Block paving
Block paving driveways on the Wirral
The most forgiving surface there is, because it can be lifted and relaid in patches. What decides its life is entirely underneath it.
- Dig depth and sub base stated in writing
- Edge restraint haunched, not just laid
- Drainage designed, not left to the border
Block paving driveways
Three things decide whether block paving lasts
The first is the excavation. A domestic drive wants the ground taken out to a depth that leaves room for a proper sub base plus the laying course plus the block, and a drive that will take anything heavier than a car wants more. Digging shallow is the fastest way to make a cheap quote look competitive and the surest way to have the drive settle where the car turns.
The second is compaction. Sub base stone is not a filler, it is a structure, and it only becomes one when it is compacted in layers rather than tipped in and rolled once. Each layer is laid at a workable depth and passed with a plate or a roller until it stops moving. You cannot see this afterwards and it is most of why one drive outlives another.
The third is the edge. Every block in the field is held in place by pressure from its neighbours, and the ones at the perimeter have nothing on one side. So the edge course is bedded and haunched in concrete, which is what stops the whole field creeping outwards and opening the joints. An unrestrained edge is the single most common reason a drive that looked fine at five years looks tired at eight. Often asked about alongside resin bound driveways, tarmac driveways and imprinted concrete driveways.
Get a price for the block pavingStated in the quote, in millimetres, so you can compare it with anybody else's number instead of guessing.
Not tipped and rolled once. This is invisible afterwards and it is most of the difference in lifespan.
Bedded in concrete so the field cannot spread. The least visible part of the job and the most worth paying for.
Done across Birkenhead, Wallasey, Bebington, and everywhere else on the peninsula. Cleaning, sealing and re-sanding an existing drive is a different trade: that goes to Wirral Exterior Cleaning.
Block paving driveways on the Wirral
What this job looks like
These are placeholders, not photographs of our work. There are no job photographs on this site yet and nothing here is borrowed from anybody else's. Real ones go in as jobs are finished and customers are happy for us to use them.
Why people use us
Repairable, which is the real advantage
A sunken area or a cracked block can be lifted and relaid without touching the rest of the drive, which no poured surface allows.
- Excavation depth and sub base thickness in writing
- Compacted in layers and tested before laying
- Edge course haunched in concrete
- Spoil taken away, not left in the garden
Frequently asked questions
Block paving driveways: the questions people ask
The ones that come up most. If yours is not here, ring and ask.
How deep should a block paved driveway be dug?
Deep enough for a proper sub base plus the laying course plus the block, and deeper again where the ground is soft or the drive will take something heavier than a car. What matters for you is that the figure is in the quote in millimetres rather than left unstated, because that is the number cheap quotes are quietly cutting.
Why has my block paving sunk in one place?
Because the ground under that place has settled or washed out. Blocks do not compress. It is usually repairable by lifting the blocks, making good the base and relaying the same blocks, which is a fraction of a full relay.
Will weeds grow through it?
Seeds land in the joints and germinate in the sand, which is weathering rather than a fault in the drive. Keeping on top of it is maintenance, and cleaning and re-sanding is exterior cleaning work rather than ours. We would point you at wirralexteriorcleaning.com for that.
Can you match my existing blocks?
Often, for a repair, and it is worth knowing that an exact match on colour is unlikely because the existing blocks have weathered. Taking the replacement blocks from a less visible area and putting the new ones there is the usual trick.
Done across Birkenhead, Wallasey, Bebington, and everywhere else on the peninsula. Cleaning, sealing and re-sanding an existing drive is a different trade: that goes to Wirral Exterior Cleaning.
Tell us the size and what is there now
Area, existing surface and which way it falls is enough for a first number.
About Wirral Driveways
How the work is actually organised
Wirral Driveways takes the job as main contractor and puts the labour and the plant on it. One person quotes it, one person is answerable for it, and you are not chasing a groundworker and a paviour separately to find out who is coming.
What you get is a written scope with the build up stated, a date, and somebody whose problem it is if the date moves.
We install. We do not clean
This matters enough to say on its own page. Cleaning, sealing and re-sanding an existing driveway is a genuine trade and it is not this one. It needs different equipment, different materials and a different way of pricing.
So we do not offer it, we do not quote for it, and when you ask we will point you at wirralexteriorcleaning.com, which does it properly. Saying yes to work we are not set up for would be the easy answer and the wrong one.
What else we will tell you we are not
Structural retaining walls above a modest height, anything involving a highway other than a straightforward vehicle crossing, and tree surgery on a protected tree are all other people's work. All three come up on driveway jobs and all three are worth bringing the right person in for.
No photographs of our work, and why the site says so
There are no job photographs on this site. The slots are placeholders and they are labelled as placeholders. Nothing here is a stock picture presented as a job and nothing is borrowed from another company.
Real ones go in as jobs are finished and customers are happy for us to use them. The same goes for anything that looks like a customer quote: there is a section built and ready, switched off, until there are real ones with permission attached.
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