Choosing the right driveway paver
Reading time: 12 minutes
A well maintained driveway can set the tone for your whole home, but sadly, driveway paving is one of the trades with the biggest reputations for poor workmanship and cowboy builders.
To avoid a ripoff and to ensure a job well done, you need to hire the rightdriveway paverfor your project. We spoke to some of the experienced tradespeople recommended on MyBuilder to find out the key things you should know in order to make the right choice:
- Look out for experience as much as accreditations
- Ask questions about how they’ll approach your job
- Make sure you are comfortable with them
- Get quotes that cover everything and establish a payment plan
- Check they are up to speed with planning permissions if needed
- Ensure there are follow-ups after the build
Keeping these points in mind can help you focus on what to look for when you’re meeting with tradespeople and getting quotes for the work. Carry on reading for more details on how to go about finding the right tradesperson for your job.
Look out for experience as much as accreditations
Driveway paversmay have overlapping experience in a variety of trades, such as bricklaying, groundworking, landscape gardening and other general building roles. While a generalist may be able to take on your particular job, whether that be laying a gravel driveway or a brick patio, as with all projects, a specialist in driveways and paving will be best placed to deal with your particular needs.
When looking for a tradesperson for your project, it’s sensible to speak to ones who have performed plenty of similar jobs to the one you have planned. As well as seeing previous examples of their work that they can show you as part of their portfolio, you may also be able to arrange through them to visit their previous jobs - they should be happy to put you in touch with previous clients they have done work for before. This is particularly important with driveway jobs, where issues can often take some time to appear as driveways settle and bed in. Try and arrange to meet with people who’ve had their driveways for a year or more, to see how the drive has held up to wear and tear.
Stephen Clarke of STAC Landscaping in Chingfordhas more than 130 pieces of positive feedback on MyBuilder. He said:
I always take pictures of the jobs I’m doing. It’s the quickest way to show new clients what we do and how we do it. Any good tradesperson will be happy to show off a portfolio like this - I always keep my iPad around to show off what I do.
Jeff Macfarlane, of Jeff-Mac Landscaping in Hertford, has more than 100 pieces of positive feedback on MyBuilder. He told us:
Obviously, you want someone who has an extensive portfolio of driveways they’ve done. It’s shame but the trade does have a bad reputation compared to some others - people do drive around with a lorry load of tarmac trying to offload it, the issue of cowboys comes up quite a lot. Homeowners should always look into a tradesperson, check out their portfolio, and go and see previous jobs they’ve done - I always make that available if someone is interested.
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As well as checking their references, there are other things you can do to check their experience. On MyBuilder, you can read honest feedback on the jobs they have undertaken for homeowners, as well as seeing pictures of the jobs they have taken on. Don’t be afraid to ask them questions as well, about any qualifications they may have, and their length of time in the business. Many will have specific qualifications, such as NVQs or City & Guild diplomas. Others will have learnt on the job, apprenticing with other tradespeople and building their experience.
Some tradesperson may be members of trade bodies such as theFederation of Master Builders，其中一些机构可能会提供各种各样的客户保护措施，如担保或纠纷解决。虽然成为这样一个团体的成员是一个很好的迹象，表明一个商人是称职的，并达到了一定的标准，但是，有许多经验丰富的商人并不属于这些团体，他们没有义务签署，不像气体安全登记册的成员，这是一个法律要求，在家里从事气体工作的商人。虽然行业组织的成员资格可以被视为认可的良好标志，但经验才是最重要的。Jeff told us:
For me, I’ve never felt the need to join a trade body. I just go by my reputation - I work hard, I don’t do anything by halves, and I’ve never had any comebacks. My feedback tells people what they want to know.
Ask questions about how they’ll approach your job
You should also feel comfortable that they are carrying out the job to standard. Arming yourself with a little bit of knowledge, either through MyBuilder’s glossary or another site, can help you know what to look out for when it comes to the materials and techniques your tradesperson will be using. Ask them questions about their processes, including things like:
- What depth will they be going down to?
- What materials will they be using in the sub-base (MOT Type 1 is the industry accepted quality)?
- 他们将如何处理排水问题?
- Do they expect to encounter gas or water pipes or any other issues?
- Are they aware of planning constraints (see below for more detail)?
Jeff encouraged people to do some of their own research and ask as many questions as possible:
When you do talk to them, a little bit of homework can go a long way - I recommend pavingexpert.com as a good place to start. If you have a few questions you can ask, it can really help. Ask about how deep they’ll go, what layers they’ll do, if they’re concerned about drainage, how they’ll deal with pipework they might find, and what materials they recommend and why.
当涉及到天然气和水管时，我们知道如何定位它们，并在我们预计它们会成为问题时提前警告客户。如果我们真的需要水管工之类的人，我们可以随时找一个。
Matthew Lyttle of MRL Construction & Maintenancespecialises in driveways and ground work and has more than 30 positive pieces of feedback on MyBuilder. He also recommends doing a bit of reading around the subject:
There’s a book called the Building Construction Handbook, by Roy Chudley and Robert Greeno. It's a great guide to all aspects of building, big or small. And because it doesn’t use too much jargon it’s pretty easy for non-experts to understand. I recommend it to quite a few customers.
