How we build a driveway
Every driveway that fails looked perfect the day it was finished. The difference is 150mm down, and by the time it shows there's nothing to do but lift it. Here's what goes under ours — drawn to scale.
The same driveway, 150mm apart.
Both of these finish flush, both look identical on the day the barriers come off. One of them is a structure and the other is a surface. Drawn to the same scale.
How we build it
250mm of dig, in five deliberate layers
What a £70/m² quote often looks like
165mm of dig, and nothing separating stone from soil
250mm
Total excavation
150mm
Compacted sub-base
75mm
Per compacted lift
1:60
Fall away from the house
There are ten questions worth asking whoever quotes you — including us.
They take a minute each and the answers tell you more than any brochure.
The eight stages
In order, on every driveway, whatever the surface going on top.
Stage 01
Survey the job
Before anything is dug, we measure the job properly, check levels and where the water goes, and check what planning rules apply.
Measured properly · levels and drainage checked · planning rules checked · access checked
Why it mattersWe also check what has to come out, manholes, ducts, and access for the digger and skip. Because it all happens before we quote, the price is written with the job measured and checked — that's why it's a fixed number, not "subject to survey" like everyone else's.
What a cheap quote does insteadNothing at all — the first anyone knows about the water main is the bang.
Stage 02
Set out and levels
Marking the area and establishing the finished height and the falls before anything is dug.
Finished level set 150mm below the damp proof course
Why it mattersGet this wrong and every later stage inherits it. Drives that pond in the middle, or finish level with a door threshold, were set out badly on the first morning — and by the time it shows there is nothing to do but lift it.
Stage 03
Excavate to depth
Down to at least 150mm below the damp proof course, and deeper where the ground is soft.
225–250mm total dig for a domestic drive
Why it mattersThe depth of the dig decides how much sub-base can go in. Digging shallow to save a skip run is the single most common reason a drive ruts under a car within a few winters.
What a cheap quote does insteadDigs 100mm, keeps the spoil cost down and leaves no room for a proper base.
Stage 04
Geotextile membrane
Stops the sub-base migrating into the subsoil underneath. Cheap to include, and one of the first things left out of a low quote.
Non-woven separation membrane, laid full width with 300mm laps
Why it mattersWithout separation, clay works up into the stone and the stone works down into the clay. The base loses its interlock, and the surface follows it down — usually in patches rather than evenly, which is what makes it look so bad.
What a cheap quote does insteadNo membrane at all. Nobody can see it once the stone is in.
Stage 05
MOT Type 1 sub-base
Laid in 75mm loose layers and compacted separately, building to 150mm compacted for a domestic drive. Type 1 loses somewhere between a fifth and a third of its volume under compaction depending on the material, so 180–195mm laid loose is what gets you 150mm finished.
150mm compacted, from 180–195mm loose, in 2 × 75mm layers
Why it mattersThis is the driveway. Everything above it is a wearing surface. A base compacted in one thick lift is only compacted at the top — the bottom half stays loose and consolidates later under the weight of the car.
What a cheap quote does instead75mm of sub-base in one pass, tipped, raked and whacked once.
Stage 06
Edge restraints
Haunched in concrete, not bedded on sand. Without this the whole drive slowly creeps outwards and the joints open.
100mm concrete haunch, C20 or better, to the full depth of the edge unit
Why it mattersBlock paving works by interlock, and interlock only exists if the edges are held. Once an edge moves, the joints open, the sand washes out, and the failure runs inwards from the perimeter.
What a cheap quote does insteadEdges bedded on sand, or on a thin smear of mortar at the front only.
Contrasting soldier course used as the edge restraint Stage 07
Laying course
50mm of sharp sand, screeded level. Sharp sand, not building sand.
50mm screeded sharp sand (30mm minimum after compaction)
Why it mattersBuilding sand holds water and has no angularity, so it never locks up. It stays soft, and the blocks laid on it print every wheel track you make.
What a cheap quote does insteadBuilding sand, because it screeds easily and looks identical on the day.
Stage 08
Lay, cut, compact, joint
Blocks laid slightly proud, whacked down, then kiln-dried sand brushed into every joint.
2–3 passes with a plate compactor on a rubber mat, joints filled full depth
Why it mattersThe jointing sand is what transfers load from one block to the next. Joints left half-filled are how a new drive starts rocking under a wheel within a season.
What a cheap quote does insteadOne brush of sand, no second pass once it has settled in.
Autumn mix tumbled block with a contrasting charcoal soldier course
The stages you can't see here are the ones we haven't photographed yet — because until now nobody was documenting them. From this job onwards, every one of them is in your build record.
Every shortcut above is invisible on handover day. Every one of them is why driveways fail.
See how it comes together on a block paved driveway, or what changes when the surface has to drain through on a permeable build-up.
Where the water goes
Every photograph on this site is our own completed work. We don't name streets.
A driveway has to shed water. We build in a fall of roughly 1cm for every 60cm of length, away from the house, so surface water leaves the drive instead of sitting in the middle of it or running at your door. Where there is nowhere for it to go, we use a permeable build-up or a channel drain into a soakaway.
