Looking to widen our tarmac drive at the front of the house. Despite the fact we’ve had four quotes and now told two of them to go ahead we’re getting sick of waiting weeks for non replies.

So i’m going to dig it out myself and lay the foundations, edge it off and then when we find someone to put the tarmac in they can’t fudge it with 10mm of top layer. I know someone who can do top layer as a foreigner so it looks like best way to get the job done.

it’s extending the width of the double drive wach side by 1.5m, not as much for to bear the weight of the cars but more so passengers can get out without standing on the grass.

Would 3″ of compacted crush and run then 3″ of tarmac suffice??

TIA

I’d want min 150mm type 1 or hardcore (on a membrane), then 70mm of binder with a 30mm wearing course to do it properly.

Depends on the soil, but I also would probably look to put 150mm down minimum.

Exactly as Rockhopper says – although if you are going to roll over it with your car I’d be more inclined to use a concrete sub-base to stop any potential differential settlement (will be difficult for you to get decent compaction with I assume a whacker plate) – wouldn’t be ridiculously more expensive when you look at the quants involved for widening a dive..unless you live in a mansion that is

Tarmac is only ever as good as it’s subbase. So 100mm of stone is a reasonable start but 150mm is better, Then I’d go 60/40 with the 60 being a 25mm agg base and the 40 being 10mm topping. Truth be known if the sub base is decent you’d get away with 40/30, how many times have you seen cars parked on a pavement, that’s usually a 40/30 spec.

For anything like this, all you need is Paving Expert:

http://www.pavingexpert.com/tarmac02.htm

Or… someone who can answer an individual question. I don’t agree with everything in paving expert to be fair.

Thread Hi-jack… I plan to dig up some of my front lawn and lay a membrane to then cover with stone chippings to put a car on. How deep do I need to dig down? A mate reckons only 3-4inches which doesnt sound deep enough to me!

Then am I okay to just fill on top of the membrane with the chippings? I wont need to put anything else in?

Wrightyson will be along to argue against this, but have a look at the paving expert guide to gravel drives http://www.pavingexpert.com/gravel01.htm or use one of the cellular systems http://www.pavingexpert.com/cellpav1.htm

Hey it’s advice take it or leave it! As for 3 or 4 inches8, it once again all comes down to the sub base and individual site conditions, if you’re still on soil after 3 or 4 inches you are wasting your money. It probably says that on paving expert though, if not ask natrix.

Thanks for the link, I did scan that site earlier as saw the link but the layout and colour arent easy on the eyes!

Looks Like 4-5 inches, Membrance, 100mm of hardcore wacker plated down then 20mm of gravel on top of that.