A written price before anything begins. Photographs at every stage, so you can see what went in beneath. And one person looking after it from the first visit to the last.
Our approach
Prices that change. Crews who arrive without warning and leave without explanation. Work you have no way of checking once it is covered over. We have built the whole thing around removing those three problems.
A fixed written price with every element listed separately, so you can read it line by line and compare it against anybody else's. It does not move once agreed.
Pictures of each stage sent to you as the work happens — the excavation, the base, the levels — before any of it disappears under the paving.
The same person surveys your drive, prices it, books it in and answers the phone while it is being laid. You never chase a crew or wait on somebody to call back.
Prices
Most driveway companies will not give you a figure until somebody is sat in your house. We would rather you had a sense of it before you invite anyone round. These are honest guide ranges for block paving in Doncaster.
Three things move the figure: what is there at the moment, since concrete and tarmac cost considerably more to break out and remove than soil; whether a lorry can reach the front of the house; and what the drainage requires. Steps, manholes and retaining walls are always priced as separate items on your quote, never absorbed into a single number.
How it works
Twenty minutes, at no cost, and in the evening or at a weekend if that suits you better. We measure the area, check the levels, the damp course and the access, and talk through the options. You will have a realistic figure before we leave — not a fortnight later.
A written price, itemised, sent the same evening. It sets out the materials, the build, the drainage and every extra as its own line. Take as long over it as you need; there is no offer that expires and nobody will ring to press you.
A firm start date and an honest number of days. You will know each morning what is happening, and you will receive photographs of the excavation and the base before the paving goes down over them.
We walk the finished drive with you before the final payment, not after it. Anything you are not happy with is put right then, and you keep the photographs and the specification for your records.
Materials
The ground beneath is built to the same standard whichever you choose. Only the surface changes.
The most versatile of the four, and still the one we lay most. An enormous range of colours and laying patterns, and if a cable or a pipe ever needs to run beneath it, the blocks lift and return without a mark.
Most driveways £3,500 – £6,500Identical in appearance to standard block paving, but rainwater passes through the joints rather than running off. It keeps the job clear of planning permission and performs on heavy clay where a soakaway will not.
Adds roughly 15 – 25%The most refined finish available. It does not stain, fade or grow moss, and it washes clean. It also drains differently to block paving, which changes how the falls are set out.
From around £145 per m²Seamless, quiet underfoot, and entirely free of joints for weeds to find. Its longevity depends almost completely on the base beneath it, which is why we build that first and do not shorten it.
Priced at surveyBeneath the surface
A drive that dips in the wheel tracks after three winters has almost never failed because of the blocks. It has failed underneath. Since you cannot inspect any of it once the job is finished, here is what to ask — of us, and of anyone else who quotes you.
One hundred and fifty millimetres on an ordinary drive, and more on clay. It is the layer carrying the weight of the cars, and the easiest place to economise without the customer ever knowing.
Including the side facing the lawn that nobody looks at. Without it the whole surface gradually spreads outwards and the edges drop away.
Sixty millimetre on a driveway. The thinner fifty millimetre blocks are intended for patios; they cost less and they settle sooner beneath car wheels.
Away from the house, and finishing a clear six inches below the damp course. Get it wrong and the damp appears inside the wall rather than on the drive.
Ask for photographs of each stage. Anyone building it properly will be glad to send them, and it is the only opportunity you will have to see what you paid for.
Questions
Usually not, provided the drainage is handled correctly. Since 2008 a new front driveway requires permission if more than five square metres of solid surface drains onto the road. Permeable paving, falling the water into a lawn or border, or fitting a soakaway all keep the job clear of it. We will tell you at the survey which applies to your garden.
Three to five days for a typical double driveway. You will need to park on the street for that period. We give you a realistic number of days at the quote stage rather than a best case, and if the weather moves it you will hear from us the same day rather than wondering.
No. We need access to an outside tap and somewhere to set materials down, and beyond that you can carry on as normal. The daily photographs mean you will know precisely where the job has got to without being there.
As soon as it has been jointed and compacted, which is the last thing we do. For the first few weeks it is worth avoiding turning the wheels while the car is stationary, which lets the jointing sand settle fully into place.
Enough to cover the materials, with the balance settled once the work is finished and you have walked it with us. Never the full amount in advance, and never cash on the doorstep.
In most cases, yes. Send us a photograph and we will identify the block and tell you whether it is still in production. Where a range has been discontinued we will find you the closest current equivalent and show you both before you decide.
Where we work
Bessacarr, Wheatley Hills, Cantley, Sprotbrough, Cusworth, Edenthorpe, Armthorpe, Kirk Sandall, Barnby Dun, Branton, Auckley, Scawsby, Tickhill and Bawtry. If you are within half an hour of Doncaster and not on that list, do ring and ask.
Get in touch
An approximate size and your postcode is enough for us to give you a sensible figure over the telephone. If it sounds close to what you had in mind, we will come and measure it properly.
07472 496472