The Brew Cabin

I've been reading about setting out the 45 degree pattern for block paving, using the string line and having the pattern running the length of the drive for best appearance.

I would like to do this but the trouble I have is that I have a big drive ( nearly 100 square metres in all )and it is isn't square or rectanglar.It starts narrow at the entrance and then widens like a V and has a sligt slope upto the house ( ideal for drainage). Here comes the tricky bit for me, the house is off set at an angle to the length of the driveway and if I worked off the house as a base line guide the pattern would run transverse across the length.What I have got is a 10 metre length of edging to the right hand side of the drive which could be used as a base line for the pattern to work off.This extends from the entrance but doesn't extend right up to the house, it falls some 10 feet short. Should I run the pattern off this edge and use the string line as a guide to take the pattern up to the house. The other thing is where should I start off,at the entrance, half way along the edging? Something tells me I ought to look to work away from the house down the drive b!
ut with the awkward angles I am frightened of the pattern looking skewiff.

Maybe I ought to be looking at another pattern.
Can you help please?

Choosing a base line to work from is something that has to be done on a job-by-job basis. It's a doddle when your house is square to the drive and that's square to the road, but when you have a less orthodox setting, such as you describe, there are two possible resolutions that seem to work in the vast majority of cases; choose to work from a line of sight that presents the best view of the pavement when approached from the entrance or select a base line that aligns with the house itself.
Now, if you decide to go with the house option, then it's simply a matter of selecting the longest edge as a base line and extrapolating that as required. With an entrance aligned driveway, again the longest edge is used. However, when you have a drive entrance that is not parallel, as you describe, you have a further complication - do you align with the right hand edge, the left-hand edge, the centreline, or perpendicular with the public footpath/roadway?
Without being familiar with your layout, it's not really possible for me to say which would work best for you, but what you could do is sketch a rough layout of the driveway and the house on a sheet of A4 paper and then cut out the outline of the driveway. Lay this sheet over another sheet of A4 on which is printed a herringbone pattern, and rotate until you find an alignment that, to your eye, looks most pleasing. To help you out a bit, I've uploaded a gif file that you can grab and that should print out as an A4 sheet at 1:100.

http://www.pavingexpert.com/images/blocks/hboneA4.gif

Having said all that, I still reckon one of the two options mentioned above is likely to turn out best.

Switching to another pattern will not make choice of alignment any easier, as all patterns are based on rectangles, so the same problem crops up whatever you choose. However, as mentioned on the Block paving section, a herringbone pattern gives full pattern interlock, and so is much, much, much better for driveways.

HTH