Page 1 of 1

Posted: Tue Nov 22, 2011 9:19 am
by slavik55
I'll start by apologising for my enormous photos...

I had my driveway & garden resurfaced with bitmac in February 2010. For over a year now, we've noticed that we're bringing tiny black/grey stones into the house pretty much every time we come in.

On closer inspection the drive is covered in stones ranging from tiny to small (around 5mm) as shown in the following photo:

Image

The drainage channel around the drive seems to contain a quantity of these stones as shown in the next two photos:

Image
Image

We've had the company, a reputable one based in the area, out to inspect the drive - the guy who came out said the drive was as he'd expect it to be after 2 years and that the stones were from the roads and brought onto the drive by our cars. He also said the stuff in the drainage channel was dirt and grit.

Despite telling us he'd get an estimator to come out we got a fairly patronising letter basically repeating what the guy had said and adding that the stones were 'debris that mother nature drops on us'.

Strange as none of our neighbours' drives or the adjoining roads seem to be shat on by 'mother nature'.

I'm due to ring up Tony from this website to discuss the matter but I thought I'd ask for any comment or advice from here first.

Many thanks.

Posted: Tue Nov 22, 2011 4:50 pm
by lutonlagerlout
my eyes!!!!
800 by 600 is fine for the interweb
it looks rough but anything that close up will look bad
got a normal picture from 10 feet away?
LLL

Posted: Tue Nov 22, 2011 7:07 pm
by slavik55
Thanks, I'll take another photo the next chance I get.

Posted: Tue Nov 22, 2011 7:46 pm
by Dave_L
Looks like the bitumen binder is having trouble retaining the aggregate.....not something I'd want to see on a year old pavement.

Was it exceptionally cold when this was laid? Is the surface finish otherwise acceptable and uniform? I take it this is a straight-in straight-out driveway? No turning on it?

If so, then I'd pressurise the contractor further, get a quarry rep out to look at it.

Posted: Tue Nov 22, 2011 9:21 pm
by Big Phil
ha ha ha, i need a bigger pc screen. it could be a little surface aggregate loss, not the end of the world as long as it doesn't further deteriorate and start raveling and reveal the binder course. you can expect some loose stone around iron work, furniture and adjacent to walls and edges as these areas are more difficult to achieve proper compaction. try sweeping it up, then monitor for further loss. this may prove if it is indeed debris from the road.

Posted: Tue Nov 22, 2011 9:39 pm
by slavik55
Thanks for the replies. I've been sweeping the drive fairly regularly but the pesky stones keep coming back heh heh.

I'll definitely get it looked at.

Cheers.