Driveways in Aylesbury
A driveway is a load-bearing structure with a decorative top. We build the structure properly — 150mm of compacted sub-base, membrane underneath, edges haunched in concrete — and then you choose the surface.
The surfaces, compared
Block paving
£95–£140 / m²
The most repairable surface there is: lift a block, fix what's underneath, put it back. Widest choice of colour and pattern, and the only one that lets you do a soldier course or a curved edge detail.
Resin bound
£90–£140 / m²
Smooth, seamless and permeable. Ideal over a sound existing base, which is where it makes the most financial sense. Not the same thing as resin bonded.
Tarmac
£75–£110 / m²
The cheapest way to cover a large area properly. Fast to lay, hard-wearing, plain to look at, and it needs the base doing just as thoroughly as anything else.
Imprinted concrete
£70–£110 / m²
One poured, coloured and patterned slab. Seamless, no joints for weeds, and good value over a big area — but it's impermeable and it can only be repaired as a slab.
Gravel
£45–£85 / m²
Cheapest per square metre, fully permeable, and much better than its reputation when laid over a proper sub-base with a gravel grid to stop it migrating.
Every figure is a range and always will be. What moves it: access for a machine and a grab lorry, how much comes out and where it goes, whether the drainage needs work, and how much cutting the shape demands.
Permeable driveways and where the water goes →
How each surface fails
Every quote you get will tell you what a surface does well. This is the other half — cost, lifespan, upkeep, permeability and, most usefully, the specific way each one goes wrong. Pick the surfaces you're weighing up and read them side by side. All figures are guide ranges for this region and are being validated by the owner.
Comparing 3 of 5 surfaces
Block paving
- Guide cost
- £95–£140 / m²
- Realistic lifespan
- 20+ years on a correct base
- Maintenance
- Re-sand joints occasionally, sweep, lift and relay any settlement
- Permeable?
- Only in a permeable build-up
- How it fails
- Sinks and rocks where the sub-base was shallow or unhaunched, and weeds germinate in open joints. The upside: single blocks lift and go back with no patch line.
Resin bound
- Guide cost
- £90–£140 / m²
- Realistic lifespan
- 15–20 years over a sound base
- Maintenance
- Wash occasionally; no jointing, no re-sanding
- Permeable?
- Yes, if what's underneath is
- How it fails
- Crazes and cracks over a poor or moving base — the resin is only 15–18mm thick and faithfully reports every crack beneath it. Repairs are patches and always show.
Tarmac
- Guide cost
- £75–£110 / m²
- Realistic lifespan
- 20+ years on a correct base
- Maintenance
- Keep fuel and standing water off it; no sealing needed
- Permeable?
- No, unless a porous grade
- How it fails
- Scuffs where wheels turn on the spot and softens in a heatwave, so point loads — jockey wheels, trailer legs, bike stands — indent it. Ruts if the base was thin.
Note what all four failure modes have in common: three of them start in the base, not the surface. That is why we talk about excavation depth before we talk about colour.
When a new driveway is worth it — and when it isn't
When it's the right choice
- The surface is rutting, rocking or holding water. That's the base failing, and no amount of pressure washing fixes it.
- You need more parking, a wider entrance, or a turning area, and the layout has to change anyway.
- Water currently runs off the drive towards the house or onto the pavement. Rebuilding lets us deal with it.
- You're doing other work — an extension, new front garden, a dropped kerb — and the drive will be dug up regardless.
When it isn't — say so and pick something else
- The surface is only tired-looking. Cleaning, re-sanding and replacing a few blocks costs a fraction of a rebuild and often buys years.
- One area has sunk over a service trench. That's a localised repair; relaying the whole drive to fix two square metres is money badly spent.
- You want a surface that can't do the job you need. Resin over a base that moves will crack; gravel on a steep slope will migrate onto the road.
- The budget won't cover the excavation depth. A shallow base under a good-looking surface is the most expensive mistake on this whole site — we'd rather not take the job.
The build-up under every driveway we lay
Excavate to depth and cart away — typically 250–300mm for a domestic drive, deeper on soft ground. Separation membrane over the formation so the sub-base can't work its way into the subsoil. MOT Type 1 laid and compacted in layers to 150mm consolidated.
Edge restraints haunched in concrete on both sides, because a driveway without a restrained edge spreads outwards and the joints open. Falls set away from the house and the water taken to a soakaway, a channel drain or a permeable margin — never onto the highway.
Laying a driveway around an EV charge point
If there's already a charge point on the wall, the paving has to be cut in around it and the falls have to keep water away from the base of the unit — not pond against it. Where a channel drain runs along the house, we take it past the charger rather than stopping short and leaving a wet corner.
If a charger is coming later, say so before we excavate. We lay ducting under the sub-base while the ground is open and before it's compacted, and bring draw cord out at both ends. It costs very little at that stage and it's the difference between a cable running underground and a cable surface-clipped along your brickwork forever.
To be clear about what we are and aren't doing: we don't install the electrics. A qualified electrician makes the connection. We lay the drive properly around the unit and we put the duct in while it's cheap to do.
Driveways we've built
All our own work. Captioned by material and detail only — no locations, no dates, no client names.
Five-year workmanship guarantee, sub-base included
Most guarantees quietly stop at the surface. Ours covers the part you can't see: the excavation depth, the membrane, the compacted sub-base, the falls and the edge restraints. If the ground work moves, we come back and put it right.
A fixed price before anyone starts digging
We measure, agree the build-up in writing and give you one price. It doesn't move unless you change what you've asked for, or unless we open the ground and find something nobody could have known was there — in which case we stop, show you, and agree the cost with you before we carry on.
Common questions about driveways
Which driveway surface lasts longest?
All four last a long time if the base is right and fail early if it isn't, which is why we talk about depth before we talk about surface. Block paving has the practical edge because it can be lifted and relaid; tarmac and resin have to be patched, and a patch always shows.
Do I need planning permission for a new driveway?
Not for a permeable surface of any size, and not where the water runs off onto a lawn or a border. You do need permission for more than five square metres of impermeable surfacing draining onto the road. This applies to houses, not flats.
Can you lay a new driveway over the old one?
Sometimes, and we'll tell you honestly whether yours is a candidate. Resin over sound concrete or tarmac is a legitimate, cost-effective build. Laying over a cracked, moving or unknown base is how you buy the same problem twice.
How long does a driveway take?
A typical two-car block paved drive of around 50m² takes four to five working days: a day to excavate and cart away, a day for membrane and sub-base, then laying, cutting and jointing. Drainage work, a dropped kerb or difficult access can add a day or two.
Can I park on it straight away?
Block paving, yes, as soon as it's jointed and the edges have cured. Tarmac needs a few days before you turn tight on it, especially in hot weather. Resin bound typically needs a day to cure before foot traffic and longer before vehicles — we'll give you the exact times on the day.
Why is every price a range?
Because access, what has to come out, ground conditions, drainage and edge detail change the cost more than the surface itself does. A single headline figure would be a guess dressed up as a quote. Once we've measured, your price is fixed.
Towns we cover
We're based in Aylesbury and work about ten miles around it.
- Aylesbury
- Bierton
- Stoke Mandeville
- Weston Turville
- Aston Clinton
- Wendover
- Waddesdon
- Wingrave
- Whitchurch
- Quainton
- Wing
- Haddenham