Anyone offhand know the cost of block paving?

[Piffle]

Just wondering what I would likely be charged per sqm for brick block paving
Or shudder... if I could do it myself?

blocks about £58 pe sqm for decent paviours you could do it your self I can talk you through it well dh can

Am I correct in thinking level firm surface, brick cutter and sand are what I need? WE already have a load of paving (from when house was built), but there are about 3-4 sqm I would like doing.
I wonder about fitting costs too, would you know that at all?

dh sys you need a good sub base of mot1 than whacker plate that down then sharp sand whacked adn screeded then lay blocks and the brush over with sand - DH says probably about £58 per sq metre to lay as well. Also if your told you don't need a subbase get someone else

We dug down about 7000mm in our drive area. With shovels. It is not something I would EVER EVER do now I have kids as wouldn't have the time. It is so time consuming and a complete ballache. I helped shovel the aggregate in there (as the lorry kindly dropped it in the middle of the road (single track, no pavement, blocked the whole road it did, but that is another story) at 7 1/2 months pregnant.

If you can afford to get someone to do it, do so. As Gothicmama says, if they tell you you don't need subbase, smile sweetly as you close the door

What on earth is mot1?
whacker plate I can figure out - ok...
might have to contemplate getting a man in
hope they will not mind just having a little bit to do...

mot1 = grade of stone.it should not matter about size if you want to do it yourself dh will find out a really good website for you he's out now so i'llpost it when he gets back

yhanks I really appreciate the help. I'm pretty good at tasks and have plenty of elbow grease but if I cna get it done for under £200 then why break the fingernails.
But then dp might fancy a crack at it if it involves power tools... by the tiem you hire all the stuff it may well be cheaper to get someone to do it for a small job...
decisions decisions!

\link{http://www.pavingexpert.com/pavindex.htm\here}

You also have to consider where all the muck is going to go that you dig out Piffle. You would need a skip for sure, unless you are about to do a bit of landscaping too! You're probably looking at £100 for a skip, and if you are hiring a bloke to do it he would need the same skip at £100 so I wouldn't have thought you could get it done for £200 all in. It cost us about £150 just to get the pile of soil removed that came out the front by Grabber Lorry (and we don't have a big front garden).

PS That's a great site Gothicmama

We would get rid of it ourselves to the local tip
The area is so small really, and it is already dug quite low as it is gravel filled presently (hence the needing to get it paved - pain in the ass gravel is)
We have quite heavy clay soil too - I know as I have just dug and leveled 12 meters of border and new lawn by hand - ruined my nails though!
Will get a man in to quote and go from there methinks
Part of our paved drive is sinking too so need that looking at all too..
Thx GM great site there!

Oh you sure is one determined lady Piffle!
The only note of caution I would advise is that I wouldn't have thought gravel would be deep enough to provide a satisfactory sub-base - certainly not on clay (we are too - it's a sod!) Also, are you planning on getting the gravle removed as iirc it does not provide a satisfactory sub-base as the stones will slip against each other. When you factor in that clay is liable to move, you need a good solid base that won't move. We used 25 to dust which means it compacts well, and all the voids are filled and it won't move if deep enough.
Your drive is possibly sinking due to the clay underneath. You would need a core sample to assess what is going off really - or dig a patch out.
And all that said.... good luck! Hope you find someone decent that will do a good and proper job for you

Oh god the gravel is gone already! I loathe it, I am sure the sub base mentioned below was sadly lacking when our driveway was commissioned as a new build (p3 yrs prior to us buying)
I will insist on a fully stable and whackered surface don't you worry and will chase of any contractor who says otherwise!

you go girl

Actually whackering someone sounds very umm err dodgy LOL

Whackering is quite good fun aksherly (all things are relative) - but you need good upper body strength.

Is it for a patio or for a drive?

I only ask as for a patio - eg light useage a sold sub base shouldn't be necessary. My DH is doing ours at teh mo and has jus removed the soil and dug down for to give about 50mm sand (actually not even that much tbh!) but it is only for light useage and shouuld be OK. I'll come back to this is 2 years when we have to geta man in!

its is for a little area about 2x1m that takes our paved drive to our fish pond - not heavy traffic tbh

Depends how big you are

Got to admit I had thought you were talking about a trafficked area. I would still use a subbase personally as it is clay, but perhaps not quite so deep as we did on our front!

I have bookmarked that site.

Got quite excited thinking I could ask them to look at our sewer connection and quote..disappointed to discover they don't do the work any more!