Joints in tarmac

[loudog]

Hi to all.
I have just had my drive tarmacked by a company i was recommended to. Thay took up the existing drive and layed a base coat followed by a top coat of 6mm. They have put a joint in it which i wasnt happy about but they said they had to because the drive was to wide to do in one go, Could you tell me if this is common practice in the layin of tarmac. My drive is a funny sort of shape as it starts of at the garage up to the end of the house (about 3mtr wide and 16mtr long) then it is a big wide area about 16mtr wide by about 8mtr long) out to the road. They said to me all tarmackers would have to devide this as its to big to do in one hit. Any advise please.

[Dave_L]

Now it would be unfair for me to comment on an individual case....as the formation of a joint has many factors behind it.

To lay a large area of tarmac surface course it has to be either machine laid if space permits or it requires a crew who know what they are doing, have a good supply of material to the laying area and the weather has to be good.

Any factors that deviate from this ideal situation outlined above - a joint might be required. Sometimes, due to the areas and shapes, a joint is inevitable, there can be no getting away from it.

Now there are ways and means of creating a nice tidy joint - it does require some considerable skill on the rake hand and the roller operator.

A picture of the general area and the joint in particular would be handy.

[loudog]

thanks for your reply, i will try and take a picture, the joint isnt a bad joint but all the same its a joint, am i being to picky or will it fade in time.
thanks

[Dave_L]

If it has been jointed properly, the joint will become almost un-noticeable over time.

You'll always see it as you know it is there, but it will blend in given time.