Tarmac drive repairs

I have a tarmac drive on top of an old concrete drive base (all laid before my time). The tarmac is cracked in places and there are changes in level around the edge of the ramp.

I REALLY don’t want to get a whole new drive, I just don’t care enough about how it looks to spend a load of money on it. I know I can fill the cracks with cold tarmac stuff, but is there anything effective I can also do to help keep the crumbling at bay? Dragging the little stones into the house from the crumbling bits is the main annoyance of its deteriorating state.

Isn’t this what chip and seal is for? Would probably result in more stones being carried into the house though 😂

Some sort of paint?  High pressure jet washing? I know the highways use high pressure water jets to blast away the top layer of tar to expose the aggregate underneath when the stones sink into it after hot weather and the surface looks polished. Not the same problem you have but it might wash away the loose crumbling top layer of tar and aggregate and leave you with something more solid?

You could try painting penises around the cracks?

https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/uk-news/pot-holes-finally-filled-only-26912065

I’ve used Wickes tarmac paint to ‘freshen’ up my driveway after it got stained and repaired over 25 years. It does start to fade over time, but still looks ‘uniform’ and a million times better than a patched driveway with loads of oil/paint stains. I’ll probably refresh it again this year.

@fossy does the paint stop the crumbling or hold the bits down? Or is it just all an even colour as it crumbles?

The rest of you: yeah, thanks… 🙄🙃

Oh, and fun twist: next door’s builders have used my drive as the route to clear out a pile of soil and rubble. So it’s now covered in mud – which they say they’re going to jet wash off. I’m not convinced there’ll be much drive left after a jet wash!

It can help with the stones not coming off – ideally you’ll clear it first – brush/garden blower, then paint it. Depends how crumbly.

I jetwashed mine with a powerful jet wash, be warned it will blast it away in seconds.  I have block paving in lines to break up the tarmac.  Jetwashing the blocks I didn’t realise how fragile tarmac is.

“ So it’s now covered in mud – which they say they’re going to jet wash off. I’m not convinced there’ll be much drive left after a jet wash!”

Perfect… you ruined my drive …please repair it 😂

On our shared driveway I’ve successfully used the cold lay from Wickes. The shared bit was laid on red shale, very thinly but with the way the neighbours power up that bit we’re reluctant to spend much. I’ve picked the loose bits out with a trowel, brushed with a hand brush and then laid the tarmac. I used a proper ramming tool (not expensive) and a lump hammer around the edges. Some of these patches are over ten years old now and still solid. If you want belts and braces I believe you can spray sealer on first, I didn’t. I’ve tried other cold lay but Wickes was best.

This tamper, well worth the money-

https://www.wickes.co.uk/Wickes-Steel-Professional-Contractors-Rammer—1-245m/p/186866

I’ve recently used this to patch a friend’s drive – pothole filling more than anything. The concrete gives a solid base for the tarmac. The tarmac was noticeably “flowier” than stuff I’ve had from Jewsons before, much easier to work. We also cut the edges back with and angle grinder and sealed the edges with spray.

We mixed the concrete by hand and tamped using a piece of wood and a club hammer. Next time I’d hire a proper mixer and tamper.

UltraCrete Flowcon – Self Compacting Concrete

UltraCrete SCJ-750 – Seal and Tack Coat Spray

UltraCrete Instant Road Repair 6mm

Anyone else see stw as the fount of all knowledge, and not expecting a staffer to be asking a question, cos they must know it all? 😉

Buy a bag of cold lay instant repair tarmac, pour in a metal bucket/wheel barrow…. pour in a small amount of petrol (small cup full) and light, let it burn for 20 seconds and it will lay much firmer, easier and achieve a stronger bond. Diesel is also perfect for removing tarmac from tools after. Poor mans “hot roll” tarmac 🙂

Council turned up about a week ago, couple of blokes tipped some tarmac into a few of the potholes I’d shown on here outside my house, and a bit either side, then pissed off having ignored all the other potholes. It’s getting to the point that something like this is worth serious consideration as a daily driver…

B and q cold lay macadam. Plus a t tins of bitumen spray sealant.
Lump hammer and cold chisel
Warm sunny day
Lay the bags of macadam under a bin bag in the sunshine.
Chalk outline the worst areas and use a bolstet or cold chisel or sds if you have one to square off and maybe deepen the crack. You need a couple of inches of depth ideally.
Clean out your crack.
Shovel in now warmed macadam and compact with tamper or lump hammer.
Add more material as necessary.
Spray sealant around the edge, masking tape for E pro level finish.
Then refuse to let next doors builders use your driveway as a shortcut , they can do one with that shitty attitude

how many lawn sausages should I use for this?