Block paving in Dorset

We lay block paving in Dorset for driveways, entrances and parking areas. The blocks are the part people choose from a brochure, but the work that decides whether the drive is still level and useful in ten years sits underneath them: the formation, the supporting layers, the edge restraint and the route surface water takes once it leaves the paving. We set those out in writing before any blocks are ordered.

Dorset ground, and what it asks of the construction

Dorset is not one ground type. Around Sherborne and the Blackmore Vale the clay holds water, goes soft under load through the winter and moves as it dries in summer. Block paving over clay needs a properly built and compacted sub-base and a designed outlet for the water, because a flexible paved surface will follow whatever is beneath it. Sunken wheel tracks and a rocking block are almost always a sign of the support failing, not of the blocks failing. On the chalk around Blandford Forum the formation is usually firmer and drains better, so the attention moves to levels and falls, particularly where a drive runs towards a house and the threshold has to stay above the finished paving. Shaftesbury sits on greensand on a steep hill, and gradient changes the job again: the crossfall, the channel and the point where the drive meets the road all have to work together, or water simply runs the length of the drive and collects at the bottom. Around Wimborne the sand and gravel of the east Dorset heath drains freely, but loose ground spreads under load, so compaction and firm edge restraint carry the paving rather than the ground doing it for you.

Layout, edges and what is worth keeping

We measure the parking and turning space and discuss how it is actually used, because a layout should suit vehicle movements as well as the view from the road. Steps, paths, gate openings and inspection covers are worked into the plan before the pattern is set out, not cut around afterwards. Existing walls, kerbs, stonework and planting often influence where the new paving should end, and at Dorset properties the join between old and new work can be very visible. We discuss weathering and colour variation before promising any match, because a new block beside paving that has been out in the weather for years rarely looks the same. Where reuse is sensible we will say so, but lifting and relaying the same blocks onto defective support would only repeat the original problem.

Conventional or permeable

Conventional block paving needs a designed surface water arrangement. Permeable block paving is a different construction throughout, including the jointing material and the layers beneath, and it is not ordinary paving made permeable by leaving wider gaps. Which one suits your drive should follow the drainage assessment at the property and any requirements that apply to it, rather than being decided by the pattern you like.

How the work runs

We agree the layout, finish, drainage and the limits of the work, prepare the formation and supporting layers, set the edges, covers and levels, then lay the chosen pattern and complete the jointing and compaction. Individual blocks can usually be lifted later for access or a local repair, so it is worth keeping any spare blocks and telling us about planned utility work before we start. Dorset is the furthest county we cover from Horsham, so deliveries, where a lorry can stand and the working sequence are all settled at the free site visit. The price that follows is fixed and in writing, with the construction set out.

Explore our block paving service for the wider construction options, or see our work coverage in Dorset.