Latest Updates

Your next step, if you do elect to forge ahead with installing a driveway will be make a choice about what type of driveway is going to be most suitable for your circumstances. There are many different types of driveway available, as I'm sure you will be aware, but these may not all be right for you. If you're on a tight spending budget you could be to some degree limited in your choices. The configuration and dimensions of your property's garden may also affect your final decision.

You might say "a driveway is just a driveway", however that simply isn't true, given that there are many different designs and types of driveway, and if you were to take a walk around your town, you will see what I mean. You should see shingle driveways, grass driveways, block paved driveways, tarmac driveways, resin bound driveways, asphalt driveways, concrete driveways, cobbled driveways, patterned concrete driveways and natural stone driveways, in various forms, however this will give you a perception of all the potential alternatives.

What Type of Driveway is Best? Before deciding what type of driveway is right for your property, there are a few things that you will have to take into account. A few details that you would be sensible to think about - 1. Local authority planning permission - is planning permission needed for your driveway? 2. How the land lies - is the area level or sloped? 3. How successfully does your garden drain - does water collect where you're wanting to build your driveway?

Although you may think that you can just stick a driveway anywhere you like on your land, this is not automatically true. The legislation that pertain to driveways aren't just laid down by the local authority, but are in reality enforced by government law. However, at this moment in time, these laws only affect driveways being laid in front gardens. This legislation, which is known as the Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS) has been in force since October 2008, when it was first brought in.

If you are aiming to build a driveway having an area of more than 5m² and it's in your front garden, you are going to be affected by these SuDS legislation. You won't have to stress about this if you build your driveway from a porous (permeable) substance like shingle, permeable concrete block, porous asphalt, monoblock (grass) or resin, which will allow the water to pass through and naturally drain away. If you believe that the SuDS legislation will affect your planned driveway in the UK, you can see detailed information here - Sustainable Drainage Systems

Naturally it is quite feasible for you to build your own driveway in the UK, if you are fairly good at do-it-yourself and are not fazed by a touch of hard work. However no-one should think of this as an easy process, as there is a great deal of preparation work involved apart from actually laying the driveway, including doing waste removal, lugging materials and excavating. If you've got any concerns about whether you would be able to tackle a project such as this, it might be a good idea to hire an experienced driveway specialist.

With this kind of project, you've got to be wary about exactly who you pick, seeing as you clearly need somebody who knows precisely what they are up to. There are plenty of cowboys and rogue traders out there who will soon pocket your cash and do a lousy job. It's worth shelling out a bit more money to get a proper job done, instead of taking a risk with a substandard worker just to save yourself a couple of quid. Driveway and patio contractors who have been offering their services in and around the UK for a number of years would be the smartest choice.

When assessing these paving contractors, you should at the very least ask for some references from satisfied clientele, ask what warranties they offer on their workmanship, ascertain how long they've been in business, check that they have got insurance protection, ask if they are a member of a trade association such as ANTSCA (the surfacing trade association) and ask to look at a portfolio of past projects.

This doesn't have to be an inquisition, but asking these germane questions should give you an inkling of the sort of individual that you are going to be dealing with. If they are relaxed about answering all of these questions, you can assume that they are fairly genuine. You can deem that they're hiding something or being less than honest if they're confrontational or hesitant when asked such questions. If that occurs you would be wise to avoid them like the plague and try another tradesman.

If you are wary and pick a really good driveway paver, they will help you make all the most important decisions with regards to your project, including the recommended driveway technique, the favoured location and the best materials. And that is not the end of it, because they'll also take care of all the design, preparation and planning that's required for your new driveway installation to go like clockwork.

Gravel Driveways

The most economical and easiest of all the available styles is the gravel driveway. Gravel driveways are especially effective in a rural location, and in spite of their inherent simplicity they can be highly pleasing. You shouldn't have any problem locating a type of gravel that looks amazing in your garden, as there are a wide range of colours and sizes to choose from. A efficient gravel driveway will need a well-defined and substantial edging, and a good robust base of hardcore. If you want a really good quality gravel driveway, you should make sure that three or four separate layers are put down, with each and every one individually tamped and rolled and left to settle for a day or so before the next one is laid. Properly laid gravel driveways are of course SuDS compliant, consequently you won't need to apply for planning permission no matter how large your driveway is.

Asphalt Driveways

When you are looking for that extra touch of 'curb appeal' for your house in, an asphalt driveway, with its smooth continuous surface, is a good choice. A professional driveway contractor in will provide you with an asphalt drive which will give you many years of good service, with very little maintenance required. There are even permeable asphalt solutions so that rainwater can drain away into a sub-base, rather than run off into road drainage systems, which can be attributed to localised flooding.

