Asphalt Driveway questions answered in plain English

Resurfacing a sound existing tarmac or concrete driveway with a 40mm SMA asphalt overlay costs €55 to €80 per m² (€2,800 to €4,200 for a typical 50 m² 2-car driveway). A full dig-out with a 150–200mm compacted Clause 804 stone sub-base, 60mm binder course and 40mm SMA surface course costs €75 to €115 per m² (€3,800 to €5,800 for 50 m², or €6,000 to €9,000 for an 80 m² 3–4 car driveway).

Traditional tarmacadam uses graded stone in a softer binder that can scuff when modern heavy cars or EVs turn their power steering on the spot. Stone Mastic Asphalt (SMA) uses a gap-graded stone skeleton bound with fibre-modified bitumen — the stones lock directly together, giving a denser, smoother, scuff-resistant surface that lasts 20 to 25 years.

Yes, provided the existing slab or tarmac is structurally sound, does not rock or hold deep puddles, and the threshold height at your house damp-proof course (DPC) and road footpath allows an extra 40mm depth. An overlay costs €55 to €80 per m² after sweeping, joint-sealing and spraying a hot K1-40 bitumen tack coat.

Under Class 6 of the Planning and Development Regulations, paving or surfacing a front garden up to 5 m² is automatically exempt, and areas over 5 m² are exempt provided surface water is drained within the curtilage of your property (for example into a lawn border, gravel soakaway strip or ACO linear channel connected to a soakaway) rather than flowing out onto the public footpath. Widening the vehicular entrance pier opening onto a public road always requires council planning permission.

You can walk on a new asphalt driveway within a few hours once the roller finishes, but wait 48 to 72 hours (and up to 5 days during warm summer weather) before parking cars on it. For the first month, avoid turning the steering wheel while the car is stationary, and do not place motorbike kickstands or caravan jockey wheels directly on fresh asphalt without a spreader board.

SMA asphalt is tougher under heavy axle loads, farm machinery and turning vans, and costs less on medium-to-large driveways. If you prefer a decorative natural stone finish that is fully SuDS permeable without separate channel drains, compare prices on our sister guide at resinbounddriveways.ie.

You can walk on hot-rolled SMA asphalt within a couple of hours once it cools, and drive gently onto it after 24 hours. During the first week (and on very hot summer days), avoid turning the steering wheel while the car is completely stationary.

6mm SMA gives the smoothest, tightest velvet-black finish for suburban front gardens and patios where cars turn in tight spaces. 10mm SMA has a slightly coarser stone skeleton ideal for larger detached driveways, farm lanes and entrances carrying oil delivery lorries.

Weeds usually come from wind-blown seeds settling in open pores or along unsealed kerbs, or from perennial roots left untreated below the sub-base. A two-coat installation with a 60mm binder course and tight 35mm SMA wearing course framed with concrete-haunched granite kerbs stays virtually weed-free.

Yes, provided the concrete slabs are not rocking or sinking. Expansion joints and cracks are cleaned, primed with K1-40 tack coat and bridged with glass-fibre reinforcing mesh before laying 35mm–40mm of hot SMA asphalt.

For driveways carrying 18-tonne heating oil lorries, septic tankers or horseboxes, specify at least 200mm of compacted Clause 804 stone over a geotextile membrane, a 60mm binder course and a 35mm–40mm 10mm SMA surface course.

Yes — full dig-out quotes include grab-lorry muck-away of old broken concrete, cobblelock or topsoil, along with all quarry stone, hot asphalt, compaction and 13.5% construction VAT.