Driveways

Here at SG Landscapes, we have been installing driveways in the Lancaster area for nearly 20 years, and have learnt a thing or two during our time.

The key to any great driveway is preparation, we can not stress enough that it matters less what goes on top, and more what goes underneath. Princely sums can be paid for the highest quality driveway top coat, but without a hardened base, at the right depth, that beautiful finish can soon become old, worn and dilapidated.

Every job starts with a dig out, finding the hard sub base is the first aim. All of our jobs are dug out to a minimum of 8 inches. If we find good, solid ground, there is no need to take out any more spoil, if the ground is still soft we'll keep digging until it's right. Each driveway will have a taram membrane sheet at the very bottom, this prevents weed growth from underneath, and adds overall strength to the job by spreading the load at any given point.

Once the membrane is in place we add the hardcore, this can be different every time depending on what materials we are using to finish the drive, and the vehicles the driveway will carry. For instance, when installing block paving, we normally add 3 inches of 40mm to dust road blindings, 2 inches of 20mm to dust MOT Type 1. The hardcore is vibrated to a solid state with either a diesel whacker plate, or twin drum vibrating roller. When laying a block paving drive 1 inch of Granite Dust is added, which is whacked and screeded out flat, then the 2 inch block sits on top. Tarmac preparation is done in the same way, but instead of granite dust and block paviors, there is 2 inches of Tarmac base, and 1 inch of 10mm Tarmac topping. For a concrete drive, we would normally add a hardcore blinding of 1 or 2 inches over the taram, which would be whacked until solid, then add 6 or 7 inches of a C35 wet concrete mix. For high volume traffic use the concrete depth would increase to 10-12 inches.

Standing water is unsightly on any freshly laid drive, and we pride ourselves on creating the right solution to take rain water off you driveway and into a new purpose made drain system or soakaway depending on what is needed for the area.

As you can begin to see, there are so many options available for your driveway before the top coat has even been added. Many of our driveways are now concreted with a semidry C35 concrete mix, which is laid at 5 inches thick, and whacked solid, which adds increased peace of mind, and extends the potential movement of any drive by a significant number of years for a small additional cost.

We will never skimp on materials, either for the base, or top finish. We use the best quality quarried hardcore, machine mixed concrete and Tarmac from Back Lane Quarry in Carnforth. When laying block paving we use either Tobermore or Marshalls Tegula Paving or Marshalls Driveline 50's. For an Indian Sandstone finish all of our paving is purchased from Natural Stone Supplies in Carnforth, who have a well known local reputation for supplying high quality natural products.

At SG Landscapes we are experts in Tarmac, Concrete, Block Paving and Indian Sandstone Flag driveways, and you can rest assured that if we install your driveway it will be to an exceptionally high standard from base to top.