Tarmac drive or block paving?

London_Town

I'm looking to get my driveway done this spring, it's just a few slabs and dirt at the moment. However, I can't decide between tarmac or block paving. The drive is north facing if that makes a difference.

Does anyone have any recent experience of getting a drive done? If so, are there any obvious pitfalls or advantages to either surface?

When it's done well, I think both finishes can look nice, but I'm wondering which ages better or will be easier to maintain?

Any experience would be appreciated!

Thank you.

Ebe_Scrooge

Personally I'd go for block paving. Tarmac can start to crack and crumble after a few years. Block paving is also more porous, so water can soak through it to a fair extent, especially through the joints. Maybe a good thing with the recent weather, they reckon a contributary factor in the flooding is that because more and more areas are being concreted over, the water runs off rather than soaking into the ground as it should.

Block paving also has the advantage that if you get an oil spill on it, it's pretty easy to remove a few blocks and either replace them or turn them over to hide the stain.

You'll inevitably get weeks growing in the cracks - even with a proper sub base, seeds find their way into the sand in the joints. But it's not a huge problem, just grub them out every so often. Or else you can go over it with a jet wash once a year and brush a bit more sand in to refill the joints.

Personally I like block paving - looks nice and relatively easy to look after. You may want to consider pattern imprinted concrete - google it. Looks very nice, but I can't recommend or otherwise, never had any experience of it. I did consider it when I had my paving done, but I figured that if it cracked or whatever, it would be difficult to patch up. Plus, if you should ever need to dig a section up, to access water mains or whatever, blocks can be lifted and replaced *relatively* easily without having to redo the whole drive.

There are my views anyway, hope this gives you some food for thought.

browneyedbazzi

I'd go for block paving too - tarmac can look almost decent when it's done really well, but that almost never happens and I can't remember the last time I saw a tarmac drive that I thought 'oh, that looks nice'.

Also, if you're in a built up area you may need planning permission to have standard tarmac as it isn't permeable (there is permeable asphalt available but I expect it's a lot more expensive).

anotherbaldrick

Tarmac and block paving are OK , we have had both (on different houses) but they can both get a bit ratty over time. The Tarmac cracks and the blocks get grass and weeds growing up between the joints which is time consuming to keep removing. We now have gravel which is turning out to be far more satisfactory than either of the previous.
Warning; It does need to be the correct gravel , what is called a "self compacting " or " self consolidating". That is a medium mix of angular shaped stones (not round and even) with a variation of size so that the bed together, this laid on a well compacted base with durable membrane such as Terram to stop weeds. This driveway is keeping it's original pristine appearance, the only maintenance is an occasional rake of any areas which delivery lorries have disturbed and a pull of anything which has managed to get root established in the stones. It is totally permeable and makes the environmentalists happy
Whichever you go for get it done by a reliable contractor, do not get it done on the cheap, there are a lot of cowboy operators offering to "Do your driveway Guv ?" their work will not last a month.

andrewf75

Something that lets water drain through!!

London_Town

Thanks all for the feedback, definately food for thought. I'm pleased to see support for block paving as that's my preference too.

xyz123

What is ur budget? Have u considered any other options than paving or tarmac?

Mojisola

London_Town wrote: »

I'm looking to get my driveway done this spring, it's just a few slabs and dirt at the moment.

Check whether you need planning permission -
https://www.planningportal.gov.uk/permission/commonprojects/pavingfrontgarden/

London_Town

xyz123 wrote: »

What is ur budget? Have u considered any other options than paving or tarmac?

I have a budget in my mind of around £1000. My driveway is about the footprint of a large car, in front of my garage.

Personally, I don't think gravel or stones would work for me. The drive and garage are at the end of the back garden and I feel gravel works better in front of a house. I'd also worry about it being used as a cat litter!

Are there any other options I'm missing?

London_Town

Mojisola wrote: »

Check whether you need planning permission -
www.planningportal.gov.uk/permission/commonprojects/pavingfrontgarden/

Thanks Mojisola, I've checked the link and you've put my mind at rest. No problems there.

clockworks_2

I went for resin bonded. Looks like loose gravel but is all stuck down. Small bits of gravel are mixed with a resin in a mixer and then laid out.

When I had some work done to my place I had the builder put down a concrete base with a metal grid for strength. This cost me £700 for a space large enough for 3 cars.

I then has the resin bonders gravel down. The resin bonded gravel allows water to soak through which travels down the concrete into a gulley at the front which goes into a soak away.

I preferred the look of this and I won't have issues with weeds sunken blocks etc.

Check out

http://www.flintstonesolutions.com