Make sure you are comfortable with them
As well as knowing that they are experienced with your kind of job, you should simply assess how comfortable you feel with the potential tradespeople. You can do that from your first contact with them; are they polite on the phone, do they arrive for meetings at the scheduled time, do they ask lots of questions about the project?
Also, make sure that the person who comes to quote for the job is the person who will carry out the work, or if they are not, that you will meet the person who will be on site and in charge of the project before it begins.
Paving jobs may not take a long time to complete, but being able to maintain good communication throughout the project is essential. You shouldn’t aim to become best friends with the tradesperson you choose, but you must be able to have a professional relationship - you must feel comfortable speaking openly about any concerns that may arise, and dealing with any issues. Jeff said:
就像房主感受商人一样世界杯荷兰vs威尔士竞猜，我也想感受他们，这是一个来回的过程。这种信任是双向的——我想花时间和他们在一起，和他们交谈，问他们很多关于这份工作的问题，以及他们想从这份工作中得到什么。我建议所有人都要确保与你交谈的人是自己在做这件事，他们不只是一个主唱，其他人也会出现，或者如果有一个有几个人的团队，确保你见过将要来的人，并对他们有感觉。
Get quotes that cover everything and establish a payment plan
With project-based jobs such as installing a new driveway or patio, it’s advisable to meet with, and get quotations, from at least three tradespeople. The detail and scope of their quotation can tell you a lot about their process. It’s important to make sure that all the quotations are like-for-like - do they include all materials and labour? If the tradesperson will be removing and disposing of any previous materials, such as existing paving stones, is that included? The only way to accurately compare quotations is if you are comparing like-for-like, and to get them from people who have seen the job in person.
Taking a sample of at least three quotations can help you spot any that seem unreasonably low - if this is the case, it could be the sign of a tradesperson who wants to win the job, but will make up the true value by adding on extra costs during the course of the build. Jeff said:
For me, when I give an estimate, I give a full written estimate which has materials, every depth, the sub-bases that are going in, so they can see exactly what work I‘m going to do and how much each element of it will cost. Information is crucial for the homeowner, you’d be amazed how few people have a clue about the work that goes into and what goes under their driveway. They come home and they’ve been told there’s a 10mm depth been dug out, but they can’t see if that’s been done or not. So I make it clear in the estimates.
引用解释发生了什么是很重要的，因为这样你可以平等地比较工作，你知道谁计划做什么，为什么它的成本和它所做的。很多人都有这样的心理，如果某件东西听起来很便宜，那么它可能就不是什么好东西，但如果报价匹配，他们涵盖了相同的流程，那么选择更便宜的东西并没有什么坏处，也许商人只是有更低的管理费用，可以提供更好的报价。
After agreeing to a price through an accurate, written quotation, make sure you have a payment plan in place that you are comfortable with. A written contract is the best way to ensure you are on the same page, with no misunderstandings.
A reputable tradesperson will generally not expect, or ask for, the total value of an expensive job up front. However, a small deposit is not uncommon. While many builders buy materials on account from trade suppliers, and will not request money up front to cover these costs, if it’s a small firm working on a large build with high costs involved, this may be worked into the plan. In most cases, payment will be deferred until after the build is completed. While many will be happy to accept cash, most tradespeople will accept cheques or bank transfers. Jeff said:
总的来说，我对提前付钱的人很警惕。大多数信誉良好的建筑商都有材料交易账户，我们不会先收钱。我们在工作开始时提供所有的材料，客户没有支付任何费用，直到工作全部完成，客户满意时才会付款。我不收押金。我们不需要。我们相信客户会付钱给我们，就像他们相信我们一样。这是双向的。我们只需要最后一次付款。你会惊讶于房主对你有多信任。它告诉他们，我要把工作做好，否则你就不会给我们工资，这让他们对我们很有信心。
Check they are up to speed with planning permissions if needed
Installing a driveway or patio can be subject to planning permission in some circumstances, for example if you are paving over a front garden larger than 5m squared, in which case you will need permission if you are planning to use a water-impermeable driveway that does not provide for water to run off into a permeable area.
Similarly, if you are creating a driveway and need to add a dropped kerb to a public road, you will also need to seek permission from the local authority. Some walls, fences and gates may also be subject to planning permission.
It's always worth consulting with your tradesperson to check they are fully aware of planning rules and will adhere to them. Jeff said:
We don’t touch anything on the pavement, if they need a dropped kerb that comes from the council and they need to get permissions, separate from us. We don’t have issues with planning. We keep up to date with all of that, we have to, otherwise we’d be pulling up a lot of work!
Ensure there are follow-ups after the build
With any building project, there is the possibility that complications and problems may arise. Often, these issues may not manifest themselves until after the work is notionally complete, and the tradesperson has moved on to other jobs. That being so, it is sensible to hire a tradesperson who is happy to return to the build to follow-up on their work and make right anything that may have happened since the work finished.
Some tradespeople will put something to this effect in their initial contracts with the homeowners, while others will offer a more informal arrangement. If the tradesperson is willing to put you in touch with previous clients to see their work, then it is a good sign that they have maintained good relationships, taken pride in their work, and ensured that they have followed-up on any issues that have arisen.
