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Services
Driveway resurfacing.
Keeping a sound base and renewing only the surface is the cheapest good driveway job there is — when the base really is sound.
At a glance
service
- Best candidate
- Sound tarmac base, tired on top
- Typical saving
- No excavation, no disposal, no new sub-base
- Not suitable over
- Block paving, or any moving base
- Duration
- 1–2 days for most domestic drives
- Written, itemised quotesExcavation, sub-base, edging and drainage priced separately
- Site survey before pricingNobody prices a driveway properly from a satellite photo
- Compliant surface water drainageBuilt to meet the 2008 permeable-surface rules, not around them
- Local installers onlyCrews working their own patch, not a national call centre
Resurfacing means leaving the existing structure in place and putting a new wearing surface on top. It skips excavation, disposal and sub-base — which between them are most of the cost and most of the disruption of a new driveway.
It is genuinely the best-value option when it applies. The whole question is whether it applies to your drive, and that is decided by three checks.
The three checks before resurfacing anything
One: is it moving? Rock the surface underfoot at any suspect area and look for rutting in the wheel tracks. Movement means the base has failed and nothing goes on top of it. Two: does water stand on it? Resurfacing does not change the falls, so ponding stays. Three: what is the surface made of? Tarmac and concrete take a new surface. Block paving does not — it moves as individual units and any bound layer over it will crack along the joints.
The options
Which surface makes sense depends on what is there and what you want it to look like afterwards.
- Resin bound over tarmac
The most common resurfacing job and the one that transforms a drive most completely. 15–18mm of resin bound aggregate trowelled over the cleaned and prepared existing surface. One day on site, permeable if the base allows it.
- Tarmac overlay
A new wearing course laid and rolled over the existing tarmac. Economical, quick, and the right answer where the drive is large and function matters more than appearance. Watch the levels at thresholds and gullies — an overlay raises the surface.
- Micro-asphalt or slurry seal
A thin cold-applied surface treatment. Cheap, and appropriate for large low-traffic areas. It is a maintenance treatment rather than a new surface and it will not correct anything structural.
- Lift and relay (block paving)
Not resurfacing in the strict sense, but the equivalent job for a block drive: the existing blocks are lifted, the base corrected, and the same blocks relaid. Keeps the surface material and fixes the actual problem.
What resurfacing cannot fix
It cannot fix falls. If the drive slopes towards the house or ponds in the middle, that is set by the base and a new surface follows it. Correcting a fall means rebuilding, or in some cases adding drainage to intercept the water instead.
It cannot fix a failing sub-base. A new surface over a moving base cracks or ruts in the same places, usually within two winters.
And it cannot fix an edge that has no restraint. If the perimeter is crumbling because there is nothing holding it, the edge detail has to be built regardless of what goes on top.
FAQ
Common questions.
Can I resurface instead of replacing my driveway?
If the base is structurally sound, is not moving, and drains properly, yes — and it is a substantial saving. If any of those three are not true, resurfacing hides the problem rather than solving it and you pay twice.
Can resin be laid over block paving?
No, not reliably. Blocks move independently and the joint pattern telegraphs through the resin within a couple of years. For a block drive, lifting and relaying the existing blocks is the equivalent job and it fixes the base at the same time.
Will resurfacing raise my driveway level?
Yes, by the thickness of whatever goes on. Resin adds about 15–18mm, a tarmac overlay considerably more. That matters at garage thresholds, door thresholds and gullies, and it needs checking before the work rather than discovering afterwards that a door no longer clears.
How long does resurfacing take?
One to two days for most domestic drives, because there is no excavation and no disposal. Resin needs a dry window and a clean, dry base, so the weather has more say over the date than it does on a block paving job.
Related pages
Reviews
What customers say.
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Written and reviewed by the PaveLocal team. We build and specify driveways across Northamptonshire, Buckinghamshire and Bedfordshire. Pricing and specification guidance on this page reflects what these jobs cost and involve in this region, not a national average.
Free quote
Get a free quote.
Send your postcode and a rough size and we will arrange a survey. A photo of what is there now tells us more than a paragraph does.
- Itemised, in writingExcavation, sub-base depth, edging, drainage and surface priced as separate lines, so you can compare quotes properly.
- Surveyed before it is pricedGround conditions decide the cost of a driveway. Anyone quoting a firm price off a photo is guessing.
- No obligationA quote is a quote. If you use someone else, that is fine — we will not chase you about it.
Prefer to talk it through? Call 07346 814806 or email hello@pavelocal.co.uk.