A well-kept, attractive driveway sets the tone for the rest of your home.
As the focal point of your property, it makes the first impression and a powerful statement about you and your household.
If you’re thinking about getting a new driveway installed, there are a few things you will need to consider: what look it is you’re trying to achieve, what is sensible and practical given the groundwork and the drainage requirements as well as what is affordable for the budget you are working with. With this in mind, you’ll need to compare a number of different options to choose which is best for your home. Here’s our driveway materials guide to help you navigate through the most popular choices.
Gravel driveways are extremely versatile and boast a wide scope for creativity, with the ability to create either traditional or contemporary looks depending on the borders and other features you decide to use in conjunction with it. Of all the driveway materials on offer, gravel is the most affordable, but it still never fails to deliver stunning results, making it an extremely popular choice.However, gravel is not suitable for all driveways – if your driveway is built on a slope, gravel, shingle and pebbles aren’t practical. On the plus side, these driveways are easiest to maintain, due to inhibited weed growth and the natural drainage they provide and its crunching sound provides an extra layer of security, alerting you of unwanted visitors.
By far the most popular choice of driveway surface, block paving is an excellent option – producing an elegant finish with a material that is both hard-wearing and long-lasting. Not only do they offer a robust solution, block pavers come in in a vast array of colours, shapes and patterns to create a lasting design that makes a real statement about yourself and your property.
They’re flexible enough to complement each other or be incorporated in a combination with other paving materials – gravel, natural stone slabs or granite. You can use them in your design to define dedicated areas of your driveway, such as parking spaces and paths or to create features such as flower beds and steps. Not only does it simply look good, paved driveways present a number of practical advantages too. Whilst block paving does require the most maintenance of the three options, this is still only minimal, needing a regular sweeping to remove dust and disturb any newly emerging weeds and an occasional scrub with a brush and soapy water. And with seal coating for block paving, your driveway can be protected from natural degradation, oil or acid spills, dirt and weeds, making maintenance less demanding. If in the unlikely event that individual blocks need to be replaced, they can simply be lifted without disturbing the rest of the driveway, which would be required with tarmacadam or resin driveways. Overall, concrete block paving provides an all-round fantastic performance – no wonder it remains the ‘go-to’ surface choice for driveways.
Porcelain paving is the exciting new option of driveway surface. With advances in concrete technology, porcelain is now a viable material for driveways; it boasts not only its beauty but its strength, stability and drainage and porcelain’s density makes it resistant to the staining that is associated with constant vehicle use.
As a neater, more contemporary option, porcelain has a more refined and elegant look, making it the ideal option for the modern home; available in a number of colour-ways and finishes to create an aesthetic that is impactful, stylish and complementary to your property. It offers enduring looks and a beautiful finish, with little maintenance. However, as it is by far the most expensive of the three and only comes in a limited range of colours and styles, porcelain may not be the perfect material for all driveway projects.
Choosing between the different driveway materials can be a challenging task – there are many options to choose from and each offers different features to the other. Whichever you select for your driveway, the most important fact to remember is that your driveway is the place you’ll return to for many years to come so taking the time to choose the right surface, will be hugely rewarding.
Our block paving and driveway specialists at KS Paving Ltd are dedicated to providing the best solutions to our clients through high quality workmanship and the use of market leading materials. We take pride in the standard of our work, as we strive to deliver a professional and personal service to all our clients. Our expert team operates in Reading, Berkshire, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire, so get in touch with us today on 01189 696630 to arrange a free site survey and receive a written quotation.
