Block paved drives,any one had one done.

[mirrorcarp]

Can anyone recommend a decent outfit to block pave my drive. Gets a bad press this sort of trade and would like it done properly.

[bowers-sfc]

allsorts driveways based in hedge end. family run, loads of houses round by me used them.

Known them for years. Really good

http://www.misterwhat.co.uk/company/...ys-southampton

[Whitey Grandad]

Keep 'em coming lads. We've been intending to get ours done for some time.

[mirrorcarp]

Thanks for that bowers. I guess i should of mentioned that i live in Totton so any recommendations would have to cover my area.
Going to get 3 quotes .

[Wade Garrett]

Just get a few pikeys in. They're very experienced. They'll also throw some watered down milk over it at the end to seal it. This will only cost an extra £200.

[Give it to Ron]

Can anyone recommend a decent outfit to block pave my drive. Gets a bad press this sort of trade and would like it done properly.

A mate of mine does it and have seen and heard from satisfied customers - get someone to PM me that you know and will pass on his number

[cryoman1965]

Speak to Grapsey.

[cryoman1965]

Is it 12 in the pub?

[mirrorcarp]

Speak to Grapsey.

He is a mechanic. If your in the pub at 12 i will be astonished.

Back to the thread. Has any one out there had one done recently and been pleased with the result. I dont spend £1000s without research.

"Give it to ron" dont know any full members we are all too tight. Whats your friends business called.

[swannymere]

We looked at block paving but it's expensive and looks crap after 4/5 years, so we went for stone chips glued to an existing concrete drive; looks live gravel but without the hassle of having it drift everywhere.

[hutch]

Not a who, more a how.

Make sure it's properly drained. And don't hose it down to clean it. Sweep all the dirt & grit into the joints. It's called "lock-up".

[mickn]

We looked at block paving but it's expensive and looks crap after 4/5 years, so we went for stone chips glued to an existing concrete drive; looks live gravel but without the hassle of having it drift everywhere.

I totally agree with this except I think it looks crap much quicker than that and whoever does it the odd area always seem to sink. I'd go for good old tarmac.

[mirrorcarp]

To be honest i have looked into this a little and it appears that like anything a little maintenance is required now and again. People are lazy never bothering to sweep or keep on top of any weeds etc.
My next door neighbours gutters have got 2 ft high weeds growing out of them because he cant be asked. I think block paving makes the best looking drives but does need to be looked after like anything else or it will look bad over time.

I have a concrete drive at the moment which has cracked and gets constantly covered in weeds. With block paving i think weed killer twice a year and a good sweep or two should keep it looking nice.
As regards the sinking it would appear that like most things its all in the prep work. Cut corners and you dont get a proper job,hence my reasons for starting this thread. Surely someone out there must have one they are pleased with that has stood the test of time.

[NRSAINT]

I had Billy Smith (prestige paving) sholing based do ours,we used clay pavors instead of the concrete ones,a little more expensive but they look so much better

[Whitey Grandad]

Not a who, more a how.

Make sure it's properly drained. And don't hose it down to clean it. Sweep all the dirt & grit into the joints. It's called "lock-up".

Aren't there regulations now that the water has to soak through and not run off into the drains?

[mirrorcarp]

I had Billy Smith (prestige paving) sholing based do ours,we used clay pavors instead of the concrete ones,a little more expensive but they look so much better

Would you recommend them (prestige paving) NRSAINT. Are you happy with the job,price etc.

[NRSAINT]

It was done about 6 years ago,he had done other drives near ours so we asked them what they thought of his work,everyone said he had done a very good job.I have just cleaned and re-sanded ours last weekend and it came up like new,if you can i would go for the clay pavors (price was very competitive for a double drive decent bloke as well) hope that helps mirrorcarp

[Wade Garrett]

I think Prestige Paving is Eddie Smith.

He'll do a decent job for you.

