Rough Cost per square meter for Tarmac / Black Paving or concrete Paving?

[A210AMG]

Hello


Looking at getting our drive done which is currently tarmac (around 90%) with a slight semi circle of lose stone to one side. Its a drive in and out drive with gates on both sides. Area is 111m sq.


I've only had one quote so far and too me anyway it seemed an awful lot:-

1) Tarmac, rather than re lay they would rip it all off and start again, new base layer etc etc.. £6500

2) Block paving with edging around the sides and gate £5000

3) Imprinted concrete £8000

To me is seemed very odd that tarmac was a lot more than block paving..however it all seems a lot more than I thought...

Obviously I will be getting more quotes and will not use this first one anyway no matter what I do as I didn't get a good 'feel' for the workman.


Thanks in advance

 

[artyman]

I would have said that was cheap for 111 sq mtrs, I had a block pave driveway last year approx 30 sq mts and it was £3k, they did a good job not the cheapest or most expensive, middle price. That did include demolishing an old wall rebuild a new one (£300) dig up the garden path etc.

 

[A210AMG]

Second guy today has not turned up yet for a 5 pm appointment?? No phone call or anything so that's another crossed off the list !!

 

[Rustbucket]

Sounds expensive to me.

Tarmac is priced at roughly £1 a square foot. or £2 if you need a base layer if you are laying on poorer substrate / hardcore.

So you should be looking at between £1000 and £2000 tops for the area. This is from a professional, not an Irish team who turn up with some left overs, "do you want your drive done mate!

See this for all the info you require.

Pavingexpert - AJ McCormack and Son - Tarmacadam, Bitmac and Asphalt

The brick paving job also looks a little dear to me but not so bad. The blocks will have cost around £800-£900, hardcore and sand to lay them is around £30 a bag.

You would need 3 hardcore and 2 sand. Thats £150.

I would guess that 2 men came and did the job in 3 days @ £150 day each. Thats another £900.

Therefore the job cost should be around £2000 + the wall? The paving expert Says £2200 for 30m2. So I wasn't far out.

Pavingexpert - AJ McCormack and Son - Block Paving - An Introduction to Block and Brick Paving

Hope the link helps you to understand Tarmac, and be careful to not get ripped off or persuaded by some cowboy tarmacers.

 

[rascalmaster]

if people are busy- they tend to overprice...
if you dont take em on- well hey ho- they didnt have the time anyways... and if you did; they make the time because they'll be quids in.
saw this when we had double glazing done...

 

[Deleted member 37751]

I would hazard a guess that they will be sub-contracting the Tarmac job out.

The other prices don't seem bad for what is a fair size area.

I wouldn't go for the patterned concrete, it's not maintenance friendly and for that price I would go for a cobble set in conrete.

 

[A210AMG]

Amazes me why they bother turning up and giving silly prices, but then if 1 out of 10 quotes they day yes....

Then it pays for a nice summer holiday for them


Next quote Tuesday so watch this space


Thanks

 

[flango]

Imprinted concrete I paid £70 per m2, never looked back no weeds like through block paving and no shrinkage with tarmac. Acrylic laquer it every 2 years and it look like new, check out my photo's in the gallery car is parked on my drive of imprinted concrete.

 

[finisterre]

Cobbles are cheaper than you may expect and pretty easy to lay yourself. I did my own driveway and it worked out about £30 a metre plus skip and digger hire. I would strongly suggest that you make sure the hole is big enough before you give the digger back.

 

[moonloops]

Some Irish fellah did my driveway at a house I owned a few years ago.

£150 cash all in.

Mind you it curled up and blew away when it was next windy..

 

[scumbag]

We are having some irish do our pavements.

66,000sq m asphalt, a further 28,000sq m of a lower quality asphalt and some concrete.

it is in the millions.


ho-hum.

And they keep sending me to sign off on things........

i shall be looking forward to the enforced early retirement.

 

[Druk]

I'm now a convert away from block paving. We spent a fortune getting it properly done. A foot of hardcore well banged down, blinded properly, coarse sand, all laid by highly recommended company. This hard winter has ruined it. Such a hard frost for so long the ice has lifted and shifted the sand so now it is all humps and bumps. Nobodys fault, just it wasn't ever designed to withstand artic winters. Now, no-one can predict what future winters will bring but I for one won't be risking it.

