Tarmac drive: replace or resurface

[Robster]

Hi,

Just looking for some advice really...

I have a tarmac drive - around 7m X 8m. The tarmac is starting to become loose - what I mean by that is that there are no cracks, holes, splits or weeds growing through, but the surface is getting loose. For example, last night, when I swept up some leaves after gardening, there was a nice pile of little black stones, but no leaves!

The drive is about 20 years old, and apart from this loose surface (worse in some areas than others), it is pretty good - it's never sunk, or anything like that, but, due to this surface break up, I've come to the conclusion it needs either replacing or resurfacing.

The tarmac is quite coarse - the "stones" are 8 to 9mm.

My question is this....I didn't realise (until doing some web research) that I could simply have the drive resurfaced - is this a suitable option on such a drive? I'm assuming that because of the longevity of the drive so far, the sub-base is OK. Or should I rip the whole lot up and replace?

I haven't got quotes yet, and I know it's like "how long is a piece of string", but I'ld appreciate any ideas on how much resurfacing may cost me vs. replacement.

One final question - my neighbours drive is in a similar state, and whilst they are not shared, would we get any form of preferencial pricing if we both had them done together...or would it make no difference?

I'm in West Somerset by the way.

Many thanks in advance.

Rob

[Dave_L]

Robb - this is a job we specialise in and are local to you (Wellington)

Happy to pop over at some point and give you a written specification.

Sounds like all you need is a simple overlay, where joints are formed with existing adjacent surfacing, a tack coat (bonding agent) is sprayed to the surface and a layer of fresh tarmac is laid on top.

[Dave_L]

.....and yes, two drives together would make it more 'cost'effective' for you both.