. We were told it was due to rain and would resolve. Now few weeks on our whole drive looks brown like a dirt/rust look. Called contractor (reputable contractor) back and has promised it will resolve in a few months when weather improves. Are we being fobbed off? Anyone have this happen? Where can we take it from here

do you have any pictures? suppose if he's reputable you should take his word for it.. never heard that happening though.

how much did you pay m/2?

TheBody

I have no personal experience of this but on searching Google, it seems that it will wash away with time.


See here for example: https://www.ttssurfacing.co.uk/care-and-maintenance-of-newly-laid-asphalt-surfaces/

Staining of newly laid asphalt surfaces
Once your new asphalt / tarmac surfacing is laid there may appear to be staining and or brown marks in areas once the rolling process has been completed. This staining is caused by the water used to prevent the roller from sticking to the new surface and will generally disappear after just a few days and does not effect the performance of the surface.

Tiecon

Skipduke wrote: »

do you have any pictures? suppose if he's reputable you should take his word for it.. never heard that happening though.

how much did you pay m/2?

Over 10,000. Unfortunately can't get photos to upload 😕

Tiecon

Ya we read that also and presumed it would improve but actually getting worse

Tiecon

BryanF wrote: »

Hi welcome to boards. One post is enough, the others asking the same thing, have been deleted.

Ok

Tiecon

Does time of year play a part in it?..

odonovmark

Hi,

is there any update on this, did your drive get any better?

I am having similar problems, had tarmac laid 4th Jan 2021.

A week later its going all brown and what looks like roller marks. it looks much better when its wet but once it dries it looks terrible.

I'm tryin to upload photos but cant.

10-10-20

Have a read of this to see if it's the same issue:
https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin//showthread.php?t=2057559744

Input from user macadam appears to explain it.

Tiecon

This is ours 6 months on. Looks black when wet and attached picture shows the colour when dry. Any recommendations greatly appreciated

Melzea

actually metallic metals called Pyrites (Iron). They are sometimes found in the stone or aggregate used to make the asphalt. Asphalt allows water to penetrate through it. The moisture accumulating on your parking lot goes into the pavement. If your pavement has pyrites in it, it becomes wet, the pyrites (iron) then begin to rust. The rust stain eventually comes to the surface causing the ugly brown spots or streaks in the asphalt.In the early stages these rust spots are just cosmetically undesirable. Eventually the rusting aggregate begins to swell causing a small bump in the pavement. You would not even notice the bump unless you rubbed your hand over it. These small bumps will eventually erupt or pop, creating a small hole in your asphalt. They are typically the size of a small marble or less.

These eruptions allow an easier access for salt and water to penetrate into the asphalt surface. This causes more damage to the pavement. Sealcoating the pavement will help slow down the increased number of rusting pyrites by preventing some of the water from entering the pavement. Eventually the old rust spots will reappear along with the new ones. There are specialty sealers such as “rust arrest” that claim to hide and significantly retard the continued rusting of the pyrites in the pavement.

Tiecon

Melzea are you saying this may never go away? As we were told it will go in 6months once weather improves and only seems to happen in November due to some kind of "virus" that can get into tar. So we were told.




quote="Melzea;116643951"]actually metallic metals called Pyrites (Iron). They are sometimes found in the stone or aggregate used to make the asphalt. Asphalt allows water to penetrate through it. The moisture accumulating on your parking lot goes into the pavement. If your pavement has pyrites in it, it becomes wet, the pyrites (iron) then begin to rust. The rust stain eventually comes to the surface causing the ugly brown spots or streaks in the asphalt.In the early stages these rust spots are just cosmetically undesirable. Eventually the rusting aggregate begins to swell causing a small bump in the pavement. You would not even notice the bump unless you rubbed your hand over it. These small bumps will eventually erupt or pop, creating a small hole in your asphalt. They are typically the size of a small marble or less.

These eruptions allow an easier access for salt and water to penetrate into the asphalt surface. This causes more damage to the pavement. Sealcoating the pavement will help slow down the increased number of rusting pyrites by preventing some of the water from entering the pavement. Eventually the old rust spots will reappear along with the new ones. There are specialty sealers such as “rust arrest” that claim to hide and significantly retard the continued rusting of the pyrites in the pavement.[/quote]