Tar Surfacing in Johannesburg — Built on a Proper Base
Tarred driveways, yards and parking areas across the East Rand and the Joburg metro. We come out, measure the area, and send you a written price — sub-base and all.
- Free site visit and a written quote, per square metre
- Sub-base priced separately, so you can see it is actually there
- Saturday morning site visits, 08:00–13:00
No phone quotes. Somebody comes out and measures.
The usual story
Cracked driveway? Sunken wheel tracks?
Mud every time it rains?
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The tar cracked and lifted after two summers.
It was laid on soft ground. Patching it does not fix the ground, so it comes back.
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The wheel tracks have sunk into the driveway.
Water collects in the ruts, works into the base, and the sinking speeds up every rainy season.
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Every quote is a different number, and none of them show the base.
You cannot compare them. The cheapest one is usually cheapest because it skipped the part you cannot see.
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The driveway turns to mud, and the mud comes into the house.
Dust in summer, mud in winter, and a car that struggles up the slope when it is wet.
Nearly all of it comes from the same thing: nobody built the base.
How we build it
We build the base first, then we lay the tar
A tarred surface is only as good as what is under it. We strip the ground, build and compact a proper sub-base, prime it, and only then lay hot asphalt. It costs more than tarring straight over the top. It is also the reason our surfaces are still flat in ten years.
- 01
Strip and shape
Topsoil and anything organic comes off. We cut to level and set the falls so water runs off the surface, not into it. Most driveway failures in Joburg are drainage failures wearing a tar costume.
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Sub-base
G5 crushed stone, laid in layers, watered and compacted. How deep depends on what will drive on it — a domestic driveway is not a delivery yard, and quoting them the same is how somebody loses out.
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Prime coat
MC-30 bitumen prime, so the asphalt has something to bond to. This is the step cheap jobs skip. You see it two years later.
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Asphalt
6 mm or 9 mm stone for driveways, 13 mm where trucks run. Laid hot, screeded, rolled while the temperature is still right.
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Edges and clean-up
Edges cut straight or kerbed, spillage lifted, the site swept and blown before anyone leaves.
Book a free site visit
We come out, measure the area, and put the number in writing.
How it Works
From your phone call to a finished surface, in three steps
- 01
You call, we come out
Tell us where the job is. We arrive, walk it with you, and measure. Saturday mornings work well — you are home, and we can look at it together.
- 02
You get the price in writing
Per square metre, with the sub-base as its own line. If the ground turns out worse than it looked, you hear about it before we start — not after.
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We lay it, and we clean up
Most driveways take one to three days, weather permitting. Nothing gets laid in the rain. We sweep and blow the site before we leave.
The quote is free and the site visit is free.
Takes about ten minutes on site.
Why Choose Us
What makes us different from the cheap quote
Five things, each of which you can check on the quote or on the day. None of them is a badge.
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We build the base, and we show it to you
Sub-base, compaction, prime coat, then tar. It is itemised on your quote as its own line, so you can hold it against a quote that has not got one.
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A price before we start
Written, per square metre, off an actual measure-up. No telephone quotes. No number that grows halfway through.
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We are in Joburg every day
East Rand base, metro service area. Not a national call centre that sends whoever is free.
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The crew that quotes is the crew that arrives
We do not subcontract the lay. James quotes every job himself.
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Saturday mornings, 08:00–13:00
Most contractors are weekday-only. Saturday is when you are actually home to walk the driveway with us.
Services
What we surface
Three pages, because three is what we actually want to be found for. Everything else we do sits inside those jobs.
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Driveway Tarring
A hard black surface for your driveway, laid on a base built to hold a car — or a bakkie, or a delivery van. Straight edges, proper falls, no puddles.
Read more -
Parking Areas & Yards
Complex access roads, small industrial yards, hardstands and parking bays. Deeper base, 13 mm stone where trucks run, kerbing and road marking if you need it.
Read more -
What It Costs
What actually moves the price on a tar job, and how to read two quotes that are thousands apart.
