Block Paving Advice
Discussion
Morning all,
I'm after some advice with regards to block paving my driveway.
It's approx 36m2 - this is only my rough measurements and is currently concrete at the moment which looks awful.
I'm getting traders in to quote for the job. I had the first one come round last night, he comes very well recommended on Checkatrade.com and he only lives about a mile down the road. He was a nice enough chap, although very pushy and wanted an order there and then. I explained I'm getting other quotes in and will speak to him later on during the week once I've spoken to the other traders.
From the reviews I've seen, this guys customers seem happy with the work, he has a decent looking website and facebook page, however there's something about him which I'm not 100% sure about. He quoted a price after just looking round the driveway and not even getting a tape measure out! Is this normal? I expected the process to be more calculated than just tapping away at the calculator on his phone for about five seconds.
After some discussion he offered to do the job for £3200, which if my calcs are right and the drive is 36m2 then it's about £89 per square meter. He would be using Marshall Driveline 50's.
Also he mentioned about throwing in the sealing for free, which would normally cost a couple of hundred quid to do. Am I right he's talking about this sort of stuff...
http://www.builderdepot.co.uk/cementone-resin-for-...
How important is this?
Any advice people can offer would be very much appreciated. I'm just a bit dubious about spending this sort of money and not getting a good job at the end.
Oh, also if it matters we're in Suffolk.
Thanks in advance.
I'm after some advice with regards to block paving my driveway.
It's approx 36m2 - this is only my rough measurements and is currently concrete at the moment which looks awful.
I'm getting traders in to quote for the job. I had the first one come round last night, he comes very well recommended on Checkatrade.com and he only lives about a mile down the road. He was a nice enough chap, although very pushy and wanted an order there and then. I explained I'm getting other quotes in and will speak to him later on during the week once I've spoken to the other traders.
From the reviews I've seen, this guys customers seem happy with the work, he has a decent looking website and facebook page, however there's something about him which I'm not 100% sure about. He quoted a price after just looking round the driveway and not even getting a tape measure out! Is this normal? I expected the process to be more calculated than just tapping away at the calculator on his phone for about five seconds.
After some discussion he offered to do the job for £3200, which if my calcs are right and the drive is 36m2 then it's about £89 per square meter. He would be using Marshall Driveline 50's.
Also he mentioned about throwing in the sealing for free, which would normally cost a couple of hundred quid to do. Am I right he's talking about this sort of stuff...
http://www.builderdepot.co.uk/cementone-resin-for-...
How important is this?
Any advice people can offer would be very much appreciated. I'm just a bit dubious about spending this sort of money and not getting a good job at the end.
Oh, also if it matters we're in Suffolk.
Thanks in advance.
No idea about the sealant, but here in N.Ireland the price is about £80/m2 - and that's using cheap Lithuanian labourers, who do a great job.
I'd just be wary of any add-ons or "Look what we found mate, this is gonna bump up the cost a load" type deals. If you can get the quote in writing with wording along the lines of "Having comprehensively surveyed the area in question, I offer a firm quote of £xxxx to carry out xxxxxx works", that sounds grand.
You really need to word it right - I once had a tender come back or a huge air handler (ventilation for a 5 floor office building) - one guy was £700 below the others on a £30,000 tender - but it turned out that his tender included supplying and commissioning it - not actually assembling the bloody thing. That was an extra £4,000 after I spotted it and asked. No idea how he intended to commission it when it would be sitting outside on a flatbed in 100 pieces.
You have to be on your feet and question every bugger these days, get a written quote as to everything the fella will do - if he's legit, he won't have a problem with giving you that.
I'd just be wary of any add-ons or "Look what we found mate, this is gonna bump up the cost a load" type deals. If you can get the quote in writing with wording along the lines of "Having comprehensively surveyed the area in question, I offer a firm quote of £xxxx to carry out xxxxxx works", that sounds grand.
You really need to word it right - I once had a tender come back or a huge air handler (ventilation for a 5 floor office building) - one guy was £700 below the others on a £30,000 tender - but it turned out that his tender included supplying and commissioning it - not actually assembling the bloody thing. That was an extra £4,000 after I spotted it and asked. No idea how he intended to commission it when it would be sitting outside on a flatbed in 100 pieces.
You have to be on your feet and question every bugger these days, get a written quote as to everything the fella will do - if he's legit, he won't have a problem with giving you that.
I've asked for first quote in writing which hasn't come through yet.
I've got another guy coming tomorrow morning and another on tuesday so I'll be asking for these in writing too.
The guy coming tomorrow is another local guy who's been established for 29 years so I'm hoping that should be good quality work.
With regards to planning, as long as it drains properly and doesnt spill out on to the pavement it should be okay shouldn't it?
Thanks again
I've got another guy coming tomorrow morning and another on tuesday so I'll be asking for these in writing too.
The guy coming tomorrow is another local guy who's been established for 29 years so I'm hoping that should be good quality work.
With regards to planning, as long as it drains properly and doesnt spill out on to the pavement it should be okay shouldn't it?
Thanks again
roofer said:
Round these parts, all new or replacement paving need to be permeable.
Always a handy site for starters 
http://www.planningportal.gov.uk/permission/common...
I was under the impression block paving is permeable as water can go through between the individual pavers even after the 'sealant' is applied? Otherwise how do those pesky weeds and Moss keep reapping although they are very shallow rooted
Also https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploa...
speedyguy said:
Always a handy site for starters
http://www.planningportal.gov.uk/permission/common...
I was under the impression block paving is permeable as water can go through between the individual pavers even after the 'sealant' is applied? Otherwise how do those pesky weeds and Moss keep reapping although they are very shallow rooted
Also https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploa...
The newer permeable stuff i've seen looks quite different to the trad blocks , much bigger gaps to allow water through.http://www.planningportal.gov.uk/permission/common...
