block paved drive info please

mrs_baggins

Had a chap round the weekend and another one tonight as I am thinking of having a new drive. The quote from the first was round about the figure i thought so its a possible but the man started asking me questions and I am sorry to say I hadnt got a clue. DFor instance I never knew there were clay block paved drives and cement type block paved drives. 2 near neighbours both had paved drives and we had a look at both and he said that one was clay and one was concrete pavers but to me they both looked the same. (I am not talking about pressed concrete made to resemble paved drives) the man said that the clay ones would work out about £800 more but they wouldnt fade as much. Now of the 2 drives we looked at both of which were done (not by him) in the last 12 months the one he said was clay already had grass and stuff growing through and looked a bit scruffy but the other one although about 9 months newer still looked perfect. It may just be that the owners of the clay one hadnt looked after theirs properly.

has anyone had any problems with their paved drive? are they easy to clean/maintain? does anyone know which type if any is the best one to have?Your views would be appreciated

uncle_buck_3

Can’t help personally with your query but this site has all the advice.

http://www.pavingexpert.com/blocks03.htm

HTH.

leeegglestone

Dont do it! Did you not see the programme about climate change & flooding last night? because more people have Paving than Lawns!

mrs_baggins

leeegglestone wrote:

Dont do it! Did you not see the programme about climate change & flooding last night? because more people have Paving than Lawns!

No, didnt see the programme but have tarmac at the minute so its just replacing that- am not planning to repave the whole front garden

Loobysaver

My friend did our block paving for us and our neighbours. I chose cement blocks just cos I liked the look of them and our neighbours chose clay ones.

My neighbours have more weeds growing between the cracks then ours. This might be because clay is a natural product and the blocks aren't dead straight so they are spaced apart slightly more than our cement one's hence the weeds.

It's all down to personal preference and doesn't really matter what you have in my opinion.

itstime222

mrs_baggins wrote:

Had a chap round the weekend and another one tonight as I am thinking of having a new drive. The quote from the first was round about the figure i thought so its a possible but the man started asking me questions and I am sorry to say I hadnt got a clue. DFor instance I never knew there were clay block paved drives and cement type block paved drives. 2 near neighbours both had paved drives and we had a look at both and he said that one was clay and one was concrete pavers but to me they both looked the same. (I am not talking about pressed concrete made to resemble paved drives) the man said that the clay ones would work out about £800 more but they wouldnt fade as much. Now of the 2 drives we looked at both of which were done (not by him) in the last 12 months the one he said was clay already had grass and stuff growing through and looked a bit scruffy but the other one although about 9 months newer still looked perfect. It may just be that the owners of the clay one hadnt looked after theirs properly.

has anyone had any problems with their paved drive? are they easy to clean/maintain? does anyone know which type if any is the best one to have?Your views would be appreciated

Like Loobysaver sais, it is all down to personal taste. I dont do paving as a career but am trained in it and help a freind when he has bigger weekend 'jobs'. You get a lot of unskilled trade in the industry, a lot of copwboys that will offer a 10 year warranty and change names when they get to the bottom of your road :mad:

I always used to assume that if they are in the yellow pages they must be legit, but all you have to do to get there is come up with a name and pay to have your ad entered!!

Id go with a large national company or someone who has been referred and that you know. With regards to clay or cement, clay will look better over time, it may look more worn in the forst 12-18 months but then it stays at that level whilst cement deteriates very quickly. Not unlike double glazing, if you have 2 houses A and B, A goes for the cheaper upvc that looks a lot whiter on installation and for 12 months. House B goes for the more yellowy white windows that cost more and dont look quite as good at first. You will see as soon as 6 months after installation, A will go steeply downhill whilst B still look exactkly the same. This continues until after about 5-6 years where A need new windows and B will still look the same as the day they were installed!! B wont even start to wear until 10 -12 years after!!

Anyway, that really wasnt the question!!!

How big is the drive (sq feet) I can tell you what a decent quote would be..

Where abouts do you live as I could ask a freind his availablity?? (up to you :-) )
Whereabouts do you live??

mrs_baggins

itstime222 wrote:

You get a lot of unskilled trade in the industry, a lot of copwboys that will offer a 10 year warranty and change names when they get to the bottom of your road :mad:
I am checking up with those recommended by trading standards or peopel who have hd them do theirs so no probem with that hopefully!



How big is the drive (sq feet) I can tell you what a decent quote would be..
According to the man who came yesterday its 45msq ( I am very spacially unaware so will take his word)

Whereabouts do you live??

south birmingham

edthedead

As mentioned above, be very carefull who you pay to do the job, this type of work tends to attract the less trust worthy builders who will rip you off.

It would be best to go for personal recomendation, but if you have to get names out the yellow pages i would avoid those with only mobile numbers or only 0800 numbers (these can just be redirected straight to a mobile). I would also only use a company with an address in the advert, preferably one that is local, then you can drive by and check it actually exsists!

If they offer a guarantee check it is 'insurance backed' ie under written by an insurance company, then ring the insurance company and check they really back guarantees issued by the company you are dealing with.

Also, I hope this goes with out saying, get a written quote on headed paper and don't pay all the money up front, agree on a split of say 30% up front,
40% on completion and 30% 1 month after completion, that way if it all comes loose at least you have not paid the full amount.

niceshoes_2

I almost ended up with a bunch of cowboys doing my driveway, but luckily at the last minute, cancelled the agreement, which luckily they allowed.

I ended up using a Marshalls approved contractor to do the work, who also happened to be a friend of my brothers - although I didn't know this until he turned up on the doorstep! I'm really happy with ours, looks great, much better than how it looked before, just need to get the kerb lowered now.

Block paving cost us £1300 which worked out at £50 per square metre. I live in Northamptonshire by the way, as I know areas differin terms of cost.