A grey herringbone block paved driveway running up to a semi detached house, with a lawn down one side

Driveways and paving, across the Wirral

The part that decides how long it lasts is the part you never see.

Block paving, resin, tarmac, imprinted concrete and gravel, from Birkenhead to Meols. Our quotes state the dig depth, the sub base and the edge detail, because that is what you are actually buying.

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Dig depth in writing
Edges haunched, not just laid
Drainage designed in

Across the Wirral

Build up stated

Mon to Fri 8 to 6

We install, we do not clean

Before you ring round

Why one driveway lasts twenty years and another sinks in three

Two drives can look identical on the day they are finished and be completely different purchases. The blocks, the resin or the tarmac is the wearing surface. What holds a driveway up is the excavation underneath it: how deep it was dug, what went in, and how many times it was compacted before anything was laid on it.

That is invisible the moment the job is finished, which is exactly why it is the first thing cut from a cheap price. A drive dug to a hundred millimetres with a thin scatter of stone will look perfect for a year and then settle where the car turns, and no amount of lifting and relaying the same blocks will fix it, because the problem is under them.

The second invisible thing is the edge. Block paving holds together because every block is restrained at the perimeter by an edge course haunched in concrete. Without that the field spreads outwards a millimetre at a time until the joints open. So our quotes state the dig depth, the sub base and the edge detail as separate lines, and you can compare them against anybody else's number properly.

What we do

Eleven things we do, each with its own page. We install surfaces and the ground under them. We do not clean them, and we will tell you who does.

Block paving driveways

Repairable a block at a time, on a build up that is stated in writing.

Resin bound driveways

Jointless and permeable, over a base that has been checked first.

Tarmac driveways

The economical way to cover area, especially on a long drive.

Imprinted concrete driveways

A single slab patterned to look like paving, with the trade offs stated.

Gravel driveways

The least costly to lay and the most permeable, with real maintenance.

Patios and paths

Level, draining away from the house, laid on a proper base.

Driveway repairs

Sunken patches and failed edges, often fixable without a full relay.

Dropped kerbs

The council side explained plainly, and why it has to come first.

Driveway drainage

Where the water goes, which is a design and not an afterthought.

Groundworks and preparation

The excavation and sub base, which is what you are really buying.

Driveway prices

What moves a driveway price, and how to compare two quotes honestly.

1
You send the details
Rough size, what is there now, and which way the ground falls. A photo from the pavement and one from the house is ideal.
2
We come and look, and sometimes dig
Levels, access and where the water goes. On an unknown plot a trial hole takes an hour and saves an argument later.
3
You get it in writing
Excavation depth, sub base type and thickness, edge restraint, surface and drainage, each as its own line.
4
Dug, based, laid, cleared
Spoil away, sub base compacted in layers, surface laid, site left clean rather than left for you.

What the work looks like

Example images of the kind of work described, each one labelled as such. They are not photographs of our own jobs and nothing here is borrowed from anybody else's. Our own photographs go in as jobs are finished and customers are happy for us to use them.

A front garden dug out to formation beside a semi detached house, the spoil going straight into a skip — An excavation open, showing the depth before any sub base goes in

A groundworker running a plate compactor over crushed stone between the garden walls — Sub base being compacted in layers, plate on the stone

Blocks being set onto a screeded sand bed against the laid edge course, a string line across the work — Blocks set onto the sand bed against the edge course

A brindle block paved drive finished in front of a bungalow, with a contrasting border course — A finished brindle drive with a contrasting border

Resin bound gravel being trowelled out, the loose stone ahead of the float and the finished surface behind it — Resin being trowelled over a prepared base

A grated channel drain set into block paving across the threshold of a garage — A finished drive with the drainage channel at the threshold

Areas we cover

Twelve towns across the peninsula. What decides a driveway here is the plot rather than the postcode: how it falls, what is under it, how wide the frontage is and where the water is going to go.

Across the Wirral peninsula

Birkenhead Wallasey Bebington Bromborough Heswall

The west side and the coast

West Kirby Hoylake Caldy Greasby Irby Meols Moreton

Questions people ask before they ring

How much does a new driveway cost on the Wirral?

It is priced by area, by what has to come out first and by what goes in underneath, not by the surface alone. A straightforward relay on sound ground is the cheap end. A dig through old foundations with a drainage design and a new dropped kerb is a different order. We put the dig depth and the sub base in writing so you can tell which you are being quoted for.

Which surface should I choose?

Block paving is repairable a block at a time and the most forgiving. Resin is jointless, permeable on the right base, and the best looking, at a higher price. Tarmac covers area most cheaply and suits long drives. Imprinted concrete looks like paving and is the hardest to repair invisibly. Gravel is the least costly and the highest maintenance. There is no best one, only the right one for your plot and budget.

Do I need planning permission?

Possibly. Since 2008 a new impermeable surface over about five square metres in a front garden that does not drain to a permeable area within your property can need permission. A permeable surface or a soakaway designed in from the start usually avoids it. It is the council's answer for your property rather than ours, and it is worth asking before anything is ordered.

Do I need a dropped kerb?

If you are going to drive across the footway, yes, and it is a separate council approval from the driveway itself. Apply first. A refusal on sightlines, a street tree or a lamp column makes a new drive useless, and finding that out afterwards is the most expensive mistake in this trade.

How long does a driveway take?

Most domestic drives are a handful of working days: a day or two to dig out and get the spoil away, a day on the sub base, then laying. Rain stops some of it and resin in particular needs dry conditions to go down, so a date in February is a weather window rather than a promise.

Can you work around us needing the car?

Usually, with planning. There is normally a period where the drive genuinely cannot be driven on, and resin and concrete have a curing time on top of that. We will tell you which days those are at the quote rather than on the morning.

Which parts of the Wirral do you cover?

Birkenhead, Wallasey, Bebington, Bromborough, Heswall, West Kirby, Hoylake, Caldy, Greasby, Irby, Meols and Moreton.

Do you clean driveways as well?

No. We install them. Cleaning, sealing and re-sanding an existing drive is a different trade and a different business, and for that we would point you at wirralexteriorcleaning.com rather than quote for work we are not set up to do.

Tell us about the plot

Rough size, what is on it now and which way it falls is enough for a first answer about what is possible.

Get a free quote 0151 453 8836

Get in touch

Tell us roughly how big the area is, what is on it now and which way it falls. A photograph from the pavement and one from the house answers most of it before anybody rings you back.

Phone0151 453 8836
Emailcontact@wirraldriveways.com
WhatsAppSend us a photo of the job
Based inWirral, Merseyside
HoursMon to Fri 8 to 6, Sat 8 to 2, closed Sunday