Tarmac driveway - some advice please

Winfield

Hi,

My wife and I decided to have our old concrete driveway changed to a new tarmac one. We got quotes in January, the job eventually started in June and the work's still ongoing...

The company we've employed for the job were recommended by someone my father (who's a retired plumber) knows through the building trade. There have been numerous delays in getting the job finished because of other problems discovered during the old driveway's excavation (drain related), but now that that's been rectified, the tarmac company doesn't want to tarmac over roughly one third of the driveway due to "mares tail" weed being discovered.

We've been reading up on this weed since we were told that this would (apparently) scupper our original plans, and it sounds like it's a nightmare to treat / eradicate. It's not in abundance, but there are odd bits of it here and there.

The driveway company has been trying to put us off the idea of laying tarmac over the entire driveway (as planned), and has given us limited options on how to complete the job - none of which we're happy about (as it stands, their best option is to chip the drive, monoblock the front path and leave us without a solid blocked path (ie, walking directly onto chips) to the side of the property).

We were originally quoted £3000 for the tarmac finish, but the alternative method as mentioned above would cost around the same - the idea of paying the same for something we don't really want is just adding insult to injury. Add to that the number of times our job has been put off by the company (unrelated to the drains) and lack of communication from them...you get the picture...

Their original paper quote said they'd lay hardcore over the excavated ground, and then lay an 80mm covering of tarmac over the compacted hardcore. Should just over 3 inches' worth of tarmac be sufficient to keep the "mares tail" at bay (ie, prevent it from growing up and puncturing the tarmac layer from below), or is the company just trying to get this job done on the cheap?

Thanks in advance for your advice / replies!

Hoof_Hearted

What about putting a permeable sheet under the hard-core?

Winfield

Thanks for your replies!

Calpol4life - that's a fair point, and the company are telling us about potential problems. It's just that they didn't give us any other options until 48 hours ago, despite leading us into a false sense of security that the job would be completed the way we originally wanted. Now, according to them, it's a race against time to pick an alternative while living with a driveway which has resembled a building site for over a month. As you say though, it's a gamble if we still choose tarmac...then again, other finishes are a gamble too. Any suggestions by my wife and I have essentially been poo-poo'd (we suggested slabs, but was told, and I quote, would look a bit !!!!!). We were even wondering if they'd mistakenly under-priced the job in the first place, and are now looking at ways to cut costs (ie, going with chips instead, etc) to ensure they're not out of pocket by the time the job's finished.

Hoof Hearted - I think that was their original plan, yes - they left a pile of hardcore at the front of our driveway with a white felt-like material lying underneath it.

knight_rider

Mares tail will come up through tarmac even with a membrane underneath. it is awful stuff to get rid of.

jk0

How about if you lay concrete below the new tarmac? (Why did you remove it? You'd have been better off tarmaccing over the old concrete, wouldn't you?)

Winfield

In theory, yes - but tarring over the old concrete wasn't really an option - it was breaking up all over the place, and had some major cracks.

traineepensioner

Winfield wrote: »

Thanks for your replies!

Calpol4life - that's a fair point, and the company are telling us about potential problems. It's just that they didn't give us any other options until 48 hours ago, despite leading us into a false sense of security that the job would be completed the way we originally wanted. Now, according to them, it's a race against time to pick an alternative while living with a driveway which has resembled a building site for over a month. As you say though, it's a gamble if we still choose tarmac...then again, other finishes are a gamble too. Any suggestions by my wife and I have essentially been poo-poo'd (we suggested slabs, but was told, and I quote, would look a bit !!!!!). We were even wondering if they'd mistakenly under-priced the job in the first place, and are now looking at ways to cut costs (ie, going with chips instead, etc) to ensure they're not out of pocket by the time the job's finished.

Hoof Hearted - I think that was their original plan, yes - they left a pile of hardcore at the front of our driveway with a white felt-like material lying underneath it.

If I understand this right your 2 options are (1) Compacted hardcore with 80 mm tarmac top layer or (2) Compacted hardcore with gravel top layer.
Both options would allow the "mares tail" through but the gravel would be easier to replace each time you removed the weed. If you accept that the weed will eventually break through then the gravel is the easiest option to maintain.

Take a look at McCormack's website at http://www.pavingexpert.com/pavindex.htm

If you look through the index he has loads of information about driveways, paving, tarmac, repairing tarmac etc. eg http://www.pavingexpert.com/blocks03.htm and http://www.pavingexpert.com/concrete.htm

This should give you a few more options to suggest to your contractors.

Good luck.

p.s. Please let us know how you get on.

Davesnave

Ultimately, you should get rid of the Mare's tail, which might be difficult if your neighbours have it, ready to encroach again. It's a specialist job and it would take a long time.

It's easiest treated in gravel, as in the above post, but random treatments aren't eradication. Treatment is usually just living with it; not a problem for those who aren't gardeners of any serious intent.


Frankly, I'd not even look at buying a house with that stuff if it was endemic to the area. It's the Japanese knotweed the Daily Wail hasn't discovered yet!

-taff

The only thing I have found to prevent it growing in m garden is a light proof weed control membrane, the black woven stuff with the green thread running through it. Its grown through everything else. When I lay paths in the garden in the future, I'll be putting that down under the base layer first. More expensive, but worth it.

Doozergirl

Winfield wrote: »

In theory, yes - but tarring over the old concrete wasn't really an option - it was breaking up all over the place, and had some major cracks.

Which is why that suggestion was a bad one. That's exactly what concrete does when laid over a surface in thin layers. The ground moves and the concrete has no flexibility - unlike tarmac!

In the same situation I'd choose something that could be re-laid if necessary. Either a gravel driveway with Bodpave to keep it smart and contained, or block paving which can be relaid over and over again - but I'd still think hard about that.

I wouldn't choose tarmac anyway, though. Not environmentally friendly at all. It will eventually deteriorate and have to be completely replaced, even without the help of mares tail.

I don't think these people are messing you about. They're trying to help. It might not be what you want to hear, but that doesn't make their intentions bad. I've just replied to an email from a potential client on a different issue involving our structural engineer, but one where they can't have what they want, at least not at the price they want it at! Nobody wants to disappoint people but there's no point doing something if it's going to be ruined.

I've seen what a neighbour's overgrown garden can do to a drive if the residents aren't all over it.

Think of it as an opportunity to make your landscaping more interesting