Search the Community

I need to get some cobblestones for my driveway. Can anybody recommend somewhere that is within an hour or so of North or West London? I would prefer to go and see them in person, but I really only want to do that if they have a good selection. I'm after traditional looking cobblestones in a mix of greys. I'm aware of Rock Unique in Kent which are very knowledgeable, but I wanted somewhere else to compare (and Kent really isn't that close to me).

I have quite a few old bricks, found them under the old garage slab, looks like they scraped all the top soil off to the clay then dumped a lorry load of bricks to make up the ground then covered it in whin dust which sort of filled the top layer gaps. Interestingly if any of us suggested this method today we would all baulk at the idea, yet this garage did pretty well for 60 odd years on a 2-3 inch slab with edges built up on cobbles 3/4 layers deep. The bricks are quite nice, big 9" red bricks in pretty good condition, so I have been scratching my head after I had to lift a couple of 100 to run a soil pipe through the old garage site wondering what to do with them, so I looked about, I have always liked the reclaimed brick walls and paths and things so decided to give the new garage a new side entrance as test bed for bigger things. (The dark area to the left of the 4th from the right bottom brick isn't a gap, it is heavily fired clay.) I am quite pleased with the results, I used a wet grout technique, this will not be a step so the rough sides will be unseen - the ground level around is coming back up. So the plan is now a much larger area that leads to this entrance to create a theme.

When is anything ever simple??☹️ The more I find out the more depressed I become! I shall explain. After realising that we needed planning for the wet room extension and organising that, I now have some time to sort out a driveway nearer the doorway to the bungalow for my elderly parents. The current driveway is about 30-40m from the front door and as neither mum nor dad can walk that quickly, when it was raining and they had shopping, they were both soaked by the time they got into the house. So they have asked for a small driveway alongside the path to the front door. its currently lawn and appears to be fairly free draining but I shall be conducting a permeablility test as described in https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/442889/BR_PDF_AD_H_2015.pdf and as per Jeremy's instructions on another post. The driveway will be 5m by 2.5m so 12.5 metres square. and therefore I believe it needs to be permeable paving. I planned to use concrete block paving so are these all permeable or do I need cerrtain ones? I popped into the local BM and said what I was planning. the chap there did not seem to know anything about permeablility of pavers. He has quoted for Bradstone Driveway Concrete Block Paving. On the Bradstone website, I cannot see if they are permeable or not but as they also have a Driveway Infilta range for use with a permeanle system, i would guess not. Or would the ordinary ones be okay if I use the right sort of sub-base layer? Which leads me onto the next question - the BM quoted for Type 1 but I believe I need Type 3. however, a little look online and the Type 3 looks like being nearly 3 times the price. Is that right? Do I really need Type 3 or can I just plan a nice rain garden to run alongside the non permeable driveway to collect all the run off? that looks like the simplest and cheapest option. But then to cap it all - I now find that I probably need permission for the darn thing after all!!! ? From the Government Document https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/7728/pavingfrontgardens.pdf I found the following. Legal issues – If you are constructing a new access into the garden across the footpath (officially known as the footway) you will need to obtain permission from the local council to drop the kerbs and the public footpath may need strengthening. This is to protect any services buried in the ground such as water pipes. AHHH!!! I can see this getting expensive..... No doubt I will need a specialist contractor to drop the kerb - which is only 5 cm high so we didnt plan to lower it at all. The house opposite has made a driveway and havent bothered wtih the kerb, he just bumps up and we planned to do the same. Should I take the risk and not tell them?? But what if there are pipes below the surface and they get damaged? Photo below shows the current layout, although it was 10 years ago. This is the area. the plan is to take up the box hedging to the right of the path (they are now about 18inches high and very neat) and run the drive alongside the path. 2.5m wide and 5m long.