Block Paving

Block paving has taken off in the last 10 – 15 years. The driveway is the first impression of your property and with such a wide range of products now available well chosen pavers can complement your and house and garden and surely will add value and buyer appeal.

There are many positives to block paving:

• It enhances your property
• It is easy to maintain
• Durability
• Suits drives and other areas of the property i.e. patios, pathways
• Every driveway is individual
• Many patterns to choose from
• Many materials ands colours making added opportunity for creativity

It is important to note, that whilst less then competent contractors can give block paving an unattractive name, you only have to drive around and look at some individual driveways to see excess settlement and rutting caused by a weak a sub base. Garden Ezee will only but provide an excellent service in ensuring that block paving is prepared and placed in the most professional way

 

Excavation

Depending on size of driveway we like to be very organised and efficient at this stage of the operation. We like to get the driveway dug out and taken away all in one go and stoned up to keep every thing clean cut and tidy.

When digging out we don’t CHEAT. Our normal Standard Dig out depth for a typical domestic driveway is 200mm below finished level on good solid ground.

This is based on:

• Separation membrane
• 100mm sub base
• 40mm sand bed
• 60mm bloc

It is important to remember that depending on the type of ground we will excavate more to get a greater depth of sub base in.

BAD Ground – Bad ground is soft ground and it is important to dig out any soft spots when digging out for driveways. Geo textile is a method we used on bad ground to maintain sub – base integrity. Its primary purpose is as a separation membrane, preventing the sub-base mixing with the underlying layers, which can result in settlement of a particularly weak sub-grade, which, in turn, can cause settlement and rutting.

Remember once a good sub-base has been installed, it can be used without any further work, if you decide to change the driveway any time you now the foundations are there.

 

Edging
Edging are just as important as the sub-base because in some cases the edging actually acts as a retaining edge. The key feature of the retaining edge course is that it must be capable of withstanding the lateral pressures exerted by the pavement and its traffic.

 

 
With the massive growth of blocking paving in the last 10 year, decorative small unit kerbs that complement the scale, textures and colour schemes of block paving have been developed.

 

 

Here are three types of kerb sets which act as a decorative edging they can come in different colours and act as an important feature of the drive way.

As well as the more decorative small unit kerbs you get standard kerb edging, this does the same job but helps reduce costs compared to kerb sets. The picture to the left shows a standard kerb set lead on a good 50mm of concrete and haunched up which holds the edge unit in a fixed position in terms of lateral movement.

 

Drainage
Drainage is a large subject area and can be split into two sections surface drainage and sub-surface drainage. The most important section for drive ways is surface drainage, which is also referred to as Storm Water. Storm water is clean water that has been drained directly from the ground, a pavement or a roof.

 

When we go and look at drive ways, drainage is the first issue we look at as it is very important to make sure any surface water gets a way. Failure to properly drain a pavement can cause all sorts of problems. Water on the surface encourages mosses, algae and other vegetation to colonise the paving.

 

Standing water looks unsightly and can actually damage the paving itself. One of the main reasons for paving is very basic you want an attractive sound surface useable in all weathers.

 

 

When doing domestic drive ways the most popular method of draining the driveways are linear drains or open gullies, on bigger driveways we use bigger gullies, combined kerb drain units or heavy duty linear drains but the essential principles remain the same. The paving is sloped to create 'fall' and so direct surface water off the paving and into the drainage system as quickly and efficiently as possible.

Linear drainage refers to systems that drain along their entire length, rather than at one particular point, as a gully does. Most are variations on the theme of an enclosed channel, typically with a u-shaped cross-section and some form of grating over the top.

