What are Hot Tar and Chippings?

Hot Tar and chippings is as old and as English as Fish and Chips! In fact it's a lot older!  It is basically Bitumen sprayed onto a drive or car park and covered in granite chippings and rolled in using a heavy roller. The bitumen we use is the very latest state of the art material, environmentally friendly and not harmful. The chippings are top quality granite or flint depending on the colour.

How is it laid?

We heat the bitumen in our custom built tanker to 90 degrees before being pumped though a hand lance and sprayed onto the surface. Chippings are then spread by hand on top of the Bitumen and rolled into the Bitumen with a heavy roller.

How thick is it?

This depends on the surface that we are laying on and also the size of the chippings and also how many coats we are laying. On a concrete drive we would normally use a 6mm Granite chipping. The heavy roller will push the chippings down into the bitumen and form a 6mm layer of Hot Tar and Chippings. If we are laying on a porous surface or an open surface such as type 1 sub base we would "flood" the surface with bitumen so as to seal the open surface. This layer could be up to 20mm thick depending on whether we use reinforcing or not. Each job requires a different thickness and possibly 2 coats or more and even reinforcing if necessary. 

How long will it last?

This very much depends on where the surface is laid and the type of traffic that will be driven over it. On a typical drive where one or two cars are driven straight on and off daily it could last for ten years or longer. But on an industrial estate where large vehicles are driven over it all the time you could expect to get 5 years wear out of it. It really depends on how thick it is laid and how many coats and if reinforcing is used. When we quote each individual drive we will price into the job the necessary materials to suit.

How long does it take to lay?

One of the best things with our Hot Tar and Chippings is the minimal disturbance we cause.  We would normally come a week before we lay the surface and prepare the area. This would involve weed killing and maybe some patching of any low area's with tarmac or concrete, depending on the surface. On a normal size two car drive we would expect to be in and out with the preparation in a few hours. Of course this very much depends on each individual job. The actual laying of the surface is also quite quick and causes minimal disturbance. You will be able to drive on and use your new surface as soon as we have left.

What colours are available?

We use mainly five different colour chippings but can get many different colours to suit your needs. Scottish red granite or Lanark Red along with Welsh green granite are two of our most popular colours. A golden brown chipping is also very popular and along with our Wilmington white and grey chippings.

Click here to see the different colour chippings we have available.