Find a Driveway Installer you can trust in Earlston.

So have you decided to lay block paving on your property? If yes, then knowing how much it would cost would help you prepare a budget and set out a plan before commencement of the project. The cost of block paving depends on a wide range of factors such as the the size of the area in question, cost of labour as well as the type of brick and block paving to be used. So how much does block paving cost? In this article, we’ll give you an general idea of the cost of laying of block paving on a driveway so you can estimate your cost according to your personal requirements and needs.

For a small to medium sized driveway featuring a complex design, the block pavings’ cost starts from a range between £3,000 to £4,000, meanwhile that of a large sized pathway will jump to a range between £6,500 to £7,500. And depending on the complexity of the design, the final cost of the project can be greatly impacted as it would also take a longer period of time to be completed. For the same small to medium sized pathway featuring a simple design which usually takes up to 3 to 4 days will cost within a range of £4,500 to £5,500. While a complex design such as a herringbone pattern will take up to 5 to 6 days and costing within a range of £5,000 to £6,000.

Furthermore, there are also other factors that can determine the price of block paving and another example is the current condition. This includes the preparation work to be carried out before laying the block paving can be a time consuming task especially when the driveway is in a terrible condition and this comes with a high labour cost. Another factor to be considered is the materials used in making the block paving such as stone, concrete, cement, composite and resin - they’re all available in various range of colours and textures. They play a key role in the block paving cost.

Gravel driveways are very popular in the UK for a reason. Not only do they provide a more natural look than other driveway surfacing options and happens to be quite affordable, but they’re also very easy to install and maintain. And more importantly, they have a great range of colour scheme to match and compliment your brickwork and plants to make for an alluring outdoor living space.

Are you also planning to install a gravel driveway? You’ve come to the right place! If you’re a competent DIYer with confidence, then this should be as easy as they come. If otherwise, then it’s advisable to hire a reliable professional who can guarantee the best results for help. In this guide, we’ll shed more light on the gravel driveway installation process. Let’s get started!

✓ Prepare the floor. To get a level and flat floor, you’ll have to clear the area of all weeds, paving slabs, block paving etc. Get a good foundation material to apply to the surface if you have an uneven surface or if you have potholes to fill.

✓ Stop the weeds. You’ll have to apply an anti-weed membrane so you won’t have stubborn weeds growing through your finished driveway.

✓ Spread the gravel. In the process of purchasing your gravel, ensure to select handy bags, bulk bags if tipped loose. If you go for the bags there may be a need of wheelbarrow to help move the gravel around, however with a tipped loose you can have the gravel chippings tipped directly on to the driveway.

✓ Make use of the hose. It’s possible that when your gravel arrives, it’ll be be dusty. Make use of an hose to run over the driveway to bring out the true colours of your driveway.

Driveway surfacing materials like concrete, asphalt and clay brick usually crack because they’ve been exposed to extreme temperatures or put under high pressure. It’s important to repair driveway cracks before they get worse and cause damage to vehicles and perhaps others to trip on raised cracks.

When your driveway is suffering from depression, it becomes unsafe for driving (a danger zone) and ugly - no homeowner wants that! Unfortunately, most driveways won’t hold flat for long as they tend to develop cracks and potholes pretty quickly. Here, we are going to take you through how to fill asphalt driveways’ depression so as to ensure the sinkholes in your driveway poses no threat to you or your loved ones, while also beautifying your property. The approach to be used depends on the intensity of the depression. If its only a few cracks and holes, this can easily be repaired with some equipment. But if otherwise is the case, then calling a reliable professional will be your best bet. In this article, we’ll show you how to repair dips in your asphalt driveway relatively quickly.

✓ Pick a date with warm and sunny weather. This is because if you work in a cold weather, chances are the materials will freeze and hence, unusable. So find a day when the temperature will over 50 degrees Fahrenheit and below 80 degrees Celsius and when there would be no rain. We’ll advise a day between May to October.

✓ Prepare the area. Remove all loose stones, soil, dirt as well as vegetation from the holes. Once done, you can then proceed to washing the area with a pressure washer or sweep with a broom.

✓ Apply a thin mixture of asphalt to the area. Use a flat stirring stick to coat the low driveway area with a thin mixture of asphalt.

