Anyone used thompsons drive seal? - Tarmac cover ups vs drive seal

[mckale]

I am needing to improve the look of my tarmac driveway which is a bit old and worn and has areas that need repairing.
I was planning to repair it with cold cure tarmac and then use a tarmac restorer/cover up such as black top to improve the look of it.

I've found that the tarmac restorer is working out to be quite costly due the size of the driveway so I was considering using Thompsons driveway seal which is acrylic based but claims gives the tarmac a "new" black appearance.

Has anyone got any experience using it ? If so what sort of results should I expect to get cosmetically compared with the bitumen based tarmac restorers?

Thanks

[Amogen]

Being in the business of restoring driveways, we have done lots of Tarmac driveways.

Preparation is key.
Repair the damaged areas first with cold cure tarmac. Ensure that you dig out enough tarmac so as to put a good depth of tarmac in. Doing it on a warm day will help and leave the bags out in the sun for a few hours first.
If you are going to seal the drive "back to black" do not do this for at least 4 weeks after laying the cold cure tarmac. This has slow evapourating solvents in and needs to cure fully before being covered up.
Before sealing, pressure wash off the whole area to remove every trace of loose material. Failing to do this correctly will mean that the sealer will bond to the loose dust left behind and will break away not long after completion.
As for the sealer, we never use Thompsons. Its a cheap version that doesnt last so long.

What size area is your driveway??
Can you post a picture for us to see??

[Tony McC]

DriveSeal is basically a paint. It does look OK-ish for a few months, even a year when done properly, but it has a tendency to 'mellow' to a dull grey and to flake is the substrate was anything less than perfect.

If you can afford it, a genuine bitmac overlay is the best option and will offer many years of service for not too much. Next would be a bitumen-based cover-up product: the best I've seen in recent years is BlackTop from WatCo. The acrylic paints, such as DriveSeal, are fine if you want to spruce up a driveway for a shorter period while you sell a property, but it's unlikely to give you more than a couple of years at best.

[Amogen]

We have used WatCo's BlackTop before with great results. But at around £8 per sq/m just for materials, it works out very expensive for our customers.

As regards Acrylic Sealers, there are good ones and bad ones.

[bobbi o]

at watcos price,your not far away from the costing on a new tarmac overlay.

the material to use would be one of the american style emulsion sealcoats,but they dont seem to be used or manufactured at all over here for some reason

[mckale]

Thanks everyone for the advice, it gives me a lot more to go on.

[Tony McC]

TarmacLady, who posts occasionally, spent a couple of years in Britain trying to persuade all sorts of manufacturers and distributors to take on the truly superb US blacktop slurry coats but no-one seemed to take her seriously, so she's back in Florida.

In the US there's a tradition of having your blacktop driveway re-coated every couple of years or so, just as you'd re-paint the fence, and this gives a greatly extended life to the drive, as well as keeping it looking more-or-less like new. In Britain and Ireland, we just let it all go grey and tatty and then moan about the cost of replacement.

8 quid a m² for WatCo BlackTop? Either they're charging you the 'punter price' or you're ladling it on too thick!

[Amogen]

8 quid a m² for WatCo BlackTop? Either they're charging you the 'punter price' or you're ladling it on too thick!

Tony,

Whats the issue over the square meterage price for BlackTop??

WatCo sell 5lts of Black top for £34.80 + vat. So thats essentially £40.

They quote coverage at 5-10 square meters per 5 ltrs. Take their worst case scenario of 5lts for 5 sq/m means that £40 covers 5 sq/m. This works out at £8 per sq/m!!

There is no point trying to work out the costings for a job taking the higher covearge rate. Ok, that would work out at £4 per sq/m, but what if it each 5lts only really does 5sq/m!! You will have under quoted for the materials and unless you wish to look like a tool to the customer and go back and ask for more money for materials, they you will have to take the hit!!

I would always quote for the lower coverage rate. If i didnt use all the material, and it could be returned to the supplier, i would pass that refund onto my customer.

[bobbi o]

you can buy the same type of product from two other bitumen/emulsion suppliers i know of for about £4 per sq.m,so if your paying £8 your getting ripped off.

amogen - be intersted to see a before and after close up pic of some of the work you've been carrying out using that product,so you can see the texture on the surface. you got any you can post?

[Tony McC]

I'm not questioning the coverage rate quoted by WatCo: I'm querying the price you've been asked to pay.

My local BM sells a certain block paver for 10 quid per square metre. That's the price they advertise. However, if I or one of my contractor chums were to buy it, we'd only pay 8.20 per m². Why do you think that is?

[Amogen]

you can buy the same type of product from two other bitumen/emulsion suppliers i know of for about £4 per sq.m,so if your paying £8 your getting ripped off.

amogen - be intersted to see a before and after close up pic of some of the work you've been carrying out using that product,so you can see the texture on the surface. you got any you can post?

I am not buing stuff at that price, far too high for my customers!!! I was using it as an example of the product that Tony picked out as a solution to someones problem. Bear in mind this customer isnt in the trade, and will be buying a small amount of material for the job, so he will be paying potentially around £8 sq/m!!

The job we did with this stuff was ages ago. Not sure i have any pictures of it to be honest. When you start out in this business you take photos fo everything you do, the before and after pictures, but theres only so many you need to fill a portfolio!!! If i find them i will post them.

[Amogen]

I'm not questioning the coverage rate quoted by WatCo: I'm querying the price you've been asked to pay.

My local BM sells a certain block paver for 10 quid per square metre. That's the price they advertise. However, if I or one of my contractor chums were to buy it, we'd only pay 8.20 per m². Why do you think that is?

Well blatentley, you get a discount because you buy so much of it. I get a discount on all the stuff i buy too, due to the volumes we use.

As i said in my previous reply, i was quoting prices that the average customer who is not in the trade would expect to pay. After all, the first poster on this topic is not in the trade and was asking for advice. He would be paying £8 sq/m potentially!! If that is within his budget, then go for it.

As regards to block paving sealer, i can get it cheaper than £8.20... but you get what you pay for and i wouldnt touch that stuff personally. The block paving seal we use, comes from a local supplier, is far superior to anything we used in the past, but it costs us around £13 sq/m (£19 to retail) and in 5 years, have never had to go back to a drive that has worn out the sealant. Expansive initially, but the long lasting results are worth the extra, and thats how we sell it to our customers.