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If you feel a driveway is right for your home, and you've got sufficient space to put one, you will now need to determine what kind of driveway you are going to build. There are many different kinds of driveway available, as I'm certain you will be well aware, but these may not all be right for you. If you don't have a lot of cash to commit to this project, your choice of style and materials could be constrained by what you can afford. The makeup and design of your driveway could additionally be affected by the dimensions and configuration of your garden area.

You may think "a driveway is just a driveway", however that simply isn't true, given that there are many different styles and designs of driveway, and if you take a walk around, you will soon realise what I'm saying. There is a fair chance that on your travels you will notice stone resin driveways, concrete driveways, patterned concrete driveways, tarmac driveways, natural flagstone driveways, permeable driveways, asphalt driveways, aggregate driveways, pebble driveways, block paved driveways, and if your property suits, you ought to be able to choose from just about any of these.

What Type of Driveway is Best? Before deciding what type of driveway is right for your property, there are a few things that you will have to take into account. A few details that you would be sensible to think about - 1. Local authority planning permission - is planning permission needed for your driveway? 2. How the land lies - is the area level or sloped? 3. How successfully does your garden drain - does water collect where you're wanting to build your driveway?

You might feel that planning permission is only needed for large undertakings like extensions and loft conversions, but this is not necessarily true. The regulations that address driveways aren't just administered by the local council, but are in fact enforced by government guidelines. However, at this juncture, this legislation only affects driveways that are being laid in front gardens. This driveway legislation, which is known as the SuDS (Sustainable Drainage System) has been in force since 2008, when it was first brought in.

Driveways being built in front gardens that have an area of more than 5m2 are covered by the SuDS legislation. Permeable materials like gravel, permeable concrete, porous tarmac, resin, or grass monoblock conform to SuDS, and enable any excess water to drain through without any problems. So, if you're building your driveway from one of these substances, you'll not have to worry. You will be able to find out more about the SuDS legislation here - SuDS

Some homeowners may be tempted to have a crack at installing their own driveway, especially if they don't mind a bit of hard graft and are fairly adept at do-it-yourself. However don't imagine that installing a driveway is a simple undertaking, since apart from actually laying the driveway there's a whole lot of waste removal, digging out and manhandling materials required during this type of project. If you're in any doubt about whether you would be able to complete a project such as this, it might be advisable to bring in an established driveway specialist instead.

Trustworthy tradesmen are not always that easy to track down in relation to conducting this sort of work, so you need to take care in choosing the right person or contractor. You should keep an eye out for cowboys and rogue traders who are well known for targeting this kind of project, and can soon take you by surprise. Even if that means shelling out a bit more on the project, you might as well get it done to a decent standard by a professional. If a locally based driveway installer has been advertising and working in and around your area for the last few years, you can generally take it that they will be fairly trustworthy, and a solid choice for your installation project.

When assessing contractors for your driveway, you should ask to see a portfolio of earlier projects, ask for some references from previous clients, check that they've got adequate insurance, ascertain how long they've been in business, find out what warranties they offer on their workmanship, ask if they are affiliated with a trade association like ANTSCA (the surfacing trade association).

Asking for this salient information will give you an idea of the type of tradesperson you are dealing with, but it doesn't need to be done in an aggressive manner. Any driveway specialist in TOWN who's happy to answer all of your questions, and give assurances about the standard of the work they will be doing, will likely also be reliable and genuine. If enquiries of this sort invoke a hesitant or hostile response, then you should be dubious about their credibility, and perhaps keep looking.

If you are cautious and choose an outstanding driveway contractor, they will help you to make all of the most important judgements regarding your project, including the favoured location, the ideal driveway style and the most appropriate materials. Having an expert at hand means that all of the design, planning and preparation is taken care of before any real physical work begins.