 

Soakaways is another simple way of dispersing surface and storm water in situations where connection to the Storm water system is impractical or unwarranted. The basic principle is that of a 'reverse well' i.e. a 'hole-in-the-ground' that loses water rather than collecting water. It enables storm water to be dealt with at source. It is important to note that soakaways rarely work on heavy clay soils because once the soakaway is filled up there is nowhere for the water to go. Soakways are only good in well drained grounds

 

Paviors & Colour
here two basic types of block paving:

• The moulded concrete block.
• kiln-fired clay brick

The blocks are available in a range of sizes but I tend to use 60mm which are most suitable for domestic drive ways. There are a wide range of products on the market in terms of colours, textures and shape depending on the manufacture.

Concrete Blocks

The pictures above are what I call a standard block pavior which are 100mm x 200mm with comes in a various of colours depending again on manufacturers

Standard paving is the cheapest paving and goes up in cost depending on what you want as a customer Choice. Below are some examples of different types of paviors away from the standard pavior.

 

CLASSIO - A smooth top surface with soft chamfered sides gives a stunning look Cobble feature

 

BETA - This type of paving has clean lines which brings a modern look.

 

REGATTA - A rippled surface with colours perfect for traditional settings or a contemporary style.

 

This is just three examples of paviors from the Brett range and there are many to choose from.

 

Clay Bricks
Clay bricks come from concrete manufactures and house brick manufactures with all produce there own range of clay paving bricks, again these are available in a good choice of sizes

The colour of clay bricks is completely natural, not a chemical dye, and so these bricks are not subject to fading as the concrete types are. This use of natural colour also means that the range of colours available is almost limitless.

 

• reds
• browns
• buffs
• greys
• blues
• multi-colour blends.

If colour is an important factor in your project, clay bricks are probably the solution.

The colour of concrete blocks is achieved by the use of concrete dyes, even the best dyes are prone to some fading in natural daylight and the quality of the dyes is a significant factor in block price; cheaper blocks are usually coloured by cheaper dyes

Patterns
The basic patterns for laying rectangular shaped clay pavers are:

• Stretcher Pattern
• Basket Weave Pattern
• Herringbone Pattern

 

Each of these basic paving patterns has its own distinctive appearance and can be varied to create a slightly different pattern, yet still having its own unique style.

Stretcher Bond Pattern

Stretcher bond pattern is used as a clay brick paver laying pattern. It has a side by side appearance and is the simplest to install. Stretcher bond pattern can be made to appear longer or broader depending on which direction it is laid. If you want a deck or path to appear longer, then it should be laid in a length wise direction. Alternatively, if you want to bring about the impression of a wide pathway, then you could lay the paver in a wide direction across the deck.

 

Basket Weave Pattern

When desiring an old English landscaping design, it would be best to make use of the basket weave pattern and is best suited to antique style clay pavers. Be aware that this pattern is becoming less popular nowadays. It is more suited to someone who wants a historical look and will be using second hand pavers

 

Herringbone Pattern

There are two basic types of herringbone patterns. One is the 45 degree and the other is 90 degree pattern. The 45 degree herringbone pattern is establishing itself as the outdoor entertainer’s favourite, such as patios and covered awnings. It is well suited with an edging featured paver and can appear to be loud and noticeable.
The 90 degree herringbone pattern is more subdued in appearance
and will match nicely with pre-existing paths, walkways and pool paving. As previously mentioned 45 and 90 degree herring boned patterns are recommended for heavy vehicle applications.

 

Maintenance
Like most things nothing is maintenance free I would say it has a medium level of maintenance once laid.

• Sweep occasionally to remove dust and detritus
• If you find green algae building up on them, it can be safely removed by a pressure washer
• We recommend that block or brick paving be treated twice a year with a general weed killer such as Sodium Chlorate, to deter mosses and weeds from setting up residence in the sand joints. (it is important to note that these weeds are not likely to be from underneath the surface but drop from above into the sand joints)

The clay bricks are prone to algal build-up on the surface, and this should be removed regularly (Spring and Autumn).

There is a wide range of sealants available to protect the completed paving from colour degradation and oil spillage. The best sealants will repel oils, weak acids, dirt and weeds; the cheap ones are not so good.