 

[trapperjohn]

We are having some irish do our pavements.

66,000sq m asphalt, a further 28,000sq m of a lower quality asphalt and some concrete.

it is in the millions.


ho-hum.

And they keep sending me to sign off on things........

i shall be looking forward to the enforced early retirement.

Perhaps to a rather large estate in the South of Ireland?

 

[jonnyboy]

Ignore the pricing on the Paving Expert site, it is out of date, "the gaffer" as he is known is looking at it. I am active on the forum there.
"Rustbucket", come and work for me, you can start today if you can do a proper job laying 111m2 of block paving at £18/m2.
Especially when the blocks will cost a tenner a metre.

OP, I'm sorry, but please ignore the figures in that posting, they are ludicrous.

If it was me I would either CBP or tarmac it with some coloured chippings rolled in for effect. A good blackstoner will not just lash tarmac over an old surface unless he is 100% sure of what is there now. The CBP price looks a bit low to me, esp if you are in the south. Make sure you have been quoted for drainage at the gateway if the land slopes towards it as there is rainwater runoff legislation onto the public footpath/highway for a couple of years now - the CBP drive pictured at the top of the post should have had a linear drain installed if it was done last year and, as the pic suggests, it slopes down away from the house. Unless it is permeable CBP which it doesn't look like.

BTW, don't all knock the Irish. The decent ones are the best flaggers/blacktoppers in the world. It's the tinker-types who get them a bad name. I won't call them what we know them as beginning with P....

 

[jonnyboy]

I'm now a convert away from block paving. We spent a fortune getting it properly done. A foot of hardcore well banged down, blinded properly, coarse sand, all laid by highly recommended company. This hard winter has ruined it. Such a hard frost for so long the ice has lifted and shifted the sand so now it is all humps and bumps. Nobodys fault, just it wasn't ever designed to withstand artic winters. Now, no-one can predict what future winters will bring but I for one won't be risking it.

Derek

You are correct but one thing I would say is this :-

CBP is the only surface where you can put this right fairly easily and cheaply by re-using the paving.
Try that with shifted/cracked concrete, flagstones, or tarmac !
A word of caution though. Hardcore is not the best sub-base. It is really only suitable as a sub-grade (under the sub-base). This is due to the unpredictability of the void size/shape between individual pieces of hardcore. As the water makes its way into those voids, then freezes and heaves, this can cause the surface to shift. It's all about the "dig" of course. You're generally better with hardcore as a sub-grade, then scalpings/MOT type 1 properly compacted, then the laying sand (sharp).

 

[reflexboy]

I would have said that was cheap for 111 sq mtrs, I had a block pave driveway last year approx 30 sq mts and it was £3k, they did a good job not the cheapest or most expensive, middle price. That did include demolishing an old wall rebuild a new one (£300) dig up the garden path etc.

That looks about the same size of my drive that I had block paved last year. My builder dug down about 18" installed a stabilising membrane then dropped and compacted 11 tons of sub base, then sharp sand etc and put up new fence posts. He also installed an ACO, strip gully drain and plumbed it in for a fiver short of £3K, so that looks about right

 

[A210AMG]

^ Given our drive is probably getting on for three times the size I'm probably looking at three times the bill then Ours is sort of yours and then your neighbours then the bit in between (near both front doors) so you can drive in and out.

Great having a good size driveway but not when it needs re doing...


As I'm walking to work I've been looking at other drives as I pass them (sad I know) and I actually like it tarmaced with white stone scattered in and a boarder of block paving round it. Looks quite nice.

I will await a few more quotes.

Thanks so far for the advice.

 

[cl55 amg]

I think the conrete print looks really nice when done properly, but the amount I see where it looks washed out has put me off.

 

[A210AMG]

I agree

however I thik this can be 'fixed' and re sealed I guess it depends on how its looked after?

 

[E CLASS]

Gravel everytime!

Much classier IMO.

Nothing quite like the crunch of tyres on gravel.