Everything people ring up and ask

Around Mansfield and the NG17–NG20 postcodes, expect £75–£110 per m² supplied and laid, depending on the blocks, the amount of cutting and whether drainage or a dropped kerb is needed. A typical two-car drive of 40–50m² lands between £3,500 and £5,500.

Resin bound is £85–£120 per m², tarmac £55–£85, patio slabbing £80–£130 and artificial grass £45–£75. Tarmac gets cheaper per m² the bigger the area; resin and porcelain don't move much either way.

Fixed, in writing, after we've been out and measured. The only things that change it are genuine unknowns underground — a buried slab, a live drain nobody knew about — and we stop and talk to you before spending a penny more.

Not to give you a price, ever. On larger jobs we ask for a materials payment when the blocks or stone are ordered, and the balance on completion once you've walked it with us.

Usually depth of dig, thickness of sub-base, whether edgings are haunched in concrete, and whether the old surface is carted away or buried. Ask both firms to write those four things down and compare them — the difference is normally right there.

We don't run finance ourselves. On bigger landscaping projects we'll happily phase the work so you can spread the spend across two seasons instead.

Most domestic driveways are two to four days on site — one to dig out and cart away, one for sub-base and edgings, then laying and jointing. Bigger jobs with walls or steps run longer, and you get a day-by-day plan with the quote.

Typically three to six weeks, longer through spring. Smaller jobs — cleaning and sealing, a fence, a small patio — can often slot in sooner.

Not on the drive itself. You'll need to park on the street from the morning we dig out until the surface is laid and, on resin or tarmac, cured. We'll tell you exactly which days at the site visit.

We always keep a walking route to the front door, boarded or stepped as needed. If the only route is across fresh work we'll say so in advance so you can plan around it.

Yes, apart from hard frost and heavy rain, which stop laying and resin work. Excavation and sub-base carry on in most weather. Winter is often the quickest time to get booked in.

Usually not, provided the surface is permeable or surface water drains to a soakaway or border rather than onto the road. Resin bound and permeable block paving both satisfy this, and we design the falls that way as standard.

Yes. A vehicle crossing needs county council approval and can only be built by a contractor licensed to work on the public highway. We're licensed, and we prepare and submit the application for you.

Six to ten weeks in Nottinghamshire from submission to permit. We submit as soon as you give us the go-ahead so the wait overlaps the rest of the planning rather than delaying the build.

It doesn't automatically stop the job. Sometimes the crossing can be repositioned; sometimes a utility diversion is needed and we coordinate it. We do a free feasibility check before you commit to anything.

Generally yes, but you'll need a dropped kerb to drive onto it legally, and a permeable surface or soakaway to stay inside permitted development. Conservation areas and some new-build covenants have extra restrictions worth checking first.

Block paving for choice of look and because it's repairable block by block. Resin for a seamless, permeable, almost maintenance-free surface. Tarmac for the best value on a large area. All three last well if the base is right.

Yes. Resin bound copes with freeze–thaw because water drains straight through, and we use UV-stable resin so it doesn't yellow. The horror stories are nearly always a poor base or resin laid too thin.

Sandstone is warmer, cheaper and more forgiving to lay. Porcelain is dead flat, frost-proof, doesn't stain and needs no sealing — dearer to buy and lay, cheapest to live with. If you hate cleaning, porcelain.

Real turf if you want a garden that breathes and don't mind mowing. Artificial if the lawn is small, heavily shaded, sloping, or gets churned to mud by dogs and children. We fit both and we'll tell you honestly which suits the space.

Usually, if the range is still made. Bring us a spare block or slab, or we'll take one off site and match it against the current Marshalls, Brett and Bradstone ranges.

Typically 200–250mm on a domestic driveway, deeper where the ground is soft or the traffic is heavier. Patios are 150–200mm below finished level. We dig to what the ground needs, not to a fixed number.

Type 1 MOT laid in layers and whacker-compacted between each one, then a 40mm screeded sharp sand laying course under block paving. Edge courses are bedded and haunched in concrete so the perimeter can't creep.

Always. Old concrete, tarmac and spoil go to a licensed tip with transfer notes. Burying the old surface under the new one is a shortcut that shows up as settlement inside a couple of years.

Falls are set away from the house, and where water can't run to a border or lawn we install a soakaway, channel drain or gully. On permeable surfaces the water goes straight through the build-up.

Not from underneath — the build-up doesn't support growth. Anything you see has blown in and rooted in the jointing sand on top, and it brushes or washes out. Sealing reduces it considerably.

Workmanship on everything we install — settlement, edge failure, joint loss, sub-base failure, drainage, walls moving, posts working loose. Registered on completion, and it transfers with the property if you sell. Full detail on our guarantee page.

Brush it, keep gullies clear, top up jointing sand if it washes out of a corner, and treat oil spots quickly. Cleaning and sealing every three to five years keeps it looking new and cuts weed growth.

It's optional. Sealing makes spills easier to shift, cuts weeds and deepens the colour, and it's the cheapest way to get years more out of a sound drive. It won't fix settlement, and we'll say so if that's what you've got.

Often, yes. We'll come and look and tell you honestly whether it's a repair or whether you'd be throwing money at something that needs relaying.

Yes. Ring the same number you rang to book the job — no claims line, no forms. If it's our workmanship it's fixed at our cost.