Asphalt driveways are exceptionally well designed to hold up to anything the British winters can toss at them, and deliver very good value. Because of how asphalt is produced, it's also easy and cheap to repair, maintain and when necessary, remove. Actually, asphalt can even be recycled for use elsewhere, making this the most environmentally friendly of the hard driveway materials. (Tags: Asphalt Driveway, Asphalt Driveways, Asphalt Driveway Recycling).

Block Paved Driveways

Over the last decade or so scores of driveways have sprung up in built with the block-paving method. Forming attractive and interesting patterns, many hundreds of specially designed block paving bricks are butted together to create a robust, hard-wearing driveway. The gaps between the blocks are filled with kiln-dried sand which is brushed into the exposed joints, resulting in a tidy finish. To get the longest life and best service out of your block-paved driveway, you should get it professionally sealed after 4 or 5 months to stop weed growth. There are lots of designs in which block paving is laid, including herringbone, stretcher bond, basketweave and fan.

SuDS Compliant Block Paving Driveways: It is also possible to build a Compliant with SuDS block paving driveway in, if that is what you require. By leaving wider gaps between the bricks and filling them with a fine aggregate instead of the usual kiln-dried sand, you are able to create a permeable surface that doesn't require planning permission. (Tags: Block Paving, Block Paved Driveways, Block Paving Driveway).

Natural Stone Driveways

Natural stone is a driveway material that never loses its beautiful appearance even as it ages. This dense, compact material looks fabulous on any driveway and will provide a whole lifetime of good service for any motor vehicles you may park on it throughout the years. Due to the distinctive colours and depth of tones in the stone, you'll finish up with a driveway that's completely bespoke to your home. When expertly installed, a natural stone driveway has that all important WOW factor that complements any house.

A natural stone driveway is also easy to maintain, and is less susceptible to weather damage than concrete materials. The smooth surface of the stones makes them far easier to clean, and unwanted weeds find it harder to gain a foothold in the smaller gaps of a stone driveway. A natural stone driveway properly installed by an experienced TOWN driveway company should be thought of as a sound investment that will add value to your property.

Driveway Cleaning

If you are about to replace an existing driveway because your current one is looking shabby, it would be significantly less costly to clean it rather than rebuild it. For the majority of people, it is not necessarily a priority to maintain the cleanliness of their driveway. Nevertheless, cleaning your driveway is a process that ought to be done with some regularity, and is important from both a maintenance and visual perspective. Weeds and unwanted plant growth can damage the structure of your driveway as time passes. Existing cracks and crevices can be widened which might ultimately lead to structural issues in your driveway.

If you notice that your driveway has dirt, weeds or stains, it's advisable to remove them before they get any worse. It isn't a good option to wait around for the spring and summer months to arrive to jet or pressure wash your driveway, even though these are the times when you most notice moss and weeds. If brake fluid, diesel and oil is spilt from your vehicle, the appearance of your drive can be seriously ruined. You should clean these off quickly, so that any ugly staining of your driveway surface is prevented.

You will need a few tools such as a bucket, a scraper, a broom, a wire brush and detergent, together with a jet washing device, so as to get your driveway totally clean. A professional driveway cleaning service might be needed if you haven't got the right equipment, or are not clear about cleaning it yourself. You might even find that your driveway installer will be prepared to offer this service.

Tarmac Driveways

Tarmac is a very popular kind of surface for driveways on account of its strength and durability. When laid professionally it is weather resistant, looks fantastic and requires very little maintenance. A tarmac driveway will be able to handle heavier vehicles, such as motor-homes and lorries, without dimpling or damage to the surface, and should look pristine for many years to come.

If you want to colour tarmac, it is incredibly easy to do so, and it offers great value in comparison to other driveway options. Tarmac makes it easy to go above and beyond a traditional black coloured surface and have it coloured to match your home or property. It is quite possible for a professional driveway company to lay a new tarmac drive in a day. This straightforward installation, coupled with its high strength and simple maintenance makes a tarmac driveway a great option for any home.

Resin-Bound Driveways

Among the most flexible and attractive styles of driveway that are available at this time, resin-bound or resin driveways are becoming progressively more popular and also comply with SuDS, if that's what you're interested in. Resin-bound driveways come in a whole host of colours and patterns that can be customized to your exact specifications. If you have an existing concrete or tarmac driveway, a brand new resin surface can be laid on top of your existing surface. Resin driveways are easy to clean, maintenance free, durable, permeable, and a perfect substitute for tarmac, concrete, block paving or gravel. A resin-bound driveway will give many years of good service, and when laid by a trustworthy installer, come with a long warranty.

