Anyone here experienced with Tarmac?

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I ask because although I am not an experienced builder, I have a situation on which I have an opinion but based on common sense rather than technical experience.

I can post more info (such as photos and more detail) but initially the circumstances are:

A Tarmac laying contractor (supposedly of good reputation and used by local councils etc) has suggested a price to 'repair' sections of the lane outside our house. We are not contributing to the cost - the farmer is paying for that.

However where our property accesses the lane is an access some 7 metres wide and 3 metres from the courtyard to the tarmac on the lane - shown in the image below.

Half the width of the access is laid to tarmac, but is very old and cracked.
The other half is simply soil with a bit of gravel over the top which has been compacted - but does get soft in rainy periods.

As well as a price to repair the lane, the contractor has suggested a separate price to the farmer to tarmac the access (between the 2 blue lines in the photo) - which we have to pay for.

When I queried the the work to be done the contractor said it was to lay about 4" of tarmac over the existing surface with a run off to ensure the water drained onto the lane when it rained.

My initial reaction was that it would be idiotic to pay a large sum of money (£650+) to have a tarmac carpet laid over the existing mixed 'base' as it would be lifting as soon as we had heavy rain or if a farm tractor encroached on it when passing the house.
The contractor assured me that I was wrong and that it would last some years without a problem.

What do you guys think??

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Tarmac wont 'flex', it needs a solid base. I suspect laying macadam over the 'soft' area will simply result it the whole lot breaking up when something heavy(ish) runs over it. It needs to be dug out and a prepared base of MOT laid and compacted if the surface is to have any chance of lasting.....

IIRC when we were doing vehicle crossovers for the Council, the spec was to dig out 270mm deep in existing pavements. Then lay 200mm of type 1, 50mm base course and 20mm wearing course tarmac. (This was for a car to cross the pavement into a driveway.)
 
Sounds cheap to me if he really is going to lay 4" and it is just going to be your family car without doing hand brake turns into your drive.
 
Sounds cheap to me if he really is going to lay 4"

Cheap?
Why, how much is the material cost of 2.5cum of Tarmac?
I guessed it would be about £200 (bearing in mind it is part of a load, the rest being used for other parts of the lane) - so £450 for a couple of hours work to lay/roll it seemed a lot to me - but I could be way out with material cost.
 
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Hmm!!

Now I tend to agree that is does sound cheap as I have now discovered that he told next door that he would also remove a certain amount of material at the top of the access slope - so that the 4" covering of tarmac would not stand proud of his current courtyard level.
He did say however that the sides would stand proud of ground level as he is not putting in any form of edging, and to me that sounds like a disaster as water, which flows down the lane past our houses, will trap there and seep into the ground under the Tarmac.

Anyway, I shall keep an eye on what they actually do as next door have agreed to having their gateway access done.

Apart from the cost, as I have strong doubts that a laid covering of Tarmac with no groundwork preparation is going to last very long I think shall proceed to do my own.
I'll dig out the area to 12" deep, edge both sides with kerbstone, lay 6" hardcore, then lay reinforcing mesh and 6" concrete for a total estimated price of approx £660 inc vat (with me supplying the labour).

Then we'll see whose lasts longest. ;)
 
100mm thick, heavy rollered 'mac (base and wearing course) is a pretty hefty lump of material and with carry substantial weight on its own.
 
He did say however that the sides would stand proud of ground level as he is not putting in any form of edging, and to me that sounds like a disaster as water, which flows down the lane past our houses, will trap there and seep into the ground under the Tarmac.

Lay a culvert under the road and pipe the water through.
 

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