Can You Get Coloured Tarmac? Everything Homeowners Need to Know

Yes, you can. Coloured tarmac is a real product, widely available, and installed on driveways across the UK every week. The confusion mostly comes from the fact that tarmac has been standard black for so long that people assume black is the only option. It isn’t.

This guide explains how coloured tarmac works, what colours are available, what it costs compared to standard black, and whether it’s worth the extra spend. If you’re already looking at a tarmac driveway and wondering whether to go for something other than black, this covers everything you need to make the call.

How Does Coloured Tarmac Work?

Standard tarmac is black because of the bitumen binder that holds the aggregate together. Bitumen is naturally black, and that colour dominates the finished surface.

Coloured tarmac uses one of two approaches to change that.

The first is pigmented bitumen. A colouring agent is added to the bitumen during the mixing process, which changes the colour of the binder itself. The result is a surface where the colour comes through the full material rather than sitting on top of it.

The second approach uses coloured aggregate with a lighter or clear binder. The aggregate itself provides the colour, and the binder is formulated to be less visually dominant. This method tends to give more vivid, consistent results and is used for many of the more decorative surfaces on the market.

Either way, the colour is within the material. It’s not painted on and it won’t peel. It will fade gradually over many years, particularly in direct sun, but a good installation holds its colour for a long time.

What Colours Are Available?

The range is wider than most people expect, though it’s still narrower than what’s available with block paving or resin-bound surfaces.

Red

The most popular colour after black, by a significant margin. Red tarmac works well alongside traditional red brick properties and picks up the warm tones in Staffordshire’s older housing stock. It’s available in several shades, from a lighter terracotta through to a deeper, more saturated brick red.

Across Stoke-on-Trent, Newcastle-under-Lyme and Stafford, red tarmac is the most common coloured tarmac request by some distance.

For more on red tarmac specifically, the guide on red tarmac driveways covers the detail.

Buff and Cream

These lighter tones suit contemporary properties, particularly new builds with light brick, pale render, or white and cream exterior finishes. Buff tarmac has grown in popularity as lighter exterior aesthetics have become more common. The downside is that lighter surfaces show oil stains and tyre marks more readily than darker ones.

Green

Less common than red or buff, but available. Green tarmac tends to work best in rural settings and on properties with mature garden surroundings. It reads as less urban than black and can blend well into a green-heavy front garden context.

Blue and Other Colours

Blue tarmac exists and is used, though it’s more commonly seen on car parks and commercial areas than residential driveways. Some specialist installers can source other colours, but the range becomes limited and the cost increases significantly.

For a full breakdown of the colour range with visual guidance on which suits which property type, see the tarmac colours guide and the coloured tarmac driveway ideas article.

How Much Does Coloured Tarmac Cost?

Standard black tarmac from a quality contractor like Maughan Construction is priced at £100 per square metre. Coloured tarmac typically adds 15 to 25 per cent to that, depending on the colour and the product used.

In practice, that means:

Standard black tarmac: £100 per square metre Red or green coloured tarmac: approximately £115 to £125 per square metre Buff or cream tarmac: approximately £115 to £130 per square metre (lighter binders used in some buff products cost more)

On a 40 square metre driveway, the difference between black and red tarmac might be £600 to £1,000 in total. Whether that’s worth it depends entirely on the property and how much the colour choice matters to you.

One thing worth knowing: resin-bound surfaces are often mentioned in the same conversation as coloured tarmac, and they do offer a wider colour palette. But they’re a different product, typically costing £80 to £120 per square metre, and they behave differently underfoot and in terms of maintenance. If you’re comparing the two, make sure the quotes are like-for-like on product type.

Does Coloured Tarmac Look Different From Standard Tarmac?

The texture and finish are essentially the same. Coloured tarmac is laid the same way as black, rolled and compacted to the same surface finish. The only difference is the colour.

One practical distinction: coloured tarmac can look more visually prominent when it fades or weathers than black does, because the shift in tone is more noticeable. Black tarmac that has oxidised and lightened slightly still reads as a dark surface. Red tarmac that has faded looks more obviously aged.

This isn’t a reason to avoid coloured tarmac. It’s just worth knowing. Most installers will tell you that the colour holds well for ten or more years before any noticeable fading, and even then the surface is structurally sound.

Is Coloured Tarmac Worth It?

For most homeowners, the question comes down to whether the colour makes a meaningful difference to how the property looks.

On a brick property where the brick tone is warm red or orange, red tarmac can tie the front of the house together in a way that standard black doesn’t. The additional cost is relatively modest and the visual result is noticeably better.

On a grey render or contemporary finish, buff or black tarmac both work well. Going for coloured tarmac in that context is a personal preference rather than a clear improvement.

If you’re considering coloured tarmac because you’re not sure plain black is right, the most useful thing is to look at examples of both on similar properties. Maughan Construction have installed both across Stoke-on-Trent, Newcastle-under-Lyme, Stafford and the wider Staffordshire area, and can show you comparable local jobs before you commit.