Restore small tarmac area?

he end near the road that is looking rather tired, although there are no ac tual holes. It's too small, I think, to expect a professional to take the job on, so I was wondering if anyone can recommend something to sort of pou r on it and spread it out. I've found a few likely products on the web, bu t I want to get it right first time, and I'd like to know if anyone here ha s actually used a product they'd recommend.

What do you mean by tired? There are black paint 'tarmac restorers,' but I don't think the results are that good. Very shiny black surface that wears off patchily.

NT

the end near the road that is looking rather tired, although there are no actual holes. It's too small, I think, to expect a professional to take th e job on, so I was wondering if anyone can recommend something to sort of p our on it and spread it out. I've found a few likely products on the web, but I want to get it right first time, and I'd like to know if anyone here has actually used a product they'd recommend.

re that good. Very shiny black surface that wears off patchily.

It seems to be going pale and 'drying up', and the gravel is starting to be worn away, especially at the edges.

And thanks for the link to Paving Expert Mr. Huge. But for some reason, I am unable to reply to your post in the groups.google web UI. My ISP has ju st shut down their NNTP server at the end of the year, so I'm hoping to fin d another free postable one. In the meantime, I'm reading using SeaMonkey, and posting into google groups on the web.

In message , Dan S. MacAbre writes

How big is 'small'?

and when you say tired, what does that actually mean, loose surface, patches missing from top layer etc.?

A piccie might be useful

It's the last yard or so at the end of the drive. The council want us to leave it, since as it's ours on the deeds, they want to be able to get under it. It's about three yards wide by 1 yard long. Or, 3 x 1 metres if you prefer :-)

Yes, dried up and loose surface, worse at the edges. Not too bad yet, and no holes, but I want to stop it getting worse.

Okay, I'll see if I can get enough daylight.

Some you can try:

For fixing holes etc you can get bags of tarmac from the sheds. These will do small areas and are solvent based, so don't need to be applied hot - just spread out as required, and then consolidate it down. The solvents boil off and let it "set".

Thanks, eternal-september seems to be the first suitable thing I found, so I'll try that.

Thanks, I'll have a read.

Okay, I'll see what I can find. Thanks.

Just in my limited experience - I found that stuff very difficult to work with when it's colder. Didn't seem to go off either.

There are some on Amazon, which means I can read some reviews. I'd imagine they all work best when it's warm.

Although reading your other posts, they may be less well suited to re-coating the whole area - they are more intended for patching.

I'll add that a bag of that stuff covers a VERY small area and yes, it is better used in warmer weather.

In message , RJH writes

Here, I just put the bags in the car (for about an hour?) with the heater turned full up, and it was much easier to handle.

It went off OK, but I didn't measure how cold the cold outside was.

Aye, I've found that everything, when spread out, covers nothing like the area I thought it would.

Many years ago, a friend used a few bags of this type of product. Before laying, he tipped it out onto a large steel sheet. Under the sheet, a powerful gas burner. The water content largely boiled off, and it seemed to lay rather like standard hot tarmac - which, by then, it was, nearly enough.

Yes -- that's what I would suggest, though I'm no expert. /Proceeds to mouth off ..../

I have bought 2 or 3 bags of this stuff over the years and use it for patching our concrete drive (which is slowly spalling and corroding away in minor potholes).

It looks awful (patches of tarmac in a concrete drive) but it works, and it *stays*. I only do it when the weather is warm (easier to handle); I usually line the depression with bitumen (a tin bought for shed roofing purposes); I spread the tarmac into place using a trowel, then thump it all over with my lump hammer, and make sure it's approximately even; I place a good thick board over the patch and once I've driven over it a couple of times it's done: flattened, and the top surface de-stickied.

I also used this technique about 3 years ago on a pothole that was appearing in the middle of our street (the Council would have ignored it until it got much, *much* worse before they would have fixed it). My patch stayed solid and true whilst all around the road surface decayed under the weight of the traffic going by: I was amazed at the toughness and longevity of the stuff.

For your 3x1 meter area I'd get three bags and hire a mechanical thumper to smooth it all out. And I'd wait until one of those hot Spring days that we're expecting.

Or I'd find a bloke who knows what he's doing, but that's not as much fun.

John

Not entirely true. I know that the main sewer for the road goes under my drive. The council have the right to ensure that it is accessible. It may be the same in the OPs case.