Read more
We also do asphalt milling, slurry seal, cape seal, tar rejuvenation and sealing, crack sealing, kerbing and road marking. Pothole patching we do as part of a larger job. Ask us when we come out.
What it costs
What moves the price on a tar job
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Area, in square metres
Everything is priced per m². We measure it on site; we do not estimate it off a photo.
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What is under there now
Firm ground needs less work than clay that moves. Old broken tar can sometimes be milled and reused, which brings the price down.
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How deep the base has to go
A domestic driveway and a delivery yard get different sub-base depths. Quoting them the same is how surfaces fail.
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Access
If a truck cannot reach the area, the material gets moved by hand, and that is time.
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Falls and drainage
If water has nowhere to go, it has to be given somewhere to go before anything is laid.
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Edges
Cut edges, kerbing, or a channel — each is priced separately so you can choose.
On every quote, the sub-base is its own line. That is the whole point. A quote showing one number for “driveway” is hiding the part that decides whether it lasts.
Free site visit. Written quote. No obligation.
Service Area
Where We Work
We are an East Rand crew and we work right across the Joburg metro. There is no walk-in office — we work out of our vehicles and plant, so tell us where the job is and we will come to you.
Areas We Serve:
- Germiston
- Boksburg
- Alberton
- Benoni
- Kempton Park
- Edenvale
- Bedfordview
- Springs
- Brakpan
- Sandton
- Midrand
- Roodepoort
Somewhere not on the list? Phone us. If it is in the metro, we probably come out to it.
Who We Are
The Crew Behind the Base
James Mahlangu spent eleven years running rollers and pavers for other people’s companies before he started this one in 2011. What got to him was coming back to a yard eighteen months later and finding it sunk in the wheel tracks — not because the tar was wrong, but because someone had priced the job to win it and skipped the base.
He started with one second-hand tandem roller and a rule he has not broken since: the base gets built, or the job does not get taken. The crew still calls the current roller “the old girl”, out of habit.
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does it cost to tar a driveway in Johannesburg?
It is priced per square metre, and the number depends on the area, what is under the ground now, and how deep the base has to go. We do not quote over the phone because we would be guessing. We come out, measure it, and put the price in writing with the sub-base as its own line. The site visit and the quote are free.
How long does a tarred driveway last?
Fifteen to twenty years if the base underneath it is right. If it was laid straight onto soft ground, you will see cracking and sinking inside two or three summers. That is the whole difference, and it is the part you cannot see once the job is done.
Can you not just tar over the old surface?
Sometimes, yes — if the base under it is still sound, we can mill the old surface and resurface. Often the answer is no, because the old surface is broken because the base failed. We will tell you which one you have when we look at it.
Is tar cheaper than paving?
Usually yes, per square metre, and it goes down a lot faster. Paving wins on looks and it is easier to patch one section. We will tell you honestly which suits your job — we do not do brick paving, so we have no reason to push you either way.
How long does the job take?
Most domestic driveways run one to three days, weather permitting. A parking area or a yard depends on the size and how much base work it needs. We give you the days in the quote.
What happens if it rains?
Nothing gets laid in the rain. Ever. We phone you and move you to another day. In summer we start before sunrise so the surface goes down and gets rolled before the afternoon storms come in. We would rather move you to Thursday than come back in two years.
Is there a tar surfacing company near me in the East Rand?
We are an East Rand crew and we work across the whole Joburg metro — Germiston, Boksburg, Alberton, Benoni, Kempton Park, Edenvale, Bedfordview, Springs, Brakpan, Sandton, Midrand and Roodepoort. There is no walk-in office. Phone us and we will come to the job.
When are you open?
Monday to Friday, 08:00 to 17:00, and Saturday mornings, 08:00 to 13:00. Closed Sunday. Saturday morning is often the easiest time to meet on site, because you are home.
Get In Touch
Get a proper surface, at a price you saw before we started
Free site visit. Written quote, per square metre, with the sub-base as its own line. Most driveways take one to three days. We sweep up before we go.
- You phone, or send the form.
- Lerato books a time, usually within one working day.
- James comes out and measures.
- You get the quote in writing. Nothing happens until you say so.