The Brew Cabin

i have started my project and thank you for your previous help.however,i am the stage of picking my paving material so i have done the usual thing and driven around the neighbourhood looking at driveways(you do get some 'looks'from defensive neighbours) the block paved drives i've seen all look the same no matter which colour is used and are so common that i can't bring myself to use them.what do you think?the catalogues show some good design ideas,but no body uses them.can you emphasise the design side of things ,if only to encourage people to put a palm tree motif or something in the middle of their driveways?it's as if people are willing to pay the money on a new driveway,then save a few quid by having the most standard of design possible-maybe push the boat out and have a 'contrast edge' if they have the money,rather than spend a bit on design, people seem to upgrade to tumbled multisized super blocks then skimp again on a boring design-where am i going with this? tara

Many contractors will offer a design service, are are qute happy to do 'palm trees', if that's what folk want, but I know from my experience in running a residential driveway construction business for over 15 years that most folk want "block paving" and want it as cheap as poss. They really aren't all that keen on paying a premium of, say, 1,000 quid to get a cutting-edge design or bring in a block with a bit more character. They have a look what everyone else in their area has got, and then figure out what they can 'get away with' so that it looks neat and tidy and up-to-date, without actually costing very much.

There are a few clients, maybe 10-15% of the enquiries a typical contractor will receive, who are keen to have summat a bit special, and are willing to pay a few quid extra, but they are the minority. Some contractors aren't interested in these 'fancy' jobs - they want in and out as quick as poss, with as little hassle as poss, and a nice, simple, straightforward job that pays up, whereas other contractors quite enjoy the challenge of creating a driveway with some artistic flair. Sadly, matching up design-minded clients with artistically-inclined contractors is not always as easy as it should be.

The useless bunch of tossers known as Interpave, the trade body that claims to promote the block paving industry, but, like the Wizards in a Discworld novel, are only really interested in Big Dinners, run an annual 'best design' competition for block pavements, but it only applies to commercial and civil works, which comprise significantly less than half of the total work done with block pavers in the UK and Ireland each year.

There's no 'driveway' competition because the vested interests behind Interpave are not prepared for Manufacturer A to be seen winning while Manufacturer B isn't even mentioned, and then they are not prepared to consider pavements constructed from clay pavers. The individual manufacturers will mollycoddle specific 'pet' contractors, photographing and publicising works featuring their own brand of paving, and granting all sort of meaningless awards and titles on these select few, but it's far from impartial and more about promoting a glossy image of the industry than actually promoting great design and good construction practice.

Maybe I should institute the Pavingexpert Trophy - awarded for best designed and constructed driveway or patio, using ANY paving material, from ANY supplier/manufacturer, but how much support do you think I'd get from the 'vested interests'?

that is interesting.a competition run by you would be something worth winning.anyone that reads your site carnt fail to be impressed, a competition is a great idea.forget 'interpave'given enough time i believe your site will become more influential-perhaps not in the commercial side but domestically its all yours.

I have to agree with the sentiment of the post from stevio. How about dividing the categories into best amateur/best professional design and build?