✓ Tamp the asphalt repair mix. Purchase the right kind of asphalt to repair the driveway. Fine aggregate asphalt mixture is more suited to filling small holes, whereas the coarse aggregate is more suited to filling larger holes. Apply layers ( about 2 inches each time) of the asphalt repair mix to the sunken area and use a shovel to give it a smooth finish. Once done, simply make the area smooth and protect it with a piece of plywood. Do not walk or drive on the area for a couple of days.

No, pattern imprinted concrete shouldn’t be slippery. Most good driveway installers will add a special anti-slip agent to the sealant before they brush it onto your driveway, so it will stop it from being slippery.

It’s important to ask a driveway company how they will seal your driveway when you get a quote from them. If an untrustworthy company seals your driveway badly, it can cause a thick and extremely slippery surface, so it’s vital that you ask any contractor what their procedure is before you engage them.

It’s also important to remember that pattern imprinted concrete isn’t a ‘non-slip’ surface – it’s just not slippery. You could still slip over on a concrete driveway, just like you could on tarmac or a block paved driveway. Also, once you’ve walked and driven over your driveway for a few months, its skid and slip resistance will increase as it weathers and builds up tiny specs of dirt on it. Pattern imprinted concrete is often used in high footfall areas in places like shops, fast food restaurants and theme parks, so if there was a significant slip risk these businesses wouldn’t use it.

You might think that you could ask your contractor not to seal the driveway to make it less slippery, but it could actually do the opposite. By sealing pattern imprinted concrete, it means that moss and algae is much less likely to grow, which can be extremely slippery to walk on if it’s left to its own devices. If moss does form on your driveway, the sealed surface is much easier to clean as you can simply pressure wash it away; this is not as easy to do on a non-sealed surface.

Pitting, also referred to as spalling is the event whereby “pits” or small holes start showing on the surface of your concrete driveway which makes it appear both worn and uneven. Concrete driveway pitting is a common but highly frustrating problem for most homeowners. You’ll see some concrete driveways that’ll only start to pit after a couple of years, but this is not true for all concrete driveways as others will start to show signs only after a couple of months. So how do you tackle this issue? Well, it’s relatively simple to tackle, however if you’re not confident or lack the necessary skills, we’d recommend you get in touch with a reliable professional who can guarantee the best results for help. In this guide, we’ll take you through the concrete driveway pitting repair process.

✓ Prepare the pits by cleaning the area, clearing out all debris and more. The small pits can be cleaned with a stiff brush while a sturdy broom will do a good job for larger pits.

✓ Make use of a hose to spray the concrete pits and flush out all remaining bits of waste.

✓ If you’re tackling series of small pits, simply use a caulking gun filled with pre-mixed epoxy and specially formulated for concrete to fill the pits. Clear off the excess eproxy ensuring that its level with the concrete surface. Once done, simply leave for at least 24 hours before the application of a concrete sealant to prevent the wear and tear of the new concrete.

✓ Chisel out a little concrete and clean with a pressure washer. Once done, apply a concrete resurfacing compound mixture into the holes and use a trowel to level off.

✓ Ensure that the repaired concrete driveway is protected from rain and foot traffic for at least 6 hours (or 24 hours for vehicles).

Is there a hole in your asphalt driveway you feel you can repair yourself? If it’s something you know you can confidently do then this step by step guide is just for you. If otherwise, then we’d recommend you hire the services of a reliable professional who can guarantee the best results while also saving you some time and extra money that could result from possible errors. In this article, we’d go over the reparation process of an asphalt driveway with a hole in it.

✓ Get the necessary tools. You’re going to need a broom ( to clean the area), caulking gun ( to fill the hole), a hand tamp a plate compactor or a hammer ( to level the filled in hole) and a weeding glove (just in case there are weeds growing in the hole).

✓ Prepare the area. Do this by weeding the plants or weeds that might have grown inside the hole and identify your asphalt filler.

✓ Wet your soil, if necessary. It’s important to note that this is only necessary if your soil is dry to help the filler stick properly.

✓ Fill in deep holes. If the hole goes down about 3 to 4 inches or more, simply fill it with any material like rocks, clay etc.

✓ Apply the asphalt filler. Fill the hole with the asphalt filler to about half an inch higher than the surface of the driveway.

✓ Level the filler. For a large hole, make use of a plate compactor or a hand stamp, but a hammer will be sufficient for smaller holes.

✓ Cover the hole, if necessary. If your home isn’t level, covering your hole with a piece of plywood is advisable.

✓ Clean off the seal. After the asphalt looks done and in place, simply brush away the debris from the seal to finish off the project.