New resin-bound drive now showing 'waves'

JustLikeThat

In the summer we had a new resin-bound driveway laid and we were very pleased with it. It was done by hand and a poor tarmac 'topcoat' (put on top of much earlier tarmac) underneath was only partially removed where it was loose.
Now as you look along the drive you can see undulations or small 'waves' as I call them. They are not big enough to cause problems but offend the eye. They may get worse of course.
I don't know what simple remedy there can be, but what can I expect if I contact the company that did the work?

macman

What warranty did they offer? If the base is not sound then the only remedy is to do the job again.

Furts

Without seeing photos it is not possible to hazard an accurate answer. General principles are drives will be laid by hand so your original drive will not have received a perfect, flat, uniform finish. Similarly any nominal topcoat such as your resin will follow this shape. The resin itself when laid by hand will also be variable. The bottom line is that you cannot expect a perfect finish.

If you saying the drive is no different now to when it was laid then you cannot complain. This is because you have parted with your money and by definition accepted the job as satisfactory.

If you are saying the "waves" are new features then a different view can be adopted. Tarmac drives are flexible and move with the ground, with heat and contract. Here it depends if the waves are acceptable.

However a good drive will be solid and not move much, so the question is then what can be expected of a resin finish? The answer is not much. If a drive is worn out and with a defective surface, or suspect construction, one should not be applying a resin finish.

Think of a resin finish like you think of a coat of paint on a wall. They both provide a quick low cost finish, but neither serve any structural purpose. With both if the underlying structure has not been well prepared then a satisfactory finish cannot be achieved. Also, with both, if the underlying structure is old and crumbling then it is not possible to rectify this with a superficial topcoat.

JustLikeThat

Thanks. The drive was smooth when first done and has 'changed' in the last month - at least that's when my wife pointed it out! The only problem at first was the visible line where the job was finished one night and restarted next morning.
Personally I can live with it as long as things don't get much worse. The company seems reputable and have been in business over 20 years. However all our transactions were via e-mail and I have no paperwork and specific guarantee.