Concrete Driveways

A very popular material for driveways, concrete is hard wearing, strong and doesn't need much maintenance. With regards to price, concrete is about middling for driveway construction, being dearer than tarmac or gravel, but less expensive than resin or block paving. Most would concur that concrete driveways in general are somewhat drab and boring. However this does not have to be the case, seeing that it's quite possible to finish the surface off with a patterned or imprinted design. (Tags: Concreted Driveways, Concrete Driveway, Patterned Concrete Driveways).

Driveway Tasks

If you pick your driveway company carefully they will have the skills necessary to help with painted driveways, tar driveways, the maintenance of gravel driveways, coloured tarmac driveways, monoblock driveway installations in the UK, the design of asphalt driveways, permeable driveway installations, the repair of aggregate driveways, bonded gravel driveways, resin driveway installations, driveways with pavers, paving a driveway, cheap driveway ideas, commercial driveway installation, driveway resurfacing, asphalt driveway recycling, driveway cleaning, driveway installation estimates, driveway drainage, driveway replacement, grass driveway installation, driveway culverts, the construction of flagstone driveways, the repair of concrete driveways, driveway markers, gated driveways, granite block driveways, pebble driveways, domestic driveway installations, stone resin driveways and any one of innumerable additional driveway related services in the UK. Listed are just a handful of the duties that are conducted by people specialising in driveways. Driveway providers will be happy to inform you of their whole range of services

More Advice and Guidance

By taking a look at YouTube videos you are able to discover how to put in a resin bound driveway. Social media is clearly the place where the majority of homeowners in the UK head these days when they are searching for ideas and images for products and services. If that is what you love to do and you're presently searching for information on driveway installation check this out. You should pay a visit to Rated People or the government backed Trustmark website, if you want to conduct a search for licensed local driveway contractors in the UK. The dedicated Wikipedia "driveways" page is the place to head over to for details of the purposes of driveways, the different sorts of driveways, the local legislation regarding driveways and the materials used for driveways. To read a useful article about how to choose a driveway check this out.

Driveway Questions

Over the last few weeks I have been looking through the questions homeowners in the UK ask regarding driveways. A number of our visitors have submitted justifiable questions that are relevant to this article. The ones I picked out were, "Where can I buy driveway gravel?" "When should you seal your driveway?" "Should a concrete driveway have rebar?" "How do driveway drains work?" "What happens if driveway sealer freezes?" "How much does the average driveway cost?" I hope nearly all of those questions have been dealt with on this page, and if some remain unanswered a driveway "Q&A" feature will be introduced in the near future. My gratitude goes out to the following homeowners in the UK for making the effort to pose their excellent questions; Kaiden Clarkson, Sarah Crawford, Tony Mcdonald and Jane Mcgrady. It was also fantastic to get offerings from Noah Weston in Newlands, Aaliyah Cowell in Hadleigh and Isaac Friend in Fobbing.

Skip Hire for Driveways

When you're carrying out a driveway installation project in the UK, or any other kind of home or garden revamp, it's likely that a certain volume of rubbish and waste will be generated that can't be disposed of in your regular household wheelie bins. Actually, in most regions, construction or garden materials must be disposed of in a controlled and eco-friendly way, in accordance with local authority legislation. Consequently if you are to stay safely within the law, you'll have to transport your waste materials to a recognised disposal and recycling site, generally a council tip. If you do not want to be carting waste materials back and forth to your nearby Domestic Recycling Centre, it may be better to look for skip hire in your area.

By using an established skip hire contractor, you'll be given assurances that all of your waste will be driven to an authorised site, and will be disposed of correctly and safely. Even so, it's crucial to establish the form of waste materials that will be generated by the driveway project, and you can go through this with your chosen contractor and the skip hire provider concerned. If there's a chance that asbestos containing materials might be involved, the skip hire company will need to divide the dangerous waste into a totally separate disposal system for health and safety reasons. Hazardous waste is best left to the professionals, and strict regulations cover it's safe disposal. To make sure all guidelines and regulations are addressed appropriately, both your driveway installer and the skip hire firm will work together.

The perfect solution is if you happen to have a space when a skip can be sited on your garden or drive. On the reverse side of the coin, if you do not have a suitable area, and you park your vehicle on the main road, you might need to seek the help of your neighbours, and see whether they can leave a space for your skip someplace close to the work area. A skip which is placed on a driveway or private land doesn't need a permit, but if it has to go on a public highway in the UK it will definitely need a temporary local authority skip permit, get hold of them to see whether you need one. This will guarantee there are no problems with regards to siting your skip.

Skip hire providers offer skips of all shapes and sizes, and you can rent anything from skip bags and mini-skips right up to builders skips and gigantic roll-on roll-off monstrosities. To hire a skip for your project in the UK, CLICK HERE for a quote.

