Driveway needs resurfacing - what to look out for

[lovabiscuit]

Looking for Mumsnet wisdom! Our driveway (block paving) might need extensive redoing because tree roots are lifting the blocks and the trees probably cannot be removed due to TPOs. The trees are at the front of the drive. I was thinking part gravel? Someone suggested tarmac. What about resin? I have no idea what the pros and cons are and how expensive the options are, so I would be grateful to hear about your experiences with any of these and what to look out for. It's quite a large drive, around 20m x 15m. And does anyone have any experience with retrofitting root barriers? Thank you as ever

Resin is permeable and flexible to an extent. I would choose resin personally.

How long have the TPOs been in force? They expire after (I think) 25 years, to allow for trees outgrowing their sites. We discovered this recently after the recent storms damaged some huge beech trees which everyone wanted made smaller but never did because there were preservation orders: when the question was asked, they had expired years earlier.

@CottonSock Thanks, that does sound good indeed. Is there anything one needs to take care of when laying down resin? Do you know of any pitfalls?

Ours is part gravel and part resin. The resin side has been down a while and isn't showing any signs of cracking or anything like that. The gravel side was meant to have a tree in the middle but we've just been using it as an extension of the driveway really. I hate driving on the gravel side as the car doesn't really want to move on it at all. Also, if you get gravel up to your door, bear in mind that delivery drivers may not be able to carry your stuff over it (if you get big and heavy stuff like fridges or washing machines that they'd use a little truck thing for) so they're within their rights to leave it anywhere on your property and not necessarily bring it inside.
A friend has recently changed from a poured driveway that was patterned and varnished to a tarmac one. Her poured driveway was a death trap in the winter, slippy in the rain and deadly when it was snowy or icy.

I'd question how durable resin is , lots of cowboys fitting this. For the size of your drive I would be tempted to mix it up and use different materials.

Isn't the resin bad for the environment

@XingMing The TPOs are quite new, just from a few years ago when it was applied (by previous owner) to have the trees removed due to them causing damage to the drive.. It's a conservation area so you have to apply for any work on trees.

@flashpaper oh good points about the gravel and deliveries! Wasn't aware of that

@Bumtum126 Tarmac a better option? I don't know much about either 😬

@flashpaper Oh and I take it your friend is quite happy with the tarmac? Thanks

Yes, she's happy with the tarmac but she's only had it down a month maybe. It's much safer if nothing else, god knows how many she had slip and fall on her old one.

Thanks everyone, food for thought..

Under the planning regs (permitted development), as you are replacing more than 5 sq.m of hardstanding, to avoid the need for planning permission:

"either the hard surface shall be made of porous materials, or provision shall be made to direct run-off water from the hard surface to a permeable or porous area or surface within the curtilage of the dwellinghouse"

Not many people are aware of this

We had tarmac at a previous house and it went greenish and not great looking within a year or two. It was also slippery in wet/cold weather.

More recently (6 years ago) we had resin and we're every pleased with it. This was after some being laid at work and then experiencing lots of wear without problems.