Tar & Chip
Tar & Chip Paving in Salisbury, MD
Chesapeake Asphalt installs tar and chip paving for residential and commercial properties throughout Salisbury, Maryland and the surrounding Delmarva region. Tar and chip — also known as chip seal — bonds a layer of crushed stone into liquid asphalt to create a durable, textured surface that performs well and complements rural and larger properties.
What Is Tar & Chip Paving?
Tar and chip paving is a surface treatment that combines hot liquid asphalt with a layer of crushed stone aggregate. The stone is pressed into the asphalt while it's still hot, creating a bonded, textured finish.
The result is a solid driving surface with a natural stone appearance that sheds water, resists rutting, and offers a different look and feel than smooth hot-mix asphalt.
Who It's For
- Homeowners looking for a durable driveway with a natural stone finish.
- Property owners with long private roads or lanes to maintain.
- Larger rural properties where a textured, low-glare surface is preferred.
- Anyone weighing tar and chip against traditional asphalt for a driveway or lane.
Common Problems We Solve
- Gravel driveways and lanes that rut, wash out, and scatter material.
- Loose stone surfaces that are difficult to plow, drive, or walk on.
- Long private drives where the cost of full hot-mix asphalt is a concern.
- Surfaces that lose their shape and drainage over time without a bonded top layer.
Service Options
- New tar and chip driveway installation
- Tar and chip for private roads and lanes
- Tar and chip for larger residential properties
- Resurfacing an existing stone or gravel drive with chip seal
What to Expect
- Evaluate the site, existing surface, base, and drainage.
- Prepare and grade the base so the finished surface sheds water correctly.
- Apply the liquid asphalt and immediately spread and embed the stone aggregate.
- Compact the stone into the asphalt and clean up loose material.
Why Proper Preparation Matters
Tar and chip depends on a sound, properly graded base. Without good preparation underneath, the surface won't drain or hold together the way it should.
Getting the asphalt temperature, stone spread rate, and compaction right is what produces a bonded, durable surface rather than loose stone.
Residential
For Salisbury-area homeowners, tar and chip offers a durable, textured alternative to a smooth asphalt driveway — particularly well suited to longer drives and rural properties where the natural stone look fits the setting.
Commercial
For private roads, lanes, and larger properties, tar and chip provides a cost-effective, low-maintenance driving surface that holds up to regular traffic without the finish of a parking lot.
Salisbury, Maryland
Serving the Salisbury Market
The Salisbury area includes a mix of in-town neighborhoods and surrounding rural properties with longer driveways and private lanes. Tar and chip is a practical option for many of those larger or rural properties across the Eastern Shore, where a bonded stone surface handles the terrain and traffic better than loose gravel.
Compare this with our asphalt paving and driveway paving services, or see the communities we cover on our areas we serve page.
Tar & Chip FAQs
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Service Areas
Proudly Serving Delmarva
Chesapeake Asphalt provides professional paving and pavement services throughout Maryland's Eastern Shore and Sussex County, Delaware.