to think block paving would be better than tarmac for a driveway

[NeedToChangeName]

We need to replace the driveway. My DP suggests tarmac may be easiest to maintain. I think block paving looks better, but wonder if you get lots of weeds. And am unsure whether it's worth going for resin, as that seems to be the gold standard

Any advice most welcome, thanks

We spray our drive once a year to get rid of the weeds that could if left start to lift and damage our driveway.

We feel that the parts of our back garden that are left wild, the piles of rotting logs, the insect habitats, the bird boxes, feeders etc. more than do our bit for the wildlife.

Not at all. I have a huge garden, parts of it are wild, long grass, nettles and wood piles. 50 metres of natural native hedging, large oak tree and compost heap.

Some parts of my garden and gravel areas I keep looking tidier, including killing weeds.

Shall I tell the farmer next door to stop spraying his fields for you?

Forget the covering - it's the substrate that matters.

Over the past 20 years almost every house in our drive has had their drives replaced by firms that dig down a foot and leave it at that. Tarmac or blocks they are all a little "wavy" now.

Makes me appreciate the guy that did ours digging down a metre and throwing 2 tonnes of hardcore in before topping with blocks - still spirit level flat.

I'm interested in finding out more about this. I'm looking for the most eco-friendly but also durable new driveway option. We had cotswold stone gravel but after 15 years there is very little left!

Sorry to resurrect an old thread but it makes interesting reading. I have quite a steeply sloping drive which is currently gravel. Trouble is it all runs away. It is a large area which could probably park 10 cars. I guess resin would be prohibitively expensive?

Do you mean the gravel all runs away? If so, you can get a plastic mesh matt that stops that.

https://www.amagard.com/uk/gravel-grids

We have block paving and it's shockingly dangerous, it's really slippy in frosty and icy weather. I can't begin to tell how many times I have slipped and ended up banging my head in the winter, some of our neighbours have replaced theirs with tarmac due to the dangers.

We have blocks , I really like it and it’s very convenient if you get a stain or need to dig up the drive for services like fibre internet as you just put them back down or stick in a few new ones .

We had a new driveway last year. All the driveway companies were pushing block paving so hard but I really wanted tarmac, and we went with tarmac. I’m so glad we did. It looks great! We had some small sections and borders done with block paving and I have to weed these regularly. I’d hate the whole drive being like that!

Resin was no more expensive than block for us.

Yes it is the gravel that runs away. A neighbour of ours has a flat drive which borders the road. Even they are constantly sweeping it back and having top up deliveries. Ours also gets lots of weeds in and I don’t want to be pouring chemicals on every year. The mesh might help but wouldn’t solve all our issues unfortunately.
I guess I just need to find some local people to quote, been putting it off as I know it will be an expensive job.

We had ours done with gravel using the honeycomb grids that were posted upthread. We also had a series of block pavement at the entrance to our drive to keep all the gravel neat and in place. It looks fabulous. We have a long drive and large square bit of parking. We thought tarmac would make it look like a municipal car park.

It looks so dull, i wouldnt find driving uplifting

Landscape architect here. Spend a small amount of money & get a proper design & specification drawn up. I have Tobermore block over a levelled bed of t
Type 2 and a membrane. It is now 2 years old and looks great, minimal weeds. I do a very small amount of weeding per year.
If it needs a soak away, that’s easy to put in while the drive is done.
Get a reputable contractor, who is willing to work to your design & spec. A lot of problems mentioned above would be avoided.

We have gravel (it was pre treated with a kind of tarmac with some of the stones embedded in. We've not had any issues or weeds in the 8 years we've had it so far.

In-laws have bricks and it’s sagging? Dipping?
the only tarmac one around here again are all sinking and get massive pools of water sitting on them, as does the one concrete one it actually smells in the summer if you walk by that house it smells damp.

We have gravel which is also a pain because weeds and topping up 😅 but at least the rain can get though and we don’t smell damp and any sinking just top it up.

so I’d personally go resin or gravel.

I have half the drive as shingle and would love to change it but as I only have the one car and I have a slab driveway for parking, I'm inclined to leave it.

I get no run off of water as the houses opposite me do as they all have just tarmac, not one of the houses has any garden or even pots of plants to soak up any rain, the amount of water that runs off into the gutter is massive.

I'll stick with the shingle for the time being I think.

@Moanranger who would do a design? What kind of designer. Ours needs done soon….

Any landscape architect or qualified garden designer would do this. There are loads of independent ones. Some contractors are “design & build” so will provide a design as part of the contract.
Unfortunately, the world of driveway contractors are dominated by “cowboys”, who cut corners with preparation, levelling the site, ensuring the correct fall for drainage, all these are essential for a fit for purpose result.

Block would be better for our enviroment. Allows water to seep in and the odd "weed" is needed.

Picture- Tobermore Heather, gravel, at jct with road ( not shown) more block paving. Keeps gravel in place & maximum water infiltration thru gravel

I've got block paving and it's awful for weeds. You have to pressure wash then put kiln sand in crevices about twice a year. I wish I'd gone for Tarmac.

See my pic. Virtually no weeds. Prep is all🙂

I have had my block paving down a few years and it still doesn’t get weeds, maybe the odd one?

It does go green in winter though but I presume all surfaces do.

Not gravel, next door have it and it’s constantly allover the path!

We have block paving. Tarmac is ok, but I hate gravel, so messy and quite noisy too!