On 14/09/2013 19:24, Jake wrote:

Answering from a commercial perspective (rather than residential - I
deal in much larger areas),the price actually worries me a bit.

Whilst it won't help with pricing, a bit of time spent at
http://www.pavingexpert.com/tarmac01.htm#wc may help you to work out
for yourself what should be involved and, if nothing else, give you
some questions to ask - much can depend on the type of coating used.
Sometimes being able to ask a few more detailed questions - such as
about the composition of the surface - will indicate to a contractor
that you know what you're talking about and that they can't
necessarily get away with something.

In any event, I would get at least 3 quotations and ask for local
references where you can visit examples of their work. And warranties
(preferably insurance backed for that sort of outlay)!

Simply laying a new surface on top of an existing one can be
ineffective in the long term (if the timing of the work would
potentially co-incide with the appearance of frosts, beware!). If I
were doing the job properly, I would lift the existing tarmac, repack
the substrate and relay a new surface from there. For the area
involved, and assuming a driveway opening onto a road within a
residential area where "blockages" need to be minimised, 2 days would
not be enough.

Frankly, I think the contractor's quotation is too cheap. Caveat
emptor.

Thanks for that link, Jake, it is very useful.

--

Jeff