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Posted: Mon Dec 17, 2007 3:04 pm
by newquay98
hi,being new to this can anyone tell me if block pavers can be laid on sharp sand bed straight on to tarmac drive if there is enough height at damp course etc or do you have to remove the tarmac,cheers newquay98

Posted: Mon Dec 17, 2007 6:26 pm
by surreyhillslandscapes.com
I would remove the tarmac layer then see what sort of base you have underneath and how deep it is, if it's good and at least 150mm deep you should be fine.

Posted: Mon Dec 17, 2007 7:10 pm
by Pablo
As above you would be crazy to lay onto tarmac I hope this is you just testing the water to see how much work is needed and not some contractors idea that has given you a quote.

Posted: Mon Dec 17, 2007 7:37 pm
by newquay98
just me testing the ground,done quite a bit of building but no experience with pavers or tarmac lol

Posted: Mon Dec 17, 2007 8:43 pm
by Dave_L
What condition is the tarmac in? Any cracks or signs of subsidence?

Posted: Mon Dec 17, 2007 8:53 pm
by James.Q
if tarmac in good condition no probs all my site work ie parking areas is laid over the top of base coat tarmac. if you have required depth and tmac ok then you should be ok. why rip out good base to replace with another:p

Posted: Tue Dec 18, 2007 8:11 am
by surreyhillslandscapes.com

Posted: Tue Dec 18, 2007 10:01 pm
by James.Q
with age comes experiance . one day you might have it LOL

Posted: Tue Dec 18, 2007 10:27 pm
by Pablo
I'm sorry mate but you can't compare laying on top of a thick base coat that you have seen installed to laying on top of a domestic driveway that probably is just 6mm wearcoat to full depth without a basecoat. You have no idea of the sub base or even how thick it is. Two very different tarmac bases that will act in two very different ways. Also where the tarmac meets any threshholds like roads /garages or garden paths you will have to remove it anyway to get your levels right. Your mot sub base will settle slightly which will leave a ridge in your paving. This means that you will have 2 different types of sub base which will act in different ways when stressed. And you spelt experience wrong but I'm just being picky.

Posted: Tue Dec 18, 2007 10:30 pm
by eazybarra man
oh the gloves are off i think

Posted: Wed Dec 19, 2007 12:43 am
by lutonlagerlout
what you cannot see, dont trust
in my experience
LLL :;):

Posted: Wed Dec 19, 2007 6:33 am
by Dave_L
lutonlagerlout wrote:what you cannot see, dont trust
in my experience
LLL :;):
Well said.

We've laid pavers on top of 85mm permeable tarmac on a road before, but that was all constructed from scratch by us and directed by the highways authority.

Posted: Wed Dec 19, 2007 7:27 pm
by surreyhillslandscapes.com
Ditto, laid paving on tarmac with Mccabe, can't really see anything wrong with it except it was very inflexable, the wacker was bouncing round like a fart in a phone box. Never seen it specified for a domestic though.

Posted: Wed Dec 19, 2007 8:16 pm
by seanandruby
old mick Mccabe always insisted flags were laid on concrete. also the concrete was bang on for pipes and manholes, non of that dry-lean crap, you was busy but it was all top quality work.

Posted: Thu Dec 20, 2007 2:44 pm
by newquay98
thanks for all the imput,i will probably take up tarmac as i dont know whats underneath,as someone mentioned.