Resin Over Tarmac & Concrete in Manchester
We lay resin over sound tarmac and concrete drives in Manchester, so you get a new surface without digging out the old one.
- Quotes in writing
- 20 areas covered
Manchester Resin Drives lays resin over old tarmac and concrete drives across Manchester. If your drive is tired and stained but still firm, we can keep it as the base and lay a new resin surface on top, which means no digging out and no skip full of broken drive on your street.
When the old drive is good enough
We only lay over a drive that is sound. On our visit, we walk the whole drive and look for sunken patches, wide cracks that run right through, slabs that rock, and areas that break up into loose bits when we scrape them.
A few fine cracks we can fill and lay over. If the drive has sunk or is breaking up, a thin new layer on top would fail in the same places, so we tell you it needs a new base instead. Our resin bound driveways page explains how we build one.
What happens to the rain
Government guidance calls a surface impermeable when it will not let water pass through it. It lists asphalt, concrete and block paving among the usual impermeable surfaces.
We treat an old tarmac or concrete drive as solid, so even with resin on top, the rain on an overlay we lay still meets the drive underneath. We plan where that water goes before we start: we set the fall, which is the slight slope of the surface, towards a lawn, a border or a drain.
Does an overlay need planning permission?
Government guidance says a new or replacement drive of any size needs no planning permission if it is permeable (or porous), or if the rain runs off onto a lawn or border. It says that if the area is more than 5 square metres, a solid drive that gives the water nowhere to soak away needs planning permission.
Government guidance also says an existing drive can be changed so it is permeable or drains to a rain garden, which it describes as a landscaped dip in the garden that collects rainwater from a drive and lets it soak slowly into the ground or to the drains. It says to ask a builder for advice first, because the drive may also take water from the roof. On our visit, we check where the pipes that bring rain down from your roof empty out.
If your drive is in the front garden and slopes towards the road, we talk you through how these rules apply before you choose an overlay.
Why drains matter on a city street
Government guidance says hard surfaces such as concrete and asphalt collect oil, petrol and brake dust, which wash off into the drains. It also says the drains in most urban areas were built many years ago and were not designed to cope with increased rainfall.
So we look at where your water ends up, not just at how the new surface looks.
What we put in writing
Our written quote sets out:
- Which cracks and patches we repair before the resin goes down.
- How we clean and prime the old surface, which means painting on a first coat that helps the resin stick.
- How we finish the edges where the new surface meets paths, kerbs and the house.
- Where we send the rain once it runs off.
- The stone blend we agree with you, by name.
Whoever you hire, ask for the same on paper.
Questions about resin over tarmac and concrete in Manchester
Will the overlay raise the level of my drive?
Yes, our overlay raises it a little. We check the height against your door steps, air bricks (the small vented bricks low in the wall) and garage door before we start, so the new surface does not sit too high against them.
Can you lay resin over block paving?
We usually advise against it, because each block can move on its own. We tell you on our visit if yours are too loose to lay over.
My concrete drive has oil stains. Is that a problem?
We clean the surface before we lay anything. Where oil has soaked deep into the concrete, we may need to cut that patch out and fill it first.
Can you lay over just part of the drive?
Yes, we can, but the join between old and new will show. We suggest doing the whole drive in one go so it looks like one surface.
What about a drive that is part tarmac and part concrete?
We can lay over both, as long as each part is sound. We seal the join between them first so it does not show through.
Is an overlay cheaper than a new drive?
We price both once we have seen your drive, so you can compare them side by side on paper.
Get a quote
Fill in our quote form with your postcode and whether your drive is tarmac, concrete or both. We will come out, check the old surface and give you a written quote. See everything else we lay on the Manchester Resin Drives home page.
Ready to talk about your resin driveway job?
Send the quote form with your postcode and what you need. We will get back to you with a written quote.