Tarmac Driveways In Hornchurch & Upminster
Need a big drive done properly without the price of block or resin?
Hot-rolled, two-course tarmac driveways with block borders for homes in Hornchurch, Upminster, Harold Wood and Rainham
Tarmac has a reputation problem, and it earned it. Most of the bad tarmac in Havering was laid cold from a bag, 25mm thick, over whatever was there before, by someone who knocked on the door with a van full of leftovers. That is not tarmac. Real tarmac is two courses laid hot from a lorry, rolled while it is still steaming, on a base that was built for it, inside an edge that stops it spreading. Done that way it is the cheapest proper drive you can buy per square metre, it goes down in a day, and on a long drive in Harold Wood or a wide front in Cranham it is often the sensible choice.
Free Tarmac Driveways Quote
We reply the same working day, usually within the hour.
Where tarmac makes sense on a Havering front
01
Lowest cost per metre of any proper surface
From around £55 a square metre including the dig and base. On a 100 square metre Emerson Park drive the saving against resin is several thousand pounds.
02
Down in a day once the base is in
The base takes two or three days. The tarmac itself, both courses, is laid and rolled in one, and you can park on it the next morning once it has cooled.
03
Fewer joints than anything
No blocks to rock, no joints for moss. A tarmac drive with a block border has exactly one line in it, and that is the border.
04
Takes heavy vehicles
Vans, caravans, the skip for the loft conversion. Hot-rolled tarmac on a Type 1 base copes with weight that would rock a block drive.
05
A border makes it look finished
Plain black tarmac to the fence looks like a car park. A charcoal or brindle block soldier course around it looks like a drive. It is the detail that changes everything.
06
Easy to resurface later
In fifteen years, if the surface has worn, a new wearing course can go over a sound base without a full dig. That is not true of a block or resin drive.
Local
Upminster Based
Hornchurch, Upminster and across Havering
6
Surface Types
Resin to gravel, one crew for all of it
Free
Site Visits & Quotes
Written, itemised and fixed
Written
Guarantee
Handed over on paper at the final walk-round
How we lay a tarmac drive in Hornchurch and Upminster
The tarmac is the quick bit. The three days before it are what you are paying for.
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Site visit
We measure, dig a trial hole and look at the falls. Tarmac is not permeable, so the question of where the water goes is settled on the visit, not after.
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Quote with both courses on it
Dig depth, Type 1 thickness, binder course depth, wearing course depth, edge detail and drainage, each itemised. If a quote you have elsewhere only mentions one course, ask why.
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Dig and base
Old surface out, excavation to 150 to 200mm depending on the ground, geotextile on clay, MOT Type 1 compacted in layers with a roller.
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Edging in concrete
Block soldier course or concrete kerb bedded and haunched before any tarmac arrives. Hot tarmac pushes outward under the roller and the edge is what stops it.
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Drainage channel and falls
A linear channel across the gate connected to a soakaway or gully, and the base shaped so rain runs to it rather than onto the footway, which is what Havering's drainage team wants to see.
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Binder course
A 50mm open-textured base course laid hot and rolled. This is the structural layer and the one that cold-lay merchants leave out.
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Wearing course and handover
A 25 to 30mm dense wearing course laid hot the same day, rolled to a tight finish, then left to cool overnight. The walk-round and the written guarantee follow in the morning.
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Not sure which surface suits the house? The cost guide compares all six side by side, and the site visit is free either way.
What our guarantee actually covers on a Hornchurch and Upminster driveway
Most guarantees in this trade cover the surface, because the surface is the easy bit. Ours is written around the structure underneath, which is where a driveway on Havering's London clay either holds or does not. We put the excavation depth, the compacted MOT Type 1 thickness, the concrete haunch behind every edge and the drainage route on the quote, and we guarantee that build. If the surface sinks, spreads or ponds because any of that was not done right, we come back and fix it at our cost.
- Sub-base depth and compaction written on the quote, not left to the day
- Every edge course set on concrete and haunched, so nothing creeps
- Settlement, rutting or lifting caused by our groundwork put right free
- Manufacturer cover on resin, block and porcelain on top of ours
In
Writing, before we start
The guarantee terms go on the quote, not on a leaflet after the job
0
Overlays on a bad base
We will not lay a new surface over a base that has already failed, however cheap it would make the quote
How to tell a real tarmac quote from a cold-lay one
Ask how many courses. A proper drive is two: a binder course of around 50mm that gives it strength, and a wearing course of 25 to 30mm that gives it the finish. A single course of 25mm, however neatly rolled, is a skin that will crack and rut at the first turn of a steering wheel. The quote should state both depths. If it says 'tarmac to driveway' and a price, it is almost certainly one thin course.
Ask whether it is hot. Hot-rolled tarmac arrives in an insulated lorry at well over 100°C and has to be laid and rolled within a short window. Cold-lay tarmac comes in bags, can be laid by anyone with a rake, and never bonds into a single slab. It is fine for a pothole. It is not a driveway. The giveaway is a firm that can start today because they have some left on the van.
