Driveways

1. 1

   Check the planning position

   Decide whether the surface will be permeable or drain to a border or soakaway inside your own boundary, and apply for a dropped kerb licence if you are crossing a footway.

2. 2

   Set out and check levels

   Mark the drive, set string lines to a fall away from the house and garage, and keep the finished surface at least 150 mm below the damp proof course.

3. 3

   Excavate

   Dig out to firm subgrade, allowing for the sub-base plus the surface build-up, typically 250 to 350 mm in total, and remove the spoil by the tonne.

4. 4

   Lay the separator and sub-base

   Roll a woven geotextile over the subgrade, then spread MOT Type 1 in 75 mm layers and compact each layer until it rings solid, 150 mm total for cars and 200 mm on clay.

5. 5

   Fit edge restraints

   Haunch kerbs or edging blocks in concrete on every perimeter before the surface goes down, so nothing can creep sideways.

6. 6

   Lay the surface

   Lay blocks on screeded sharp sand, or place asphalt, concrete or resin to the manufacturer's thickness, keeping the fall consistent throughout.

7. 7

   Finish and compact

   Vibrate blocks in and brush kiln-dried sand into the joints, or let concrete and resin cure fully before driving on them.

• Front-garden driveways over 5 m² in impermeable materials need planning permission unless run-off drains to a permeable area on your own land. ^[1][2]
• A dropped kerb crossing the public footway always needs the highway authority's approval, typically a council licence and an approved contractor. ^[3]
• Resin-bound (porous) and permeable block paving qualify as SuDS-compliant surfaces. ^[2]

• Before any digging, sub-base excavation, kerb footings, dropped-kerb works, do a CAT & Genny sweep to locate buried services (HSE HSG47). Front gardens are full of incoming gas, water, electric and BT, CAT alone misses plastic gas and water mains; the Genny finds them. Full method in the Safety guide.
• Sub-base for cars: 150 mm MOT Type 1, compacted in 75 mm layers. For occasional vans, 200 mm.
• On clay subgrades, bump the sub-base to 200 mm and add a geotextile separator, clay pumps fines into voids under wheel loads.
• Wearing course (asphalt): 25–40 mm; binder course: 50–60 mm.
• Resin-bound layer: 15–18 mm over a porous base, never on impermeable concrete unless drained.
• Concrete driveway slab (cars): 150 mm of C28/35 air-entrained concrete on 150 mm MOT Type 1, with A193 mesh on 40 mm spacers over a 1200-gauge DPM. Thicken the perimeter to 200 mm and saw-cut bays at ~3 m × 3 m once the slab is firm.
• Vans / light commercials: bump the slab to 200 mm of C32/40 with A252 mesh, edge-thickened to 250 mm. A142 mesh is footpath-only, never put it under a wheel load.
• Pours over ~3 m³ are quicker, cheaper and stronger from a mini-mix or ready-mix truck than mixing on site, the workability is consistent and you finish before set.
• Block paving needs a mechanical edge restraint (haunched kerb or concrete edging) on every perimeter, without it, blocks creep and joints open.
• Plan crossfalls so water never runs toward the garage threshold or the house.
• Steep driveways (>1:10) need transverse channel drains at the top and bottom to stop sheet flow.
• Pattern-imprinted concrete (PIC): 150 mm of C28/35 with A193 mesh on 40 mm spacers over 150 mm Type 1. Stamp wet, broadcast hardener, dust release, then saw-cut control joints ≤ 4 m within 24 h. Reseal at 28 days and every 3–5 years, un-sealed PIC fades and dusts.
• Clay pavers vs concrete blocks: clay is kiln-fired so colour is permanent (concrete fades 30–50% in a decade). Cost premium ~30–40%; compact with a NEOPRENE-faced plate, never steel.
• Granite setts work best as feature bands (border, apron, threshold) rather than the whole drive, beautiful but slow to lay and very expensive per m².
• Grass-grid pavers: SuDS-compliant by default and exempt from front-garden planning rules. But for daily-use cars fill with pea gravel from day one, grass dies within a season under regular tyre loads.
• Permeable block paving: 60 mm blocks on 50 mm 2–6 mm clean grit over 150 mm 4/20 mm clean open-graded sub-base. No sharp sand, no fines, fines block infiltration and the whole system fails.

Five surfaces cover almost every UK domestic driveway. They differ far more in repairability and drainage than in looks.

• Block paving: the most repairable surface there is, because a damaged area lifts and relays. Needs a mechanical edge restraint on every perimeter and re-sanding of joints every few years.
• Permeable block paving: the same product on a clean, open-graded build-up, so rainfall soaks through rather than running off. It is the simplest way to stay inside the front-garden planning rules.
• Resin-bound: a smooth, seamless, porous finish laid 15 to 18 mm thick over a sound porous base. Excellent for wheelchairs and prams, but the base has to be right because resin cannot fix an uneven surface.
• Asphalt: quick, cheap per m2 and good for long drives, but it is impermeable, softens in heat, and is difficult to patch invisibly.
• Concrete, plain or pattern-imprinted: hard-wearing and low maintenance, but it cracks along control joints, needs re-sealing every 3 to 5 years if imprinted, and is impossible to repair invisibly.
• Gravel: cheapest, permeable by default and easy to top up. Use angular stone in a stabilisation grid on any slope, and always with a proper edge.

• Under-specifying the sub-base. 150 mm of compacted MOT Type 1 is the minimum under cars and 200 mm on clay or under vans. Almost every rutted drive is a sub-base problem, not a surface problem.
• Compacting in one thick layer. Type 1 compacts properly in 75 mm lifts; a single 150 mm pass leaves a soft middle.
• Falling water toward the house or garage. Set the levels so the drive falls to a channel drain or a permeable area, never to a threshold, and keep the surface 150 mm below the damp proof course.
• Draining a new impermeable drive to the highway. That is what the Class F rules exist to prevent, and it is the most common reason a drive needs retrospective permission.
• Forgetting the dropped kerb. Crossing a footway needs the highway authority's licence and an approved contractor. Driving over an unmodified kerb damages it and you get billed.
• No edge restraint on block paving. Blocks creep, joints open, sand washes out, and the edges sink within two winters.

• Gravel with edging and a proper sub-base: roughly £45 to £80 per m2 installed.
• Standard concrete block paving: roughly £90 to £140 per m2 installed.
• Permeable block paving: roughly £110 to £170 per m2 because the clean sub-base is deeper and costs more.
• Resin-bound over a new porous base: roughly £120 to £180 per m2, or £60 to £90 per m2 overlaid on a sound existing base.
• Asphalt: roughly £60 to £100 per m2. Pattern-imprinted concrete: roughly £90 to £140 per m2.
• Excavation and disposal is typically 20 to 30 percent of the total. A 50 m2 drive dug 250 mm deep is about 12 m3, roughly 20 tonnes to remove.
• Dropped kerb: usually £1,000 to £2,500 including the council licence and highways inspection.