Weeds on tarmac

[Eddy Young]

Hi,

A recent arrival to this country (5 years) and a first-time homeowner, I let myself be scammed by the tarmac cowboys (as later told by neighbours!) Now, one month after having it laid down, I can see weeds are starting to grow through.

Should I have it re-tarmac'ed? Or, will I be better off trying to control the weeds? There are no stems yet, but I suspect these won't take too long.

The driveway is about 25 sq. metres. If I have it redone, how much should I expect to be quoted?

Incidentally, the weeds don't p*** me off as much as the realisation of having been had :-(

Eddy

[EricP]

If weeds are coming through this early, the stuff must be total rubbish. You will therefore be spending the rest of your life waiting for the inevitable weed to break through.

Take it as a lesson learnt and replace it with a reputable company.

[Eddy Young]

I doubt I will be in this house for the rest of my life, but yeah, I get the point ;-)

I'm trying to convince myself that for the price (ie £400), at least the driveway looks better than before when it turned muddy whenever it rained and weeds grew all over the place, except that judging from the state of things, it may not be too long before things get as bad.

My SO is convinced that with regular weedkiller spraying, we will have the upper hand, but I seriously doubt that.

Eddy

[Lurch]

On 13 Apr 2007 06:06:15 -0700, Eddy Young mused:

If the weeds are coming through after a Month then I'm surprised you haven't fallen through it. Think really you're going to have to bite the bullet and get the lot lifted and relaid. If you start playing with controlling the weeds now the next thing will be the drive will be full of holes and it will sink when the rain starts again as the ground softens (if it lasts that long).

[EricP]

Sounds like it's only about a couple of inches thick at most. A dandelion will make short work of that in the warmer weather.

[Eddy Young]

Sounds like replacing the whole thing is the only solution. What would be a fair quote for 25 sq. metres of [tarmac] driveway in North Hampshire? Anyone can recommend a reliable company?

Cheers,

Eddy

[adder1969]

That's more than my local council puts down when it does roads and pavements.

[Ian_m]

Watched a neighbour having his drive tarmacced, basically front of house and drive down side not too sure of size but was £2500 (I think).

Three men dug down about 6-8inches or more, filling a skip to overloading with excess soil 1st day. Timber posts (?) to verify all the levels adding a strip drain as drive is on a light slope.

2nd day about 4 inches of scalpings (?), 2 men spent the day spreading and flattening, lowering and edging with edging stobes the tiny bit of garden left at front. 3rd day spreading tarmac, possibly two layers, leveling, cleaning up etc. Didn't see the thicknes but probably 2inches or more.

An inordinate amount of tea (and biscuits) was consumed by the workers, which clearly matched the amount of work done.

That was 8 years ago and looks fine, no sign of weeds or sink marks where cars have passed over.

See

[Bob Minchin]

See here

list of contractors that Hampshire council use.

I thoroughly recommend Bill Bromley (now run by son Richard). they are based in southern hampshire and I don't know how far north they stray. We've used then through work and I drive daily over their work years after it was done with no problems at all. Mention Roke Manor which is where I work, if you talk to Richard.

Good Luck

Bob

[nightjar]

They will usually only be replacing the wearing layer. There will be a sub-base, several inches thick, below that, which is almost certainly missing on the drive in question.

Colin Bignell

[Andy Hall]

properly drained and properly compacted sub-base. I had part of the drive replaced shortly before Christmas - an area of about 120m^2. It had been tarmac and turned out to have been about 75mm on a concrete base. The whole lot was ripped out using a mechanical digger followed by some excavation. This was backfilled with

150-200mm of MOT type 1 or whatever the current name is for it now and thoroughly compacted. I went for handmade bricks laid on a bed of sand (didn't want tarmac again and don't like concrete blocks). These were again laid and compacted. End result very pleasing. Took over two weeks.

I have seen some people nearby having Paddy O'Tarmac jobs which have consisted of the tarmac layer being removed and new stuff laid on the concrete below. After a few months potholes and weeds, so goodness knows what they did.

[Eddy Young]

Thanks, Bob. Will talk to SO (otherwise known as The Boss) and get in touch with the Bromleys.

Eddy

[Eddy Young]

This is exactly what was done to my driveway. The crumbling top layer tarmac was removed, weeds cleared (but no weedkiller sprayed, pumped in, or whatever), and new tarmac spread, rolled on and compacted. The cowboys assured me the existing sub-base would hold, but failed to add that weeds would keep growing through.

Eddy *still feels stupid*

[Owain]

Small consolation, but at least you didn't let them anywhere near your roof ... did you?

Owain

[Eddy Young]

Luckily, no. For anything that has to do with the house itself, I'm going with Anglian (or likes) unless the collective wisdom here recommends otherwise.

Eddy

[Huge]

Oh, dear.

:o)

[Owain]

Bwahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!

Bwahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!

Mary, did you read this? Your drawers will never dry!

I think I'd stick with Paddy O'Tarmac if I were you. At least he's probably cheap, and doesn't have a sales rep clogging up your lounge all evening.

Owain

[Eddy Young]

Hey, they've got glossy brochures and an 0800 number! But, seriously, are they that bad?

I have not had any dealing with them other than their brochures coming through my letterbox. But, just for fun, I called them today and tried to get them to give me an indicative per-sq. metre for like ten minutes. Which they could not do of course, trying to force a salesman down my throat. I hung up after telling them that I did not wish to ever be contacted in the future.

Eddy *Oh, my... Now, I've made a complete fool of myself.*

[Huge]

Yes.

Most of the big name DG firms are the same. Pressure selling, "drop" discounts (sign now and get another 10%), grotesque over-pricing, useless installers and a very average product.

Buy your DG from a small, local, privately owned firm recommended by your neighbours.

[Owain]

If they were any good, they wouldn't need glossy brochures and an 0800 number would they?

And you're going to be paying for those gbs and 0800n.

No, that was the correct thing to do.

Owain