What type of driveway surface should I get?

[greenbirdsong]

What type of driveway surface do you have and would you recommend it?

I currently have a driveway that's about the size of 1.5 cars and is a loose stone/shingle. I want to 'upgrade' it to a better surface.

I like the look of resin driveways but have no experience of them. I also like the look of block paving but all my neighbours who have block paved driveways are full of weeds.
I've also heard you can get tarmac/asphalt in colours like sand/grey etc.

I want something that looks smart with minimal maintenance.

Any recommendations?
Thank you! 

Block paving looks the best. Weeding is simple to do - wire brush or weed killer. All driveways need care and maintainance. If neglected, all driveways, plastic, resin, gravel, tarmac will have problems.

Our block paving is a nightmare to keep on top of, the weeds seem to appear before your eyes. We are going to replace with resin.

After you have your block paving paid you can have it sealed with a polyurethane finish like resiblock or similar. This stops weeds growing in the sand between the pavers. Lasts about 5 years

Driveway still needs a rinse down every few months to clean duet or soil etc that settles on top of the joints.

Tarmac. No gravel in the road and no weeds

We have just had our tarmac drive resurfaced after 22 years of it being down plus widened it a tiny bit too. It is the cheapest option with no maintenance except to wash it a couple of times a year. Ours is black though, not coloured. No weeds, no re-sanding after washing, not prone to lichen or black spots like block paving.

Resin is one of the most expensive which is why we didn't go with it but ours is a 3 car drive. Block paving I think falls somewhere between tarmac and resin.

We have block paving and wish we didn’t. It fits 4 cars and is a nightmare for constant weeds. Can’t afford to have it sealed. It needs power washing to look good, then re sanding.
the benefits are it defrosts quicker in winter if we get any snow or ice than the neighbours tarmac. I think if ever we replaced it, we would go for tarmac.

We had Tarmac and gravel and both were a nightmare to maintain. The Tarmac looked worn quickly, the gravel full of weeds even with weed block sheets. Winter we were slipping and sliding all over the Tarmac. One of the neighbour has resin driveway, cracked over the years with horsetail weed poking through

Block paving looks beautiful, last longer if done properly with layers of good grade rubble, sand. No flooding, no puddles, good drainaighe.

It does not need constant maintenance other than brushing out a few weeds in summer.

Block paving has been used for centuries in old town roads, like Guildford High street . It is better in the long term if done properly. www.designingbuildings.co.uk/wiki/Britain%27s_historic_paving
Depending on budget, a gravel driveway looks amazing too - if done properly with good sub base layers.

We have resin and it looks beautiful and is so smooth you can walk on it barefoot. I prefer the traditional look of gravel but dh liked the resin. We’ve got enough space to fit six cars, just about, and it cost about £12k.

I liked resin until i got a quote for £22k!

I think it's the base layers that determine whether you get weeds or not. In our cul-de-sac there are 5 houses with block paving of different sorts. Only one of those has a problem with weeds - the elderly neighbour who got some dodgy builders in to do it. We had a proper landscaping company do it and has stayed solid, level and weed-free.

We got resin and loved it. It looked amazing and was easy maintenance-wise.

We have gravel/shingle and have no weeds. It is a pain for other reasons - the stones get stuck in the tread of shoes and we end up walking them in, they spread into the pavement so they need to be regularly swept up, and we seem to lose loads - but no weeds at all. We didn’t lay it, so I do t know how well the layers of whatever might be underneath were laid, but we’ve been here for 12 years and no weeds.

I'm going to follow this thread as we've recently moved and need to do our drive. We've had a quote for 11k just for tarmac alone. That's worh my husband doing the foundation work. Crazy. I was thinking about block paving. Its currently concrete.

If the foundations are deep enough then weeds don't grow, a few that self set and can be easily whipped up but no real maintaince.

Thanks everyone. Appreciate the opinions.

We had a couple of quotes for resin and it was 7k! Which seems high to me. The drive is only 1.5 cars size.
Block paving we had a couple of quotes which ranged from 2k to 8k. Which seemed a huge gap.

Husband is thinking of going down the DIY route of gravel and hiring a whacker plate to compact it down.
But still weighing up the options at the moment.

I was going to suggest shingle which you already have. I think it looks good, mine has zero weeds, drains well, and it's the ultimate security alarm. We know when people are walking up to our house and it's puts thieves off.

I heard that resin can be very slippery if it's icy? Not sure if that's true though.

I think a nice gravel looks by far the best. Why do you think a change to your current surface will be an "upgrade"?

you can get gravel or grass in an EcoGrid which means that water drains down into the ground rather than running off tarmac and causing flooding

www.granddesignsmagazine.com/renovate/how-to-create-the-perfect-eco-friendly-gravel-driveway/

might be worth a look

Just had mine tarmacked today! Next door but one had resin just over a year ago it's actually melted in places due to the heat, also weeds coming through (she!t job obviously) so they've got my guys to tarmac over it today! Other side have large gravel an flags, stones everywhere. Friend of mine had blocks few years ago and they've all moved. Here's hoping my tarmac is a winner!

I'm not a fan of gravel drives personally - too crunchy and messy. Tarmac makes sense but looks quite "roady". We looked at resin and I do think it looks nice but we're unsure about how it performs over time. Now we're considering granite cobbles/sets...

My neighbour has stamped concrete and it's about 20 years old and still looks good.

I've seen loads of resin driveways crack.

We have blocks but get loads of weeds - they grow on top not from underneath so it isn't the base.
The large slabs look quite nice and are becoming more popular nowadays.
Not sure I could get my head around a tarmac drive. Would you get pot holes?!

I’d have granite cobbles if I could afford them. We will be replacing our block paved drive with gravel set in grids when we can afford. I hate the block paving, it’s so drab and miserable. Much prefer the look and security of gravel.
id consider resin too I think? Or large slabs, if I could afford the York stone look