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

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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

@Moanranger thank you. Some people up the road had theirs done and the guys looked like they were doing a thorough job, I know they had to wait ages for them as they had a big waiting list. I'll ask who it was.

This is ours with block then gravel on honeycomb grid. It's very neat and tidy!

And tarmac looks plain.

You do realise with imprinted concreted, you can have unlimited designs, colours, patterns???

None of which you can do with crappy tarmac (which ALWAYS sinks over time), nor can you do that with block paving (which over time becomes home to weeds and other green shit).

I've had both for well over a decade and prefer the block. It will need weed clear 2-3 times a year, or seedlings pulling out. The tarmac is ok but it's never pretty to look at-and mine is in good condition, but still.

From an environmental and cost standpoint, you can't get much better that gravel. It's permeable so there's no surface water runoff, and the carbon content of the paving materials is much less than with products involving polymer resins or asphalt. In fact a large part of the environmental impact of gravels and other aggregates is associated with transporting them around the country, so try to choose something quarried locally if possible - no Cotswold limestone if you live in Aberdeen! Whatever is sold most cheaply in local builders' merchants might well be a good starting point.

If you want the gravel to stay put, more angular pieces of rock will be better than rounded river gravel ('pea gravel') which is great for drainage but can't be compacted to form a secure surface covering. My neighbour's drive is rounded gravel and is forever migrating onto the road outside, whereas mine is more angular and there isn't an issue. Another way to help retain gravel is to have a raised edging, e.g., of brick, with a humped strip of stone or block paving at the gateway as in the pic posted by @ApolloandDaphne above.

Ideally choose harder materials like granite, flint or harder limestones rather than softer stuff like sandstone or the popular Cotswold buff limestone which will crush to dust under the wheels of your car over time.

Gravel also has the advantage of being easy to repair invisibly if work is needed on pipes buried underneath.

A good gravel driveway will need a decent compacted crushed stone base, I've seen 100mm quoted as suitable but this would be a bare minimum. I'd specify 150-200mm, and hope that gave reasonable certainty that a suitable depth would be achieved in practice, rather than specifying 100mm and ending up with 60-80mm in places....

There's more info here: Gravel, Cinder and Hoggin Paths and Drives | Pavingexpert

And an outline written spec (which you could use as a starting point for getting prices, even if you plan to get a proper spec drawn up by a landscape architect or similar) here: Typical Specifications | Pavingexpert

Resin is great for drives and really low maintenance. It’s pricey though but will last a lifetime.

Gravel gets stuck in your shoes,you don't want to walk into your house and damage wood flooring with it. Some driveways here have their gravel spilling out onto the pavement.

This

If it gets stuck in your shoes, it's too small and too loose. You want 6-15mm gravel on a driveway, and not loose rounded stuff that's going to move about like a ball pool at soft play every time you walk or drive on it. You also need to avoid having too deep a bed of gravel: you want a good covering of the compacted base course, not a deep bed like a sandpit or a gravel trap at a motor racing circuit. A gravel layer about twice the maximum diameter of the gravel will be fine.

I have never found gravel from my driveway stuck in my shoes, and it doesn't spill onto the road.

I have this problem in my rear garden because part of it is a gravel garden. When I did my driveway, I made a point of having block by front door, and then gravel is beyond that. Then a small section of block by roadside edge. Gravel stays put. Agree angular gravel, also less likely to move.

I dont like tarmac either very ugly.
i have beautiful warm white gravels on honeycombe and white membrane with same colour block paving under our gate. It is beautiful and such an uplift as I drive in, and the contrast with my gorgeous flower beds - arriving home is like arriving in our sanctuary.

If you go for resin, make sure it is resin bound not resin bonded. Resin bound is permeable and will let water through, which reduces the risk of local flooding.

From the posts here about weed killer, bleach and resealing chemicals it would not appear to be environmentally sound for a large sloping drive.

@HelplessSoul is imprinted concrete permeable, because I don’t think we would get planning permission if not and rightly so.

@Glittertwins and anyone else who has a resin drive they are happy with - would you be prepared to share rough idea of area covered and price paid. I need to prepare myself ( and DH).

@CannotFathome I did a lot of research. Resin types the most expensive, although they look v good. They can be damaged(gouging & scarring) Gravel is the cheapest, block more expensive & tarmac is more expensive than gravel, surprisingly. Correct prep adds cost but is essential to appearance, functionality & longevity.
I went for a hybrid - block & gravel- to reduce costs. I got block on sale at Travers Perkin’s. When you find a block you like, work out your area, and scour internet for sales.
My driveway is quite long, cost £14k all in, but adds enormously to value of the house.
Good luck!

It rather depends on whether you will have enough "soft" areas to allow for run-off. The complete sealing of front gardens is implicated in flash flooding.

I would always go got the permeable option, and find weedy driveways, and plants in gardens much better looking than sealed/sterile.

Every option will need weeding eventually, even tarmac or concrete

My next door neighbour has tarmac out front, tbh it doesn't look as nice as the block brick, sort of has a doctor's surgery car park look to it. When it rains the smell is absolutely disgusting and we can't open the windows out front, it's also very badly stained and cracked after 5 years. Another thing is they have a dog and can't let it in the front garden as it gets quite hot to walk on.

The other side have those little stones, now they're a pain in the hole, the crunching of the wheels of their cars is very annoying, they have 3 cars, always in and out and crunch, crunch, crunch... They use some rake to smooth them out, takes fucking hours ! Then they're left for a while and the stones are all out in the walk way out front a serious pain in the arse walking on and DDS wheelchair, they wreck the wheels, the stones stick in everything including the soles of your shoes.

I'd go with the block brick or I seen another neighbour who recently got what looked like concrete put down and they did an inprint of slabs, it looks gorgeous.

Of course if you're detached and have no neighbours you can choose whichever.

Block paving looks so much better and lasts far longer than tarmac, though more expensive. If you damage a section, or block, it is easier to replace. We don’t get many weeds, and you could always use weed killer preparations. Tarmac is cheap, but breaks up and looks awful after a few years. Don’t know about resin.

The problem with the imprinted drives is drainage, and if a section cracks it’s hard to repair without looking obvious.

@FantasticElasticBand we're now leaning towards this option. How is your driveway looking? Are you pleased with grid and gravel?

@CasperGutman thanks so much

@CannotFathome - ours was £15k to do a double width driveway, all up to the front door, path around the side of the house, patio area acrid the back of the house and another path up the back of the garden. It also included digging up all the previous paving / disposal.
We were very happy with the company that did ours.

Thanks so much to all of you who took the time to reply

Extremely helpful

Wow!

No its not permeable - its concrete. Water would run off into the street/gutters.

I dont know anyone that has a concrete drive that sought planning permission beforehand.

Couldnt care less about the water run off TBH.