Gravel Driveways

When going over the various different sorts of driveway you may choose to favour the ubiquitous most economical and easiest, which is gravel. Gravel driveways are particularly favoured in rural settings, and despite their inherent simplicity they can be exceptionally attractive. Gravel can be acquired in a wide range of shades and sizes, so you should have no trouble locating one that looks good in your garden. A good robust layer of hardcore is essential for a gravel drive to be successful, together with a well-bedded edging. If you put down three or four separate layers of stones, each and every one tamped and left to settle, you'll get the best quality gravel driveway. Regardless of what size your driveway is, or if it is in your back or front garden, if it's made from gravel it won't need to apply for planning permission, since it will be SuDS compliant.

Asphalt Driveways

When you are looking for that extra touch of 'curb appeal' for your house in, an asphalt driveway, with its smooth continuous surface, is a great choice. A competent driveway company in will supply you with an asphalt driveway that will give you years of satisfaction, with a bare minimum of maintenance required. In high flood risk locations it may be necessary to have a porous drive, and there is a type of asphalt sub-base for rainwater drainage, which stops surplus water from over-filling highway drains.

Asphalt can easily withstand the freezing and thawing impact of British winters, and is exceptional value for money in comparison with some other driveway options. Asphalt is cheaply and easily repaired and maintained, and can be removed if circumstances change in the future. Actually, asphalt can even be recycled and used elsewhere, and can this be called the most ecological of hard driveway materials.

Block Paved Driveways

Block-paving driveways are among the most frequently seen styles in right now, and dozens of these seem to have emerged in recent times. Forming a robust and hard wearing driveway, many hundreds of purpose-made block paving bricks are butted together in attractive and elaborate patterns that can be personalized to your own requirements. As soon as the blocks have been laid, they're firmly tamped down, and kiln-dried sand is rigorously brushed into the joints. To get the longest life and best performance out of your block-paved driveway, you need to get it professionally sealed after four or five months to stop weed growth. Block paving can be laid in various patterns, including fan, basketweave, herringbone and stretcher bond.

SuDS Compliant Block Paving Driveways: Block paved driveways can also be made compliant with SuDS, by leaving wider than standard spaces between the blocks, which are then packed with fine aggregate as opposed to the traditional kiln-dried sand. (Tags: Block Paving, Block Paved Driveways, Block Paving Driveways).

Natural Stone Driveways

Natural stone is a driveway material that improves with age. The choice of natural stone will give you a robust and stable driveway, for any vehicle, and will look awesome for years to come. Due to the individual depth of tone and colours of the stone, you will end up with a driveway which is completely bespoke to your garden. When installed by an expert, a natural stone driveway has that all important curb appeal that will complement any house.

In contrast to paving alternatives, driveways made from natural stone are less liable to being damaged and are easier to maintain. The smaller gaps between the stones means that there is less chance of unwanted weed growth, and the smooth surface is easy to clean. A stone driveway from a professional company should be thought of as a sound investment that will bump up the price of your house.

Driveway Cleaning

If you already have a driveway, but it is beginning to look a little shabby, you may be able to boost it's appearance by giving it a clean. For the majority of folks, maintaining the cleanliness of their driveway is not normally viewed as a priority. Nevertheless, cleaning a driveway is a process that ought to be done on a regular basis, and is essential from both an aesthetic and maintenance viewpoint. Unwanted weeds and plant growth can damage your driveway's structure over time. If your driveway already has cracks and fractures, these could soon be widened, and structural issues can arise as a consequence.

If dirt, weeds or stains appear on your driveway, eliminating them as soon as possible is recommended. However, most people wait until the springtime or summer to pressure wash their driveways, simply because weeds and moss are more visible at this time of year. The appeal of your driveway can really be ruined by diesel, brake fluid and oil spillages from your car. To prevent ugly staining of your driveway's surface, it is therefore vital to get them cleaned promptly.

