Paving & Patio Companies Near Me

Paving and Block Driveway Guide

Paving gardens, in part or completely, has been popular in the UK for many years, thanks mainly to the lack of maintenance required (no more mowing the grass or weeding) plus the fact paved areas offer a secure parking space for your car. If you are considering paving your garden, the first stage in the planning process is to define how you will use the area to be landscaped. If you just want to improve the overall appearance of the property, then manufactured patio paving, aggregates, cobbles and circles make good choices. If the paved area is to used for parking or a driveway then concrete block paving is a popular choice.

If you are just looking to tidy up the appearance of part of your garden then value range products such as concrete slabs will suffice, whereas if you seek to create an external seating or dining area, then specific patio paving products are available in a variety of shapes. of course it is not necessary that you limit your landscaping project to just one type of paving product, it is possible to combine different types, shapes and colours to good effect.

Benefits of Block Paving

The benefits of block paving include excellent physical performance, pleasing appearance and life long cost effectiveness. Whether used to create a new path, patio or driveway, block paving is functional and long lasting for many purposes. Stone flags for paving come in a variety of forms, but mainly classed as calibrated or riven flags in variable thickness's.

Block Paving, Driveways and Planning Permission

There have been recent changes in rules and regulations concerning paving the front of your home, so householders looking to hard landscape their front gardens. Householders now need planning permission for laying traditional, impermeable driveways that do not control rainwater running off onto roads (if the surface to be covered is more than five square metres). This legislation applies to new driveways, drive extensions or drive replacements.

You do not need planning permission if the surface to be covered is less than five square metres or if the new surface is permeable or porous, or if a traditional surface is laid but the rainwater is directed to a lawn or border to drain naturally or via a soakaway. To avoid planning problems a wide range of permeable paving solutions are now available.

Block Paving Driveway Costs and Quotes

Paving costs can vary from around £40 per square metre up to over £100 per square metre depending on the materials used, the existing surface, depth of excavation and even your location (as aggregate costs fluctuate hugely across the country). To get an accurate price you really need to get a tradesman to visit your property to inspect the area to be paved and discuss the type of paving or driveway required. The easiest way to do this is to use the free quote service on this site to have recommended landscape gardeners and builders get in touch with you and avoiding the hassle of ringing around. When you employ a professional landscape gardener to hard landscape your garden, you get real peace of mind knowing that the job will be done professionally and be long lasting.

Choose a landscaper with experience in patio laying and paving if this is the service you are looking for, most gardeners tend to specialise in certain areas, so it makes no sense to hire a planting specialist to lay your patio! Ask to see examples of their previous work before hiring, good landscape gardeners are proud of their work and they will be happy to show you previous jobs and let you talk to other customers.