Get the groundwork right and the driveway looks after itself.
Most driveways do not fail because of the blocks. They fail because of what was, or was not, put underneath them.
Block paving Lincoln driveways are one of the jobs we are asked about most this summer, usually by homeowners who have had enough of patching up the old one. Across Lincoln, Gainsborough and the surrounding villages, the tired, sunken, weed-filled front approach is one of the busiest jobs on our diary through August and September.
This guide comes from landscape gardeners Lincoln homeowners have used since 2010, and it covers what decides whether a driveway is still flat in ten years: the depth under it, the drainage around it, and the edges holding it together. You do not need any trade knowledge to follow it — every term is explained as we go.
The short version
- Compare quotes on sub-base depth and drainage, not on the price of the blocks.
- Anything over five square metres has to drain within your own boundary, or it needs planning permission.
- Block paving, resin-bound, gravel and tarmac all last well when the groundwork is right.
- Late summer usually gives the driest ground for excavation and compaction.
- Plan the driveway alongside fencing installation Lincoln and garden design Lincoln work rather than on its own.
On this page
- The Quick Answer
- Why Block Paving Lincoln Driveways Are Being Planned Now
- How We Build a Block Paving Driveway, Step by Step
- Comparing Surfaces: Block Paving, Resin, Gravel and Tarmac
- Drainage, SuDS and the Five Square Metre Rule
- Design Choices That Still Look Right in Ten Years
- Planning the Driveway With the Rest of Your Garden
- Choosing a Landscaping Company in Lincoln
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Areas We Cover
- Book Your Free Site Visit
The Quick Answer
If you are planning a new driveway this summer, the checklist above is the whole story in five lines. Everything below explains why each one matters.
Why Block Paving Lincoln Driveways Are Being Planned Now
Most of the driveways we lift were laid between fifteen and thirty years ago, on a thin layer of hardcore that was never deep enough for a modern car. The blocks themselves are usually still sound. It is everything below them that has already failed.
The symptoms are always the same
Most block paving Lincoln enquiries this month follow that exact pattern, and most of them come from properties where the original surface was laid straight onto compacted soil.
Timing matters too. Groundwork is the disruptive part of any driveway installation, and dry ground makes it far quicker to dig out, cart away and compact. Ground that has had weeks of sun on it moves less under a wacker plate, which means a more reliable finished level. It is also the time of year when a driveway can be booked alongside other hard landscaping Lincoln work without one job holding up the next.
How We Build a Block Paving Driveway, Step by Step
Every driveway we build follows the same sequence. If a quote you are comparing skips these stages, ask what is being left out and why.
Site visit and levels
We measure the area, check which way the ground slopes away from the house so we know where rainwater will go, and dig a small test hole to see what the existing base is made of. Nothing is priced before that.
Excavation
The old surface and everything under it comes out, usually to between 250mm and 350mm — roughly ten to fourteen inches — depending on the ground and whether a van or caravan will stand on it. Soft clay needs more.
Membrane and sub-base
A geotextile membrane — a tough woven fabric sheet — goes down first, so the stone and the soil never mix. Crushed stone then goes in and is packed down hard by machine in thin layers of around 75mm — three inches — because thin layers pack down evenly and one thick layer never does. A typical car driveway ends up with about 150mm of compacted sub-base — six inches of solid stone — and more where a van or caravan will stand.
Edge restraints
Every open edge is set on concrete, with more concrete packed against the outside for support. Block paving stays strong because the blocks grip tightly against each other — and it is these edges that hold that grip in place.
Drainage
Channel drains, linear gullies or a soakaway go in before the surface does, sized for the area being paved and positioned where the water actually wants to travel.
Laying course and blocks
A bed of coarse sand is smoothed perfectly level, then the blocks go on top, cut in tight against edges and gullies with a proper block splitter or saw rather than filled with mortar slivers.
Jointing and compaction
Fine, completely dry sand — or a jointing compound that sets firm — is brushed into every joint. The whole surface is then vibrated with a compacting machine so everything locks tight, and the joints are topped up. This is the step that stops movement and keeps weeds out.
Handover
We clean down, take all the dug-out material away, and leave you the specification in writing so you know exactly what’s under your driveway.
