Block paving
Driveways and forecourts in block, flag or sett, laid to falls on a compacted sub-base with proper edge restraints.
Homeowners
Your driveway, built like a road
We lay and maintain roads for local councils. When we do a driveway, a patio or a path, it gets the same ground preparation, the same crew and the same standards — which is the whole difference between a drive that lasts and one that ruts in three winters.
Why it matters
Most driveways fail underneath, not on top
What you pay for is the surface. What decides whether it lasts is everything below it — how far down it was dug, what went in, how it was compacted, and where the water goes.
That part is invisible on the day it's finished, which is exactly why it's the part that gets skimped. It's also the part we do every week for councils, where it gets inspected.
What we do at home
Drives, patios, paths and the drainage under them
Tarmac drives
Machine-laid tarmac for drives and private lanes, edged and finished — not a barrow-and-rake job over the old surface.
Patios & paths
Garden paving, steps and footpaths, set out so water runs away from the house rather than towards it.
Drainage & soakaways
Channel drains, gullies and soakaways — including the permeable drainage a new front garden usually needs by law.
Kerbs, edgings & dropped kerbs
Edge restraints, retaining kerbs and vehicle crossings — the kerb work councils use us for, on your frontage.
Repairs & making good
Sunken paving lifted and relaid, potholes on private lanes, trenches reinstated after other people's work.
Fully insured
Public liability up to £10 million. Ask any contractor for this before they start.
Trained and carded
Everyone on your property holds a valid CSCS card and has had health and safety training.
You deal with John
A family business of thirty years. The man who prices it is the man who runs it.
Priced from a visit
We come and measure it. No quotes off a photograph, and no obligation.
FAQ
What people ask us
Anything not covered here, ring John — you'll get a straight answer rather than a call centre.
Usually not — but since 2008, if you're surfacing more than five square metres of front garden in something impermeable, it needs either a permeable surface or drainage to a soakaway within your own boundary, otherwise it does require permission. We build it to comply either way and will tell you which route your job needs.
A typical domestic driveway is a few days rather than a few weeks, depending on the ground and the weather. We'll give you a realistic window with the quote and tell you straight if rain is likely to move it.
Not on the drive itself once we've dug out, so it's worth sorting somewhere on the road beforehand. We'll tell you exactly which days you'll be off it.
Digging out a driveway makes a mess while it's happening — there's no way around that. What we control is that muck goes away rather than sitting on your lawn, and the site is swept and left tidy at the end of every day.
Materials are ordered in for your job, so there's usually a payment at the start. Talk to John about terms when he prices it — nothing is asked for before you've had a written quote.
Nearly always it's the depth. A drive dug out properly, with the right sub-base compacted in layers and somewhere for the water to go, costs more on day one and is still flat in ten years. We'll show you what's going in and why on the quote.
Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire and the surrounding regions. If you're a little further out, ask — we're flexible on area.
Get started
Get it looked at and priced
Tell us what you're after and where you are. We'll come out, measure it and give you a straight price.