Ask about the edge and the drainage. Tarmac is not permeable, so it needs a fall and a channel to stay inside the permitted development rules, and it needs an edge in concrete to stop it creeping. Both cost money and both are the first things a cheap quote leaves out. On the clay plots north of Hornchurch, a soakaway for the channel to drain into is often the biggest single groundwork item.
Tarmac against block, resin and gravel
Tarmac wins on price and speed. It loses on lifespan and looks. Here is the honest version.
| Tarmac | Block Paving | Resin Bound | Gravel | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Expected life | 15 to 20 years, longer with a new wearing course | 25 to 40 years | 15 to 25 years | 20 years with topping up |
| Drainage | Falls to a channel and soakaway | Through the joints | Porous throughout | Fully permeable |
| Weeds and moss | Edges only | In the joints | None | Needs a membrane |
| Time on site | 3 to 4 days, surface in one | 3 to 5 days | 4 to 5 days plus curing | 2 to 3 days |
| Guide price per m² | £55 to £80 | £75 to £115 | £80 to £120 | £45 to £70 |
| Planning in Havering | Not needed with drainage to your land | Not needed with drainage or permeable block | Not needed | Not needed |
Black, red, and the border that does the work
Tarmac comes in black and, at a premium, red. Black is what almost everyone has and it looks right with a border. Red suits a few of the older Hornchurch houses with red roof tiles and nothing else. The border is where the design happens: a single charcoal soldier course keeps it quiet, a double course in brindle picks up the brick, and a block apron at the gate takes the wear where cars turn in.
- Two courses, binder and wearing, laid hot the same day
- Block soldier course or kerb edging set in concrete
- Linear drainage channel across the gateway as standard
- Block apron or turning pad where the wear is heaviest
"Nearly every failed tarmac drive we are asked to replace in Havering is a single 25mm course laid over the old surface, and most were sold on the doorstep."
Based on enquiries and jobs handled by Hornchurch & Upminster Driveways.
What a tarmac driveway costs in Havering
Two-course hot-rolled tarmac with a block border starts at around £55 per square metre including excavation, base, edging and drainage, rising towards £80 where the dig is deep, the shape is awkward or a soakaway has to be built. A 45 square metre semi front is £2,500 to £3,600. A 100 square metre Emerson Park drive is the job where tarmac saves the most. What moves it:
- +Dig depth on clay plots north of the railway
- +A soakaway where there is no existing drain to connect the channel to
- +Double borders, aprons and inlays in block
- +Access for the tarmac lorry, which needs to park close
- +A dropped kerb through Havering, which is a separate council fee and build
Guide price from
£55/m²
Including excavation, sub-base, edging and the finished surface. Fixed in writing after a free site visit.
Get A Fixed QuoteTarmac Driveways questions
Does a tarmac driveway need planning permission in Havering?
Not if it drains to your own land. Tarmac is not permeable, so the 2008 rule applies: over five square metres of impermeable surface needs permission unless the water runs to a lawn, border or soakaway inside your boundary. We build a channel and a soakaway or gully connection into every tarmac drive, which meets the rule, so Havering Council does not need an application. Flats, listed buildings and the Gidea Park Article 4 streets are the exceptions.
How soon can I park on it?
The morning after it is laid, once it has cooled overnight. Avoid turning the wheels while stationary for the first couple of weeks in warm weather, and keep jacks, stands and motorbike stands off it until the surface has hardened fully.
Will it soften in a hot summer?
A properly specified wearing course will not. Very hot weeks can leave the surface slightly tacky, which is normal, and a car parked in the same spot every day can leave faint marks in the first summer. A board under a trailer jockey wheel or a caravan stand avoids the one thing that does mark it, which is point loading.
Can you resurface my old tarmac rather than replace it?
If the existing base is sound and the surface is just worn, yes: we can plane or clean it and lay a new wearing course, which is a fraction of the cost of a new drive. If it is cracked through, sunken or spongy underfoot, the base has failed and a new surface over it will crack the same way. The trial hole on the visit tells us which.
Why do some firms quote half your price?
Usually because it is one cold-lay course over the old surface with no edge and no drainage. It will look the same on the day. It will not look the same in two winters. Ask them for the course depths, the base depth and the edge detail in writing and compare the two quotes properly.
Do you lay tarmac outside Hornchurch?
Yes. Harold Wood, Harold Hill, Collier Row, Romford and Rainham within Havering, and Dagenham, Barking, Chadwell Heath, Ilford, Gants Hill, Brentwood and South Ockendon beyond it. The lorry needs to get close to the drive, which rules out a handful of back-lane fronts, and we will tell you on the visit if yours is one.
What customers around Hornchurch and Upminster say
We would rather show you a driveway than a star rating.
Customer reviews are being collected and will appear here as they come in. In the meantime, when we come out to quote in Hornchurch and Upminster, ask to see photos of recent jobs on houses like yours - and ask the other firms quoting the same question. A finished drive two streets away tells you more than a testimonial ever will.
Not sure tarmac driveways is the one?
Tarmac Driveways across Havering and beyond
Proper tarmac, two courses, one day
Free site visit and a fixed quote with both course depths on it. If the base will take a new wearing course rather than a full rebuild, we will say so.