Block paving cost: what the job involves, and why the labour is most of the price

How block paving cost works

1. Choose the pattern with the price in mind. Herringbone at forty five degrees interlocks best under vehicles and produces the most cut blocks at the edges. Stretcher bond is quicker to lay and less able to resist turning wheels. The choice is structural as well as decorative and it moves the labour line.
2. Check the laying course and the sub base. Blocks sit on a screeded bed of sharp sand or grit over a compacted sub base. The depth of both is what carries the car, and it is the part of the job nobody can inspect afterwards.
3. Look for edge restraints in the quote. Every block paved area needs a restrained edge, usually haunched in concrete. Without it the field of blocks migrates outward and the joints open, which is the commonest visible failure in this surface.
4. Ask about jointing and compaction. Kiln dried sand brushed in and vibrated is the traditional finish; jointing compounds cost more and resist weeds and washout better. Either is fine as long as the quote says which and the drive is compacted properly at the end.
5. Settle drainage and levels at the start. Block paving can be laid permeable, with a jointing grit and an open sub base, which usually removes the planning question altogether. That decision changes the whole build up, so it belongs in the first conversation.

Insurance and paperwork

Common questions

Is block paving worth the extra over tarmac?

It costs more to lay and it can be lifted and relaid in patches, which tarmac cannot. Whether that is worth it depends on how likely you are to need a service trench across the drive and how the house looks with each finish.

Why do block paved drives sink in places?

Almost always the sub base or the compaction, not the blocks. Sinking near a threshold or a manhole usually means backfill that was never properly compacted, and relaying that area is the fix rather than resanding the joints.

Do weeds mean the job was done badly?

Not on their own. Weeds germinate in windblown debris in the joints, which happens to every drive. Persistent weeds with sunken joints and washed out sand are a different signal and point at drainage.

Why is the block paving price per m2 labour line so large?

Because block paving is the most labour intensive of the common driveway surfaces. The blocks are a modest part of the cost; the work is in the excavation, the sub base, the screeded laying course, setting every block, cutting the edges, and jointing and compacting the whole area. Herringbone at forty five degrees produces the most cut blocks at the edges, and cutting is time.

Registered contractors by region

• Registered roofers in the East Midlands postcode area
• Registered roofers in the East of England postcode area
• Registered roofers in the London postcode area
• Registered roofers in the North East postcode area
• Registered roofers in the North West postcode area
• Registered roofers in the Scotland postcode area
• Registered roofers in the South East postcode area
• Registered roofers in the South West postcode area
• Registered roofers in the Wales postcode area
• Registered roofers in the West Midlands postcode area
• Registered roofers in the Yorkshire and The Humber postcode area