Comparing Surfaces: Block Paving, Resin, Gravel and Tarmac
Four surfaces cover almost every driveway we install. All four fail the same way when the base beneath them is wrong.
| Surface | Character | Repairs | Drainage | Best suited to |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Block pavingMost repairable | Concrete, clay or natural stone blocks. Concrete gives the widest choice of colour and format, clay keeps its colour for decades, and stone setts suit older properties. | Individual units lift and relay, so an oil stain or a trench for a cable is a local job rather than a whole-surface job. | Permeable versions available — blocks that let rain drain straight through into the stone below. | Family drives across Lincoln and Gainsborough where cars turn and reverse daily. |
| Resin-boundSmoothest finish | Natural aggregate bound in clear resin, laid seamlessly with no joints for weeds to find, in blends from natural stone to contemporary greys. | Patch repairs are possible but the join is usually visible, so the base has to be right first time. | Lets rain drain through when laid on the right base. | Prams, bikes and wheelchairs, and contemporary properties. |
| GravelBest value | Loose decorative aggregate over a membrane, ideally in a stabilising grid so it stays where you put it. | Top up as needed. The cheapest surface to maintain and to change your mind about. | Free-draining by nature, which usually simplifies the whole surface water question. | Rural and village properties around Torksey, Stow, Marton and Newton-on-Trent. |
| TarmacFastest to lay | A continuous black surface, quick to install over a large area and hard-wearing under weight. | Patches show. Edges are the usual failure point when they are not restrained properly. | Not permeable unless specified as porous, so a drainage strategy is essential. | Long drives and larger plots near Scunthorpe and Saxilby. |
Drainage, SuDS and the Five Square Metre Rule
In England, the cut-off is five square metres — less than half the size of one parking space. Pave more than that at the front of your house and the rain must either drain through the surface itself, or run somewhere inside your own boundary that can soak it up: a border, a lawn, or a soakaway — an underground pit filled with stone that lets water soak slowly into the ground. Do neither and you need planning permission. Councils call this SuDS; the principle is simply that your rain stays on your plot. It’s the point where a lot of cheap quotes fall short.
Every block paving driveway in Lincoln we price includes a surface water strategy from the outset. In practice that means one of three things: permeable blocks that let rain soak straight through the surface into the stone below, a channel drain running to a soakaway sized for the area, or a gentle slope that sends water into a planted border or lawn that can absorb it.
The heavier clay soils around Lincoln and Sturton-by-Stow drain slowly, so soakaways there need to be larger and sited further from the house. The lighter, sandier ground towards Torksey, Marton and Newton-on-Trent usually takes water more readily. That detail only comes out of a site visit.
If the fall of your plot runs towards the house, this stage is not optional. Getting it wrong pushes water at your damp-proof course — the waterproof barrier built into your walls just above ground level that keeps the house dry — and no amount of good blockwork will fix that afterwards.
Not sure what is under your driveway?
We’ll dig a small test hole, tell you what the existing base is made of, and put the depth and the drainage in writing before you spend anything.
Design Choices That Still Look Right in Ten Years
The block paving Lincoln driveways that still look good after a decade are usually the plainest ones. The ones that age badly are almost always trying too hard.
Herringbone — the classic zig-zag, laid at forty-five degrees to the direction you drive — is the strongest pattern for a driveway, because the angled joints resist the twist of turning wheels. Stretcher bond, where blocks are laid like bricks in a wall, looks tidier on narrow drives and paths. Circle features and multiple contrasting colours date quickly and complicate any future repair.
Take the colour cue from the house rather than from a brochure. Red brick properties across Lincoln and Gainsborough sit well with charcoal and buff blends, while rendered and stone properties usually suit silver-grey or natural stone tones. If you’re unsure, our garden designer Lincolnshire team will lay samples out on your own drive in daylight before anything is ordered.
Two colours, one laying pattern, and a border that follows the shape of the house. The plainest driveways are the ones still looking right in ten years.
Reshape Landscaping · Design teamRecent projects
A selection of our work
Planning the Driveway With the Rest of Your Garden
A driveway is the first thing anyone sees, and it rarely looks finished on its own. The front boundary, the path to the door, the planting and the lighting all read as one picture from the pavement.
