Driveways in Essex

Imprinted Concrete 

A single slab of concrete, coloured and textured while it's still workable, so it comes out looking like stone, slate, brick or cobble. Because it's one continuous surface there are no joints - nothing for weeds to grow through and no blocks to work loose where cars turn.

It's our specialism and it's what we're best known for in Essex. The trade-off is that it needs resealing every few years, and repairs are patch-and-blend rather than lift-and-replace.

Block Paving 

Individual blocks laid on a sand bed over a compacted sub-base, locked together by the pattern and held in by the edges. Clay or concrete, in herringbone, basketweave or a bespoke layout.

The advantage is that it's repairable and reversible. A damaged section can be lifted and relaid, and if a utility company has to dig it up, the same blocks go back down. The trade-off is weeds in the joints and jointing sand that needs topping up.

There's also a permeable version, which matters if you're paving a front garden. More on that below.

Gravel and Shingle

The cheapest way to surface a driveway, and still the right answer for some properties - particularly longer approaches, rural plots and anywhere a hard surface would look wrong against the house.

Laid properly, it's stone over a membrane with edges to hold it in place. It drains freely, so it deals with the front garden drainage rules without any extra work, and it's easy to top up.

The trade-offs are that it moves. Stone migrates towards the road, it collects in ruts where the wheels run, and it needs raking and topping up rather than being left alone.

Resin Driveways

Resin bound is stone mixed with a clear resin and trowelled out over a solid base, so the stone is held in place rather than sitting loose. It gives a smooth, seamless finish in a wide range of stone colours, and because there are gaps between the stones it drains through on its own.

It drains freely, so it deals with the front garden drainage rules without a separate soakaway. There are no joints for weeds to come through and nothing loose to migrate towards the road. The colour range is wider than anything else on this page, and it can often be laid over sound existing concrete or tarmac, which saves a full dig-out.

We lay resin bound across Essex alongside our other surfaces. If you're weighing it against imprinted concrete or block paving, we'll walk you through the differences honestly rather than pushing you towards whichever suits us.