Tarmac Options for Your Driveway or Patio

Tarmac is generally considered to be the cheapest method of laying a hard surface, but it's a time consuming job which requires specialist tools, machinery and, not least, knowledge. This means that it only becomes the cheapest method once the driveway is up to a suitable size, where the economies of scale kick in.

For these reasons, tarmac is not something that can reasonably be considered as a DIY job, unless you have friends or relatives in the trade who are going to help you out, particularly with the machinery. And if you're going to talk to contractors, you'll need to know that tarmac is more properly called bitmac.

Bitmac or Tarmac?

The name tarmac was original derived from John MacAdam, who developed the process in the West. He used tar, which can be found naturally, to hold the small stones together, hence the name tar macadam, or tarmac for short. Nowadays, as the binding agent for the aggregates is bitumen, a by-product of the oil refining process, rather than tar, it is known as bitumen macadam, shortened in the trade to bitmac.

Consider Where You Use Tarmac

You do need to think hard before deciding on tarmac for a driveway outside your home, particularly if you like to work on cars or motorcycles as a hobby. Petrol or diesel spills, or splashes of other solvents like penetrating oil, will break down the hardened top surface then eat their way through the lower layers. This process can't be reversed and soon the aggregates begin to spill out of the resulting hole every time a car tyre passes over it. The hole will grow, look very unsightly, and it can only be fixed by patching, which in itself doesn't look great.

You need to consider the affect on your area too. If all the other drives in the street are tarmac, perhaps because they were all done in one go when the houses were built, then obviously it will fit in beautifully. But if that's not the case, and all the other drives in the street fit in with the period of the property, then yours will stick out like a sore thumb and possibly make the house a little harder to sell. Your neighbours won’t thank you for putting down an eyesore either.

It's not really a good surface for a recreational patio or other garden area, as it's not that attractive and can get hot in summer, which is when you want to use that space. Having said that, you might want to have an area in the garden for kids to play ball sports or games on, if you got the right amount of space. If you're going to get a drive laid anyway, the extra cost of doing part of the garden won't be a great deal more, since the people, machinery and supplies will be coming to you anyway.

Tinker With the Size and Colour of Your Driveway Materials

If you do decide to go for tarmac (or bitmac) then it's worth knowing that there are many different types and even colours. This might make it a bit more palatable for a residential property or in a garden. The main differences are in the size and type of aggregate used, and the type of binding agent.

A different size of aggregate to that normally used for roads can do a lot to set your driveway apart from just another piece of road, and coloured aggregates are available that can help a driveway blend into it's surroundings. Although the choice of binding agent is best left to the professionals, to be taken on functional grounds, there are coloured binders available. If they can be used in your situation and match, or get close, to the colour of the aggregate, then the effect can be very pleasing.