1:60 fall away from the house · channel drain set flush · never to foul drainage
The planning rule is simple. You do not need planning permission for a permeable surface of any size, or where the run-off is directed to a lawn or a border. You do need permission for more than five square metres of impermeable surfacing that drains onto the road.
The build record
Every photograph on this site is our own completed work. We don't name streets.
Every job we do from now on is photographed at the stages above — set out, excavation, membrane, sub-base going in and compacted, edge restraints haunched, laying course, finished surface — with the depths and materials written down. You get it as a PDF when we hand over. It is the only evidence that exists of what is under your driveway once the blocks are down.
We're a new company, but not new hands: the work on this site was done over years as a sole trader, by recommendation alone, with no website and no directory listings — so nobody was ever in a position to leave a public review. What changes now is that every job gets documented from the first spade in the ground, so the first build records are the ones being produced right now.
It stays useful after we've gone
Keep it with the deeds and the boiler paperwork. If you sell, it goes to the buyer along with the guarantee — which transfers with the property. It's the difference between telling somebody the drive was done properly and being able to show them the sub-base going in, the depth it was built to, and a guarantee with time still to run on it.
Nobody asks a surveyor to dig up a driveway. But a buyer who can see how it was built, and who inherits cover on it, has one less thing to negotiate about.
Common questions about the build-up
What do you check at the survey?
We measure the job properly, check the levels and where the water goes, check what planning rules apply, and look at what has to come out, manholes, access for the digger and skip, and any ducts. It all happens at the site visit before we quote, so by the time the number is written down we know what the job needs. That's why the price is fixed rather than subject to survey.
How deep should a driveway sub-base be?
For a domestic driveway carrying cars, 150mm of compacted MOT Type 1 over a separation membrane, with the finished surface at least 150mm below the damp proof course. That means a total excavation of around 225–250mm once the laying course and the blocks are allowed for. Soft or clay ground, or anything carrying a van regularly, needs more — we decide that when the ground is open, and we show you.
What is MOT Type 1 and why does it matter?
MOT Type 1 is a graded crushed stone with a mix of particle sizes from around 40mm down to dust. The range of sizes is the point: the fines fill the voids between the larger stone so the layer locks together under compaction instead of moving. Recycled and unwashed alternatives may look similar in the tipper and behave very differently once they are wet.
Do you photograph the base before covering it?
Yes. The excavation, the membrane, the sub-base going in and the compacted level are all photographed with the depths and materials written down, before anything is laid on top. It goes to you as a PDF build record at handover. Once the blocks are down, those photographs are the only evidence that exists of what is underneath.
How do I know the base was built properly?
Because you get the photographs. The excavation depth, the membrane, the sub-base going in, the compacted level and the haunched edges are all photographed as the job happens, with the depths and materials written alongside them, and handed to you as a PDF build record at the end. Once the surface is down nobody can inspect what is under it — the build record is the only honest answer anyone can give you, and it is yours to keep.
How long does a block paved driveway take?
A typical domestic drive is around four to seven working days from breaking ground to brushing in the jointing sand, depending on the size, the amount of spoil to remove, the drainage and how much cutting there is. We give you the programme with the fixed price, and if it changes we tell you why.
What happens if it rains while you're working?
Most of it carries on. Excavation and sub-base work in the wet, and block paving is laid on sharp sand that tolerates rain. What we won't do is compact a sub-base that has turned to slurry, screed a laying course in standing water, or brush jointing sand into wet joints — it bridges and never fills. If the weather stops a stage, we sheet it, leave it safe and come back.
Before you take a quote from anyone
- Ten questions to take to your other quotes →
- Work out a starting price for your drive →
- What the guarantee actually covers →
- Download the “Before anybody digs” checklist (PDF)Two pages you can print and take round the drive — planning, kerb, drainage, and the questions to ask before accepting anyone's quote.
A fixed price before anyone starts digging
We measure, agree the build-up in writing and give you one price. It doesn't move. Not for hard ground, old concrete, rubble, roots or a soft spot — that's our risk and it's already in the number.
Zero deposit option for jobs that qualify — we confirm the terms with your fixed price.
Everyone else quotes "subject to survey" because they haven't checked the job properly. We do the survey first — measuring properly, checking levels and where the water goes, what planning rules apply, what has to come out, manholes, ducts, and access for digger and skip. So by the time we write the number down, we know what the job needs. That's why the price doesn't move, and why we can put it in writing before we start. If we ever do hit something, we stop, show you, and agree in writing what happens before we carry on. Ask your other quotes what they checked before they priced.
Ten years on the sub-base, ten years on the surface
Most guarantees quietly stop at the surface. Ours starts underneath it: the excavation depth, the membrane, the compacted sub-base, the falls and the edge restraints carry ten years, because that is the part that sinks and the part you can't check. The paving on top carries ten as well, because the laying is our workmanship — wear, staining and fair fading are the only things it doesn't cover, and the full terms say exactly which.