How to Simply Make the Outside of Your Dwelling Prettier

Ways abound where you can increase your residence landscape when consideration is given. Some homeowners make the mistake of thinking that this isn't very important, as it only has to do with superficial issues. However, these seemingly minor characteristics can be extremely significant assuming you hope to sell your abode, or basically just hope to make it more inviting and beautiful. When the outside of your home looks attractive, it conveys that you are an owner who is diligent and attentive.

The initial thought when you are thinking about improving your curb appeal is to give it a paint job. Even though this may sound like the place to start, you might need to think twice. You should inspect the existing paint for cracking, or blistering and if the color is satisfactory; you ought to simply power wash it. You will be amazed at the difference it will make and it will be a lot easier on you pocketbook. As time goes by so slow sometimes, it is hard to see the dirt and grime collect on your home. You have the option to rent a power washer to do the job or you can pay someone to do it for you. Don't forget to hit every exterior on your property, including any decks, sheds or garage doors.

Take in the front yard as well as the back. . Are they neat and inviting, or are they cluttered with toys, tools and random objects? The way your yard/yards look, is a huge determinant in terms of an appealing curb. Provided you have a big mess in your yard, the effort to clean it up will be worth it. Take away everything that is in your way as you meander through the yards. Resolve issues such as weeds being pulled or bushes that need to be trimmed. If you have kids who leave toys around the yard, teach them to put them away when they're finished playing with them.

If you have a lawn that needs a lot of work and which never seems to be worth the effort or expense you put into it, consider an alternative. Landscaping alternatives that require less water and maintenance are now becoming more popular replacing the staple green lawn. Instead of watering your grass, and mowing your lawn, you could replace it with something that doesn't take up all your time. Environmentally supportable, and extremely low maintenance, xeriscaping is an innovative kind of landscaping that is getting well-known. Even if you do not live in an area or region that is prone to droughts, you will definitely be impressed with xeriscaping on your property.

Curb appeal is one aspect of home improvement that you shouldn't overlook, especially if you want to sell your home. Even though the purpose of this article was to show you how to add curb appeal to your residence, you might choose to do this just to impress your neighbors. If you do implement some of the curb appeal ideas we have suggested, anyone that sees your house will understand how much you appreciate it.

Doing a Search Online

It is considerably simpler to look for a tradesman or service right now than it was in the past, given that we've got the advantage of technology and can just do a search on the web. Immediate and pertinent results are the reward of searching with Bing, Google or Yahoo, which were created for this exact role. One drawback can be that the first page results displayed by the major search engines might not be exactly the ones you were after. Typing in "UK driveways", "driveways in the UK", "driveway installers near me" or "driveways" will normally be the process to use when looking for a driveway specialist in the UK. You need to know that the 4 top results are often PPC advertisements (which may or may not be on-topic), and lots of the remaining page one listings will likely be from large trade portals like Checkatrade, My Hammer, Rated People, My Builder, TrustaTrader or Bark or web directories such as Gumtree, Yelp, Scoot or Yell. Odd job men usually don't have substantial budgets to push their websites to the uppermost rankings, so you're liable to find these out-of-the-way lower down the listings perhaps on the second or third pages. Approved tradesmen websites like Rated People or Checkatrade are still handy though, and you will be able to make full use of their informative services to examine customers appraisals, obtain free quotes and read through reviews, since there are local driveway pavers on there who do not even have a website.

Driveway Installer Services

Find Driveway Pavers in the UK Here

• Block Paving Driveways
• Gravel Driveways
• Tarmac Driveways
• Driveway Pavers
• Driveway Estimates
• Driveway Services
• Stone Driveways
• Commercial Driveway Installation
• Driveways
• Driveway Installation
• Brick Driveways
• Resin Driveways
• Asphalt Driveways
• Concrete Driveways

More Tradespeople: Whilst you may just be looking for someone who can do driveway installation in the UK, you can also find garden clearance in the UK, a builder in the UK, a landscape gardener in the UK, a bricklayer in the UK, SKIP HIRE in the UK, a decking specialist in the UK, a garden designer in the UK, pressure washing in the UK, a fencing contractor in the UK, a gardener in the UK, an electrician in the UK, a carpenter in the UK, driveway cleaning in the UK, a tiler in the UK, a lawn care specialist in the UK, patio laying in the UK, waste removal in the UK, property extension in the UK.

Resin Driveways - Gravel Driveways - Residential Driveway Installation - Cheap Driveways - Concrete Driveways - Commercial Driveway Installation - Driveway Pavers - Driveway Services - Tarmac Driveways