What happens when we lay a block paving drive, day by day
By Terry O'Reilly, owner, 17 years on the tools. Updated . 4 min read.
A two-car block paving drive takes two to three days. Day one is the dig out, the edging set in concrete and 200mm to 250mm of compacted stone. Day two is the sand bed, the blocks, the cuts, the compacting and the jointing sand, and a third day covers steps, paths or sealing. You park on the road while we are there and usually on the new drive the day after we finish.
What happens before the first day?
This is how a block paving drive goes, day by day. I visit, measure and give you a written price, agreed before we start. You get a start date and a day count. A few days before we start, I confirm by text or WhatsApp, and I ask you to have the cars off the drive by 7.30 on the morning we arrive. We need a tap and a socket on day one and nothing else from you.
If there is a skip it goes on the drive or the road the day before, or we use a grab lorry so nothing sits outside for long. On a tight street in Wolverton I would rather use the grab lorry; on a wide front in Bletchley a skip is fine.
Day one: what does the dig out involve?
The old surface comes out first. Old blocks lift quickly. Concrete and tarmac need a breaker, and that is the noisiest hour of the whole job. Underneath, we dig down about 300mm, deep enough for 200mm to 250mm of compacted stone, a 30mm sand bed and the 50mm blocks, and further until we hit firm ground. Anything soft, any tree root and any old rubble comes out too. Leaving it in is how a drive sinks later, and I explain that in why block paving driveways sink.
The spoil goes straight into the skip or the grab lorry. By lunchtime on day one your front garden looks like a building site. That is normal, and it is the worst it gets.
What goes in before any block is laid?
- Edging. Kerbs or edging blocks set on a bed of concrete and haunched, which means concrete packed against the back of them. This is what stops the edges spreading and the blocks working loose.
- Drainage. If the rain needs somewhere to go, a channel drain across the front or a soakaway goes in now, with a gentle slope built into the base so water runs to it.
- Sub-base. 200mm to 250mm of compacted stone, laid in layers and run over with a plate compactor until it does not move. This is the part that decides whether the drive is still flat in ten years, and it is the part a cowboy skips.
- Sand bed. Sharp sand levelled with a straight board so every block sits at the same height.
Day one usually ends with the base compacted and the edging set. A new drive that looks like a car park of grey stone. That is a good sign.
Would you rather just ask Terry?
A photo and a question on WhatsApp gets a straight answer, usually the same day.
Day two: how are the blocks laid?
The blocks go down from one corner in the pattern we agreed, usually herringbone for a drive because it locks together under a car. The border goes in first so the pattern has something to run up to. We work off the laid blocks, never off the sand, so the bed stays level.
Then the cutting. Every block that meets an edge, a manhole cover or a drain is cut to fit with a wet saw. On a plain rectangle that is an hour. On a curved drive with a circle feature it is most of a day, which is why shape moves the price more than size does.
When every block is in, the whole surface is run over with the plate compactor so the blocks bed into the sand. Then fine dry sand is brushed into the joints and the plate goes over it again until the joints are full. That is what holds it all together.
Day three: what finishes the job?
Any steps, a path to the door, a small wall or a planter, and the last of the cuts. The surface gets a final sweep and, if you have chosen it, a sealer goes on once the blocks are dry. We take the last of the waste, hose the pavement and the road, and put the skip in for collection.
You can usually park on it the day after we finish, and I tell you on the day. If it has been sealed, wait until the sealer is dry; I tell you when. You get the guarantee in writing and the balance is due when you are happy.
How much noise, mess and disruption is there?
Day one: breaker, digger or shovels, plate compactor, lorry. Loud, but mostly before lunch. Day two: the saw, on and off. Day three: quiet. We sweep up every day and nothing is left on the front overnight except the skip and a neat stack of blocks under a sheet.
You need to park on the road for the days we are there. Your front door stays reachable; we lay a board path if the drive runs right up to it. Bins can go out as normal, we just move them for you.
That is the whole job. Photos of finished drives are on our work page, what moves the price is in our block paving cost guide, and how long each material takes is in how long a driveway takes. If you want to know what customers said afterwards, read the reviews.
