All Patio Design | Driveway Construction - The Process

Again block paving can be used for a patio area and also paving can be used for a driveway. The difference between a patio construction and a driveway construction is of course a driveway construction must be a lot more robust than is required for a patio.

As with patio construction one must inspect the site thoroughly and ascertain access for materials and access to power and water. Also again, taking note of existing paving and driveway levels to ensure that when the new driveway is constructed the block paving, stone or tarmac is not going to cause a damp problem on the house or indeed pool water anywhere. As with the patio construction, the existing grass, soil and driveway must be removed and then the site inspected to ascertain whether there are any soft spots that will need further attention before driveway construction goes ahead. If any are found these need to be excavated and filled with solid hardcore and then compacted. The edges of the drive are then laid down using a cement and ballast mix of one to five and again this must be a wet mix to ensure that the blocks stick to the concrete and need to be haunched behind to ensure that all is solid.

The next stage is to supply and lay either crushed concrete or crushed stone to a depth of approximately 6 inches and then compact thoroughly to ensure a very solid driveway sub base.

The next process is either to mix up sharp sand and cement as described in the patio section and lay paving if this is required or to lay neat sharp sand and compact thoroughly before laying the blocks to create a block drive. The sharp sand must before laying the block drive be screeded to ensure a flat and even surface to lay the blocks on.

Once all these processes have been achieved, then the edges of the block drive will have to be cut accurately with an angle grinder and placed in to finish off the edges correctly.

When the edges of the block drive have been cut in a final compaction is required just to bed the block paving in. After this a fine kiln dried sand is brushed into the block paving drive to produce what should be a very high quality product that will last for years.

The beauty of a block drive also is that if at any time it needs to be taken up to access services for any reason it can be replaced again without any sign of this activity having happened to the block drive.