Driveways

If you have paid a lot of money for you house, you want the front to reflect that. After all, it is the first impression visitors get of your home! Many houses don’t have a huge space, particularly in a city setting, but even the smallest space can look interesting.

If you drive your car onto the front, the surface must be able to withstand the pressure and weight. This is particularly true if you have frequent deliveries; we don’t know a lorry driver yet who considers whether his vehicle is likely to damage a drive – he just delivers and goes!

Over the past couple of years a much wider range of driveway surfaces has become available and the range of textures and colours now almost equals the selection of patio paving that can be bought. We love the effect of Indian sandstone sets and granite blocks; even though they are time-consuming to lay, they last for years and are hard-wearing. There are also many different man-made driveway blocks that look great when incorporated into a well-designed and planted front garden.

As with our patio paving techniques, we are fanatical about the base that goes under your drive. With mesh reinforcement and a minimum 20cm concrete screed, you could almost drive a tank over it once we’ve finished (but we’d rather you didn’t test this one out!).