Block Paving in Greater Manchester
Block paving for driveways, paths, steps and patios, laid to pattern in your choice of colour and finish on a compacted sub-base, with kiln-dried sand locked into every joint and sunken paving lifted and relaid.
Block Paving
Block paving is the most versatile hard surface we lay. The same small units that make a driveway strong enough to park on will just as happily form a garden path, an edging course, a set of steps or a patio, and because each block is laid individually you get pattern, colour and gentle curves that a slab or a poured surface can’t match. We lay block paving across Leigh and Greater Manchester for all of it, drives, paths, borders and seating areas, always on the same properly dug out and compacted base.
The look comes from the bond and the blend. Herringbone at forty-five degrees is the strongest, so it’s what we use where cars turn, while stretcher and basketweave suit paths and patios, and a contrasting border or a double-block edge frames the whole thing and holds it tight. Blocks come in every shade from buff and brindle to charcoal and silver-grey, in smooth or textured finishes, and we’ll lay a few options down dry on site so you can see them in your own light before you settle on one.
Whatever the pattern, block paving lives or dies on what’s underneath. We excavate to the right depth, compact an MOT Type 1 sub-base in layers, set the blocks on a screeded bed and lock them in with kiln-dried sand brushed into every joint. Where you’ve already got block paving that has sunk, spread at the edges or lost its jointing sand, we lift the affected area, sort the base and relay it, rather than papering over a fault that’s only going to come back.
- Block paving for drives, paths, patios, steps and edging
- Herringbone, stretcher and basketweave bonds
- Full choice of block colour, size and finish
- Dug out and compacted MOT Type 1 sub-base
- Contrasting borders and edge courses set in concrete
- Sunken or spreading block paving lifted and relaid
- Joints locked with kiln-dried sand
How It Works
Free site visit
We come out, measure up, check the base and drainage, and lay a few block colours and patterns down dry so you can see them where they’re going.
Written quote
An itemised price covering excavation, muck-away, sub-base, edgings, blocks and labour. No day-rate creep, no extras sprung at the end.
The build
Dig-out and muck-away, sub-base compacted in layers, edge courses set in concrete, then the blocks laid to your pattern, cut in, whacked down and kiln-dried sand brushed into the joints.
Tidy handover
Waste cleared, the new paving swept and washed down, and a walk-round with you before we call it finished.
Block Paving FAQs
Herringbone laid at forty-five degrees interlocks so the blocks brace against each other under turning and braking, which is why we use it on driveways. Stretcher bond and basketweave are a little less load-tolerant but look great on paths and patios where there’s no vehicle weight. All of them need a proper edge restraint to stop the blocks creeping, whatever the pattern.
Yes, and it suits patios well because the small units follow curves and let us work borders, banding and even a circle feature into the design. We lay it to a fall the same way we would flags, so water runs off rather than pooling, and the colour blend can be picked to sit with the house and the planting.
It depends on the area, the access and what we find when we dig, because the excavation and sub-base are a fair chunk of the price whatever blocks go on top. We price per job rather than a blanket rate per square metre, so you get an exact written figure after a free site visit before anything starts.
Usually, yes. If blocks have dropped or spread it means the base or the edge restraint has failed, so we lift the affected area, put the base and edges right and relay it properly. Where the joints have simply lost their sand and weeds have taken hold, brushing in fresh kiln-dried sand tightens them back up, though if the blocks have actually moved the base is the real fix.
Laid on a compacted sub-base with concrete edge courses, block paving lasts decades and takes daily traffic in its stride. The failures you see, ruts, spreading edges, rocking blocks, nearly always come from a skimped base or missing edge restraints rather than the blocks themselves, which is the part we never cut corners on.
Block Paving Near You
We provide block paving across Leigh and the surrounding towns. Pick your area for local details.