I was under the impression block paving is permeable as water can go through between the individual pavers even after the 'sealant' is applied? Otherwise how do those pesky weeds and Moss keep reapping although they are very shallow rooted
Also https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploa...
I too am interested having block paving laid. If you have not already seen it, I found this useful: http://www.pavingexpert.com/home.htm
absolutely get a quote in writing...make sure you also get a specification of what the contractor is proposing that way you can at least compare with others,things like sub base material and depth of same,drainage,fall and levels etc. There are a lot of really good people out there but also a lot of rogues. Dont be afraid to ask and do not be browbeaten into accepting something for the sake of it.
freakynessless said:
......Also he mentioned about throwing in the sealing for free, which would normally cost a couple of hundred quid to do. Am I right he's talking about this sort of stuff...
http://www.builderdepot.co.uk/cementone-resin-for-...
How important is this?
I don't think it's critical but we did our drive as it gave a deeper colour to the blocks and we liked the "wet look" it gave. it's also helped where we've had oil dripped from visitors and the removal of bird lime. You can blast away the sealant and the stain with it.http://www.builderdepot.co.uk/cementone-resin-for-...
How important is this?
As far as pricing by eye I guess an experienced tradesman can pretty accurately guestimate the dimensions of a straight forward shape.
bimsb6 said:
speedyguy said:
Always a handy site for starters
http://www.planningportal.gov.uk/permission/common...
I was under the impression block paving is permeable as water can go through between the individual pavers even after the 'sealant' is applied? Otherwise how do those pesky weeds and Moss keep reapping although they are very shallow rooted
Also https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploa...
The newer permeable stuff i've seen looks quite different to the trad blocks , much bigger gaps to allow water through.http://www.planningportal.gov.uk/permission/common...
I was under the impression block paving is permeable as water can go through between the individual pavers even after the 'sealant' is applied? Otherwise how do those pesky weeds and Moss keep reapping although they are very shallow rooted
Also https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploa...
The paving expert site is where we send all our more "in depth" enquirers.
Thanks for the info and advice so far guys.
A quick update on the current position. Trader number two came round on sunday and actually got a tape measure out! I was quite pleased about this. We spent most of our time talking about drainage, which too was pleasing rather than trying to drill me down to giving him an order there and then - although he still hasnt actually given me a price or even an indication yet and its wednesday!
We agreed that as the pavement sits higher than the damp course then the drive would have to slope backwards towards the house and put in a drain in front of the house, this way the guttering from our small porch can also be picked up at the same time.
Initally thinking that a soakaway would be the best best, we then realised that the current drainage (which is currently in the middle of the driveway) leads to sewer anyway so we could just link it up to whatever is already in place.
Trader number three comes round yesterday and was also of the same mindset regarding the drainage.
He gave me some firm wirtten quotes, which was great.
He offered £3,550 for standard pavers (Marshall Driveline 50 type pavers). He said he would also offer the same price for Pattern Imprinted Concrete too which was quite interesting as it's not something we've given much thought to, but we do like the sound of it now it's been offered. My only real concern is that it can be slippery and we currenly have a two year old and a new born too. He did advise they can do it with a non-slip finish - similar to fine sandpaper.
Lastly he offered £3,750 for Chelsea pavers, again, not something we had thought of before but now we quite like the sound of it although there is an extra cost (albeit quite small).
Now to be honest I'm quite bamboozled with all the options, colours and finishes! Although at the moment I do like the sound of pattern imprinted concrete. Has anyone got any fist hand experience of it? And am I right to be concerned about it being slippery?
The guy who offered the PIC also pointed to a house down our road which he did in PIC, which we've always looked and thought it looks great.
Thanks again guys
A quick update on the current position. Trader number two came round on sunday and actually got a tape measure out! I was quite pleased about this. We spent most of our time talking about drainage, which too was pleasing rather than trying to drill me down to giving him an order there and then - although he still hasnt actually given me a price or even an indication yet and its wednesday!
We agreed that as the pavement sits higher than the damp course then the drive would have to slope backwards towards the house and put in a drain in front of the house, this way the guttering from our small porch can also be picked up at the same time.
Initally thinking that a soakaway would be the best best, we then realised that the current drainage (which is currently in the middle of the driveway) leads to sewer anyway so we could just link it up to whatever is already in place.
Trader number three comes round yesterday and was also of the same mindset regarding the drainage.
He gave me some firm wirtten quotes, which was great.
He offered £3,550 for standard pavers (Marshall Driveline 50 type pavers). He said he would also offer the same price for Pattern Imprinted Concrete too which was quite interesting as it's not something we've given much thought to, but we do like the sound of it now it's been offered. My only real concern is that it can be slippery and we currenly have a two year old and a new born too. He did advise they can do it with a non-slip finish - similar to fine sandpaper.
Lastly he offered £3,750 for Chelsea pavers, again, not something we had thought of before but now we quite like the sound of it although there is an extra cost (albeit quite small).
Now to be honest I'm quite bamboozled with all the options, colours and finishes! Although at the moment I do like the sound of pattern imprinted concrete. Has anyone got any fist hand experience of it? And am I right to be concerned about it being slippery?
The guy who offered the PIC also pointed to a house down our road which he did in PIC, which we've always looked and thought it looks great.
Thanks again guys
I've had a PIC at my last house, Loved it, maintenance free, easy to look after just give it a reseal every so often. Never noticed it being slippy once.
Could have probably done with 1 extra expansion joint in it as it had a small crack in it, possibly where i used to park my small concrete mixer truck weighing several tonnes on it frequently
Could have probably done with 1 extra expansion joint in it as it had a small crack in it, possibly where i used to park my small concrete mixer truck weighing several tonnes on it frequently
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