If you are cleaning your own driveway, you will need the use of a pressure washer, and to do it correctly you'll also need some additional equipment and tools, such as a bucket, a scraper, a broom, a wire brush and detergent. If you are not confident in cleaning it yourself, or don't have the correct gear, you could ask your driveway installers if they are able to do it, or get in touch with a specialist driveway cleaning service.

Tarmac Driveways

Due to its durability and strength, tarmac is a great choice for surfacing a driveway. It looks terrific, is weather resistant and requires very little maintenance, when professionally laid. Tarmac's durability and strength means it can cope with bulkier vehicles, like camper vans and vans, without causing any significant damage to the surface.

It offers excellent value, and tarmac can be coloured to fit in with the surroundings or your property. Tarmac makes it simple to go beyond a traditional black surface and have it coloured to match your home. The installation of a tarmac driveway is relatively easy and can often be achieved by a competent contractor in a single day. This ease of installation, combined with its simple maintenance and high durability makes a tarmac driveway a perfect choice for virtually any property or home.

Resin Driveways

Among the most flexible and attractive types of driveway that are available at this time, resin-bound driveways are becoming increasingly more favoured and also comply with SuDS, if that is what you are looking for. Resin-bound driveways come in a host of colours and designs that can be customized to your requirements. For much less mess and hassle a new resin driveway could be easily laid over a current concrete or asphalt surface. Resin-bound driveways are easy to clean, maintenance free, durable, permeable, and a great alternative to tarmac, block paving, concrete or gravel. When laid by a trustworthy installer, a resin driveway will come with an extended warranty and give many years of good service.

Concrete Driveways

Strong, hard wearing and needing hardly any maintenance, concrete is an excellent material for building driveways. Being more pricey that tarmac or gravel, but considerably cheaper than some of the other options (i.e. block paving or resin), concrete is an easy choice for many folks. If you find concrete driveways to be somewhat uninspiring and drab, it's quite possible to add a stamped or patterned finish to make them look more attractive. (Tags: Imprinted Concrete Driveways, Concreted Driveway, Concrete Driveways).

Driveway Tasks

Local driveway installers will likely help with the maintenance of concrete driveways, stone resin driveway installation, the repair of gravel driveways, cheap driveway ideas, grass driveway installation, driveway repair, driveway ideas, driveway replacement, garden patio installations, the building of flagstone driveways, Indian stone driveways, the building of brick driveways, bonded gravel driveways, driveway removal, coloured tarmac driveways, concrete driveway repairs, tar driveways, driveway sealing, shingle driveways, driveway lights, driveway bollards, gated driveways, the laying of aggregate driveways, gravel driveway laying, the maintenance of block paving driveways, driveway maintenance, the laying of concrete driveways, cobbled driveways, stone driveway installation, driveway resurfacing. Driveway providers will be happy to inform you of their whole range of services

Driveway Questions

In the past week or so I've been having a close look at the popular questions folks ask in relation to driveways in Gillingham. Quite a few of our visitors posted some noteworthy enquiries which are relevant to this discussion. The ones I picked out were, "How much weight can driveway hold?" "Does driveway sealer go bad?" "Where can I buy driveway gravel?" "What are driveway markers used for?" "How much does a driveway cost?" "What are the benefits of a concrete driveway?" The majority of these questions will have hopefully been answered on this page, if there are any left to be answered we'll be including a driveway "Q&A" section before long. Our gratitude goes out to Nolan Macdonald, Caroline Welsh, Oliver Beattie and Sheila Southern from Gillingham, for taking time out to send in these questions. It was also awesome to get offerings from Sawyer Tucker in Wouldham, April Exley in Rainham and Reginald Dwyer in Frindsbury.

Easy Ways To Impress People Using Your Home's Curb Appeal

If you don't know what curb appeal is, it is a simple way to make the value of your home increase dramatically by improving the way your house looks. Basically, anyone going by your house is going to perceive it in a certain way. You can improve the overall appearance of your home without spending too much money; the reason you want to do this is to improve its outward appearance dramatically for others.