Most of our garden makeover Lincoln projects start at the front for exactly that reason. It’s usually cheaper to bring the fencing installation Lincoln work, the patio installation Lincolnshire and the turfing Lincoln into the same programme than to come back and do each job separately, because the digging, the levels and the waste removal are all shared.
Where a front garden is small or overshadowed, artificial grass installation Lincolnshire gives a low maintenance garden Lincoln finish that stays green beside a hot paved surface. Where there is more room, soft landscaping Lincoln with structural, drought-tolerant planting softens the edges and stops the whole frontage reading as hard surface. A raised bed along the boundary, or a small water feature by the door, does more for kerb appeal than an extra colour of block ever will.
Explore the rest of what we do
Choosing a Landscaping Company in Lincoln
A driveway is only as good as the team building it. If you’re comparing driveway installation quotes in Lincoln, ask each contractor for the same four things: the excavation depth and sub-base specification in writing, how surface water will be managed and where it will go, recent local driveways you can go and look at, and who is actually on site.
A quote that names depths and drainage is nearly always the better value one, even when it isn’t the cheapest. Any landscaping company Lincoln or landscaping company Gainsborough homeowners are considering should be willing to put all four in writing without being chased.
Why homeowners pick us
Reshape Landscaping was established in 2010 and has completed more than 400 projects across Lincoln, Gainsborough and the wider Lincolnshire area. Our designers are National Design Academy qualified, we hold Houzz Best of Service 2026 and an ITV Garden of the Year award, and we are approved installers for Talasey and Select Living Group products.
- Excavation depth and sub-base written into every quote
- Surface water strategy agreed before we lift a slab
- Recent local driveways you’re welcome to go and look at
- Our own team on site, not a rotating set of subcontractors
Block Paving Lincoln: Frequently Asked Questions
How much does a new driveway cost?
Cost depends on size, material, ground conditions and drainage. Gravel is usually the most affordable, while resin-bound and block paving sit higher because of the materials and the preparation involved. Every driveway is priced after a site visit rather than by the square metre over the phone. Reshape Landscaping Ltd is not VAT-registered, so the price quoted is the price paid.
How long does a driveway installation take?
Most domestic driveways take between three and fourteen days on site. A straightforward single drive is usually done inside a week. Larger areas, difficult access, deep excavation or a soakaway will extend that. We give you a start date and a working sequence before the first machine arrives.
Can you lay a new driveway over the existing one?
Almost never, and it’s one of the most common reasons driveways fail early. Laying over an old surface raises the finished level, often above the damp-proof course, and leaves the original weak base in place. We excavate, take the old material away and rebuild from the ground up.
Do I need planning permission for a new driveway?
For most homes, no, provided the surface is permeable or the water is directed to a soakaway, a border or a lawn within your own boundary. It becomes an issue when more than five square metres drains straight onto the road. We design the drainage so the question does not come up.
Which driveway material copes best with Lincolnshire ground?
All four work here when the base is right. Block paving handles heavy clay well because individual units can be lifted and relaid if anything ever settles. Gravel suits the lighter ground around the villages and drains freely. Resin-bound needs a very well prepared open-graded base. Tarmac is fine over larger areas provided the edges are properly restrained.
How do I stop weeds growing through block paving?
Weeds grow in the joints, not up through the blocks. Fill every joint properly with fine dry sand or a jointing compound that sets firm, compact the surface, then top the joints up again. Brush the drive a few times a year and re-sand it every couple of years and you will rarely see a weed.
Areas We Cover
We install driveways, patios, fencing and full garden schemes across Lincoln, Gainsborough and the villages between them, including Torksey, Saxilby, Sturton-by-Stow, Stow, Ingleby, Marton, Newton-on-Trent and Scunthorpe, and further afield across Lincolnshire when the job suits. If you’re not sure whether you’re inside our patch, just ask.
Book Your Free Site Visit
If your driveway is sinking, ponding or overrun with weeds, now is a good time of year to put it right. We’ll assess the existing ground, explain what’s causing the failure, set out the drainage you’ll need, and give you a written specification alongside the price.
Whether it’s a driveway on its own, decking installation Lincolnshire at the back, ongoing lawn care Lincoln, a small garden design Lincoln scheme or garden design Gainsborough for a larger plot, the site visit is free and there is no obligation.
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