[NRSAINT]

sorry, Eddie not Billy cheers WG

[OldNick]

Have you looked at cobble matting? It is a fantastic system and different from all the other standard brick drives.
When it is laid it looks like cobblestone. We had it done on our last property and would definitely use it again.

[Jonnyboy]

Get it sealed, then no weeds will come through. Tarmac is best though.

[sfcuk fan]

You could always do it yourself ......


WWW.DIYBLOCKPAVING.COM


.

[sfcuk fan]

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/3209881943...84.m1558.l2649

[mirrorcarp]

Thanks for all the imput guys. Never even thought about doing it myself. I am a carpenter so fairly practical sort of person. I will get some quotes from the people suggested and go from there.
It would have to be a significant saving to take it on myself.

NRSAINT you say yours was done 6 years ago,have you had any problems with rutting under the vehicles or has it dropped anywhere. I guess if it was going to it would have done so by now.

[cryoman1965]

You could do it yourself and get the bear in to do the labouring. Below is a quote form the ebay link for the DVD. Not a bad saving and you could do in stages dependant on your work.




"A simple off road parking space for a car is roughly 3m x 6m ( 18 sq meters )

A contractor will charge you about £ 1,250 + vat for this of which roughly half is labour.

You don't need to be a professional paver to ' do it yourself ' and save over £ 600 !!!

Our software program is only £ 7.50 ........... you do the maths ! "

[sfcuk fan]

,have you had any problems with rutting under the vehicles or has it dropped anywhere. .

The important thing here is to make sure they lay a ground terram first ( a thick geotextile material ), this will help ensure no rutting etc. Block paving will last for years provided a/ they lay a good strong sub-base, and b/ the customer spring cleans it once a year ( light spray with weed killer and brush in fresh sand .

[swannymere]

Do you need to remove the concrete or are you going to lay the pavers on top? I helped a mate remove his path which was about 12m long and 80cms wide plus two drive strips of concrete for the car to drive on which were about 8m x 65cms each, we had to hire a breaker and it still took two of us about a day and a half to dig it all out and take to the tip, bloody back breaking!

[mirrorcarp]

Do you need to remove the concrete or are you going to lay the pavers on top? I helped a mate remove his path which was about 12m long and 80cms wide plus two drive strips of concrete for the car to drive on which were about 8m x 65cms each, we had to hire a breaker and it still took two of us about a day and a half to dig it all out and take to the tip, bloody back breaking!

All the concrete has got to go. I have just spent the last hour looking at the costs involved DIY and to be honest its a non starter. Would have to hire all the gear and as above i really dont want the hassle of breaking up and getting rid of the concrete. I can turn my hand to most things but i dont fancy taking it on. My drive is 48 sq metres and thats a lot of concrete.

[NRSAINT]

No problems with rutting or unevenness mirrorcarp,Eddie came back a couple of years ago after we had a porch built to make changes to the original layout

[mirrorcarp]

Sounds good NR,i will give him a call.

[mirrorcarp]

A quick update.It would appear the block paving industry must be thriving. Since i started this thread i have contacted 5 businesses. 2 of them completely ignored the answerphone messages i left and i never heard back from them. I have had three prices from the others. £3600 £4300 £5600 you could say there is a bit of difference there. The cheapest one refused to give me a written quote so thats him out the game. So the winner for me is Mr Eddie Smith at Prestige Paving though he is busy until next year but that can only be a good thing , he was the middle quote.

[Whitey Grandad]

A quick update.It would appear the block paving industry must be thriving. Since i started this thread i have contacted 5 businesses. 2 of them completely ignored the answerphone messages i left and i never heard back from them. I have had three prices from the others. £3600 £4300 £5600 you could say there is a bit of difference there. The cheapest one refused to give me a written quote so thats him out the game. So the winner for me is Mr Eddie Smith at Prestige Paving though he is busy until next year but that can only be a good thing , he was the middle quote.

That's interesting. I'll start phoning round tomorrow. I've got about 110 square metres to do.

[Jonnyboy]

A nice red tarmac would be about a quarter of that?