Something that adds to the curb appeal of your abode is the shape your windows are in. Certainly, the top priority is to ensure that the windows are immaculate. Filthy windows can minimize a home's appearance like little else. The above mentioned is crucial for the exterior and interior home alike. Windowpanes that are broken, regardless of where they are, need to be restored hastily. By all means, windows are crucial for not only their appearance but for insulation also. If your windows aren't very energy efficient, it may be time to replace them. Assuming your home does not have shutters, contemplate getting them, because this is one attribute that is truly distinctive to a home's presentation, painting them the best color in particular.

You really need to consider the outside of your home and what colors go with it. If you're thinking about giving it a paint job, try to come up with the color that will be most flattering, which may not be the same color it presently is. Once you know what color you would change the exterior to, you should also think about changing specific areas like the shutters around your windows and other smaller areas. You might also consider doing smaller changes such as adding decorations, plants, flowers - you might want to do this before repainting your house. You need to go with little further and completely visualize how all of these changes will look from your perspective and the perspective of others visiting your home.

Oftentimes, the consideration of replacing an existing green lawn with something that is much easier to care for will cross the minds of homeowners. Anybody that has a lawn understands that it would be very beneficial to save all of that time and effort by replacing it with something that wasn't so high maintenance. These can also give your home a more interesting look, and you won't have to always be thinking about mowing or watering your lawn. Xeriscaping is a new type of landscaping that is very trendy which requires little work and is very environmentally sustainable. The principles of xeriscaping were developed to be used in drought prone areas, however, it can be utilized anywhere that you live.

It could be extremely uplifting to endeavor to improve the appearance of your dwelling. Each wee action from the neat as a pin lawn, deck painting or driveway improvements will cause your home to increase in price as well as make it look nicer. Individuals could put the spotlight on easy to do actions that don't cost a lot of money or greater home modifications, still every course you take will make your curb more appealing.

Searching Online For a Driveway Installer

When looking for any kind of tradesmen these days, the vast majority of householders are inclined to head straight online to simply "Google it". Logic would say that you're seeing this webpage at this moment after you pinpointed it by typing a search phrase into Google, Yahoo or Bing and it appeared on the first page. From time to time the page 1 listings provided aren't exactly what you'd expected when making use of these particular search engines. The majority of householders, when trying to find a driveway expert will visit Google or bing and type "driveways", "Gillingham driveways", "driveway pavers near me" or "driveways". Nevertheless, most of the resulting page one listings on these search engines, as you will shortly discover, are either going to be "pay per click" results or listings for major lead creation sites like TrustaTrader, My Hammer, Checkatrade, Rated People, My Builder or Bark or directories such as Yell, Gumtree, Yelp or Hotfrog. You'll very likely discover the sites of bona fide driveway pavers hidden on page 2 or 3 of the results, outsmarted by the wealthier corporations who can more easily afford SEO. When you are endeavouring to find the most effective person to complete your driveway installation work, it's sensible to explore every technique open to you, so everything supplied by the search process should be reviewed so that you will be able to uncover the ideal driveway installer.

Driveway Installer Services

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• Block Paving Driveways
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More Tradespeople: Whilst you may just be looking for someone who can do driveway installation in the UK, you can also find garden clearance in the UK, a builder in the UK, a landscape gardener in the UK, a bricklayer in the UK, SKIP HIRE in the UK, a decking specialist in the UK, a garden designer in the UK, pressure washing in the UK, a fencing contractor in the UK, a gardener in the UK, an electrician in the UK, a carpenter in the UK, driveway cleaning in the UK, a tiler in the UK, a lawn care specialist in the UK, patio laying in the UK, waste removal in the UK, property extension in the UK.

Resin Driveways - Gravel Driveways - Residential Driveway Installation - Cheap Driveways - Concrete Driveways - Commercial Driveway Installation - Driveway Pavers - Driveway Services - Tarmac Driveways