The look
Tarmac is uniformly black and understated. With a crisp block edging it looks tidy and purposeful, and it suits longer drives, rural approaches and properties where the driveway should not compete with the house.
Resin gives you colour, texture and a decorative finish. If the driveway is a big part of the frontage's kerb appeal, resin does more visual work.
Drainage and regulations
Standard tarmac is impermeable. Water runs off it, so a new tarmac driveway needs somewhere for that runoff to go — a channel drain, a permeable border or a soakaway within the property.
Resin bound on a permeable base lets water through the surface, which removes that problem in most cases and is why it is frequently specified where drainage options are limited.
Durability and repairs
Tarmac is exceptionally tough under load and copes well with heavy or frequent vehicle use. Its weaknesses are point loads — motorbike stands, caravan jockey wheels, skip corners — which can indent it in hot weather.
Resin is hard-wearing and resists that indenting, but it depends entirely on the rigidity of its base. Tarmac can be patched relatively easily and even overlaid; resin patching is trickier to blend.
- Tarmac: lowest cost, very tough, impermeable, can indent
- Resin: decorative, permeable, no indenting, higher cost
- Tarmac can serve as the base layer beneath resin
The practical middle ground
It is worth knowing these are not always either/or. A permeable macadam base topped with resin bound is a common build-up, so the tarmac work you might have paid for can become the foundation of the resin finish.
If the budget will not stretch to resin now, a properly built tarmac driveway can be specified so that a resin overlay later is straightforward rather than a rebuild.
Frequently asked questions
Is tarmac cheaper?+
Generally, yes — usually noticeably so for the same area. It is the most economical way to get a large, durable, joint-free driveway.
Will tarmac go grey?+
It weathers from deep black to a softer charcoal over the first couple of years. That is normal, not a defect.
Can resin go over existing tarmac?+
If the tarmac is sound, well drained and stable, often yes. We assess condition on site before committing to that in a quote.
Which is better for a long shared drive?+
Tarmac, usually. It covers large areas economically and takes repeated vehicle traffic well.
Compare both properly
We will price both options for your driveway so you can see the real difference for your property.