The Brew Cabin

Help please anyone been in my position? Upto today I had planned later this spring to get my drive enlarged to Total 45sq Metre, to enable my son who has returned home get his car and mine + 12ft Caravan of the street (basically a backward L shape 11M x 4.5M

I until today was convinced that Block paving 200mm x 100mmx 50/65)mm, But my next door neighbour was having his concrete fence posts and panels fitted, By the contractor who I was recommended by my Nephew who is a garden Centre manager to do my drive and my neighbours now says York stone flags would make a better durable drive (to my neighbour he needs his drive for similar purpose to mine,

Our land is mainly peat and moves with the seasons What advice could you give re cost durability etc

Robert Nixon

Hi,

structurally, there's nowt to choose between yorkstone paving and block paving for a residential driveway, assuming top quality materials are used. A properly laid yorkstone drive will give you at least 25 years of service, as will a properly laid block paved driveway.

Maintenance-wise, they are both similar in that they need cleaning and weeding once a year to keep them in prime condition, although you can minimise this wth the use of a quality sealant.

But cost-wise is another matter. Best quality reclaimed yorkstone will set you back around 35-40 quid per m2 just to buy the flags, whereas you can have rectangular block paving completely installed for that sort of price, or a few quid more. New Yorkstone is even more pricey, but there are cheap imports now on the market at around 20-35 quid per m2. There is, however, some concern about the quality of the real 'bargain' priced stone, though - see other threads.

Another consideration is that yorkstone is known to 'walk' overnight. Because it has such a good resale value, the drive bandits are always on the lookout for a nice yorkstone driveway that they can load onto their wagon while you're on holiday or away with the caravan. Block paving is much less likely to be stolen.

At the end of the day, it depends on your personal taste, your budget and what sort of property you have. In my opinion, there is no better paving for residential driveways than block paving. It's relatively cheap, it's easily maintained, it's attractive, it's easy to repair. There are indeed some properties where Yorkstone looks better, but for 9 drives out of 10, block paving is a better choice.

I wonder if this contractor is pushing you towards yorkstone because there's more profit in that for them than there is in block paving? Why not get them to price both options and we'll have a look at their specifications, if you wish.