Why block paving is still the default choice
Block paving has been the mainstay of our work for over twenty years, and it's what we lay most weeks. It handles vehicle loads better than almost anything else at the price, and because it's a modular surface it can be lifted and relaid — so a trench for a new cable or a settled patch near a gully is a morning's work, not a full replacement.
It also gives you the most design freedom. Borders, contrasting soldier courses, circle features and inset patterns all cost very little extra when they're planned into the setting-out from the start, and they're what make a drive look designed rather than just surfaced.
- Dug out to 200–250mm and carted away — no burying the old surface
- Type 1 MOT sub-base laid in layers and whacker-compacted, not tipped and raked
- Edge courses haunched in concrete so the perimeter can never creep
- Blocks cut in tight with a bench saw, not knocked in with a hammer
- Kiln-dried jointing sand vibrated in, site swept and cleared before we leave
