Tarmacadam question

martyc · 13 Mar 2008

Hi have a small space to the fron of my house i want to tarmacadam...its about 600square foot and will be for parking cars on.
Can someone tell me what the preparation needs to be?..eg depth and type of hardcore/stone and the depth i should leave for the tar.
I intend doing the preparation work myself but iill get someone in to do the actual tarring.
Cheers,
MArty

Hugh Jaleak · 13 Mar 2008

Have a butcher's at www.pavingexpert.com. Wealth of info on there that should help you.

martyc · 13 Mar 2008

Cheers for that...good site!
It says you need @ least 100mm hardcore for a driveway...
I rang a reputable company today and asked them how much i should dig out and they said 3 inches would be fin...they would lay 1 inch hardcore and 2 inches tarmac, I said it sounded like very little and he said they would put in another inch tarmac if it was a carpark etc.
Anyoine with experience doing this know whats what??
Cheers,
Marty.

diyisfree · 14 Mar 2008

The purpose of the subbase is that it is this layer that takes and distributes the weight of the traffic.

1" of mot 1 is NOT enough. Your drive will develope ruts usually where your cars will be hitting the same area ever time you use it ( enterance to drive) This will look ****e within the first year.

Tell your contractor you want at least 4" of mot1 (hardcore) To be honest, I don't know who, and i don't want to know who they are, but I think if I were you, I would get a second quote and ask what they intend to do.

Ask the question on Tonys forum (paving expert) Lot of the guys on there are contractors for the big companies and if they dont know, no one does.

Hugh Jaleak · 14 Mar 2008

I am racking my brains for the specs when I used to build vehicle crossover's for the council. Obviously doing these, you are rebuilding a pavement area to take the weight of vehicular traffic.

The spec was to excavate 270mm deep in the pavement, I think it was then MOT to a depth of 170mm when compacted, 80mm depth base course macadam and 20mm depth of wearing course macadam.

marshman · 14 Mar 2008

the speck we work to on drives is 200mm of 50mm to dust hardcore and the tarmac company want 80mm,
50mm binder coat, 30mm wear coat.

martyc · 14 Mar 2008

Cheers guys rang another crowd who said to dig out 12", the y put in about 8" MOT(whats MOT??) and then 2" bind and 2" wear coat.
Thanks
Marty

Hugh Jaleak · 15 Mar 2008

MOT Type 1. Think its an abbreviation for Ministry of Transport Type 1 approved fill. Basically crushed granite. Grey/pink in colour, and compacts solidly to provide a firm foundation for surfacing, and reintatement of excavations in the highway.

The guys who want to put 8" down seem more on the ball. Be advised to check they are putting that depth in and not half (or less) of what you are paying for....

Shytalkz · 15 Mar 2008

Close: it's actually called DoT Type 1; there's also Type 2. Type 1 is recycled crushed concrete; Type 2 has more brick content and doesn't meet frost specifications for Type 1. Both can be used for roads/paved areas, depending on specification. Size for both is graded 75mm down to fines.

Type 2 50mm graded should be more than adequate for what you want to do.

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Tarmacadam question

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