Concrete block and clay brick paving laid on a base we have dug, drained and compacted, with every edge restrained so the blocks stay locked where we laid them. Domestic drives, paths and parking across west Cornwall.
Block paving is a driveway surface built from individual units, concrete blocks or clay bricks, laid tight on a screeded bedding course over a compacted sub-base and then locked together by kiln dried sand brushed into every joint and by a restrained edge around the outside.
Nothing is glued down. An interlocking pavement holds up because the blocks cannot move sideways, and that comes from three things: a base that does not settle, joints that are full, and an edge course haunched in concrete that stops the whole field creeping outward.
Get those three right and it is the most repairable surface on the driveways page, because any block can come up and go back down. Get any one of them wrong and the drive tells you within a couple of winters.
The old surface and the arisings come out, the formation is dug to ground that will carry a vehicle, and the sub-base goes in and is compacted in layers. Edge courses are set and haunched, the bedding course is screeded to the falls, then the blocks are laid, cut in, compacted and jointed.
Clay pavers are fired rather than cast, so they hold their colour over the years and give a softer, more traditional look against Cornish stone and render. Brick paving is less forgiving to cut than concrete block, which is a laying job rather than a material problem, and we work in both.
Herringbone locks hardest under turning wheels, which is why it is the usual choice for a drive, with stretcher bond kept for paths and patios. A contrasting border or a soldier course sharpens the outline of the drive and gives every cut a clean line to finish against.
Laid with wider joints filled with clean grit over an open graded base, permeable paving lets water pass between the blocks instead of running off the surface. It is one of the routes to dealing with front garden run-off inside your own boundary.
Settled areas, rutted wheel tracks and paving lifted for a service trench are all fixable in place. The blocks come up, the base is corrected, and the same blocks go back down, which is why an old drive is often worth relaying rather than replacing.
A fair share of this work starts as somebody else's drive rather than a bare frontage: rutted wheel tracks, a sunken bay by the gate, joints emptied out by a pressure washer. Some of it gets lifted and relaid on a corrected base, and some of it comes out and starts again properly.
Reviews are the one part of this page we do not write, which is exactly why they are worth reading.
Based on 4 Google reviews
Commenting as the owner of this property I can honestly say that Aaron was a pleasure to work with. Efficient, reliable, extremely hardworking, on schedule, amazing quality and just an all round lovely guy! Thank you Aaron! You can see the almost (steps leading up to the tub yet to be added as a finishing touch) finished project on the Boutique Retreats website: Kilter House, Coverack
Read more on GoogleWould definitely recommend. Our driveway was a mismatch of 3 different sections of gravel, some old concrete and a step. In two days he has completely overhauled it and it looks amazing. Very fast worker, polite and professional and reasonably priced as well. You won’t be disappointed by Michael’s team at all!
Read more on FacebookAaron laid us a wonderful patio for our back garden. From the start he was highly professional and courteous. He sat with us to discuss the best, most cost efficient options to get us exactly what we imagined. Aaron was very reliable and his after care has been exceptional ensuring he delivers the highest quality for his clients. Highly recommended!
Read more on GoogleMike and his son did a fantastic job on our sandstone patio. They provided a competitive quote and had expert knowledge. The job itself was completed to a very high standard. We are very happy with it. I highly recommend. Thank you again for the fantastic work.
Read more on FacebookReally happy with the work from Aaron Hunt Groundworks. Aaron and his team were super easy to deal with—friendly, reliable, and clearly know what they’re doing. They turned up on time, got stuck in, and made sure everything was done properly with a great finish. They kept the place tidy and checked in with us throughout the job to make sure we were happy. No fuss, no stress—just solid, professional work. Would definitely recommend them to anyone needing groundwork done. Top team!
Read more on GoogleWe had been waiting for along time for this small bit of garden to be finished…the original person we had booked just didn’t work out in the end. We booked Sunset Surfacing We are so pleased with the work and can’t wait for the summer to arrive. They were clean, tidy and professional…thank you
Read more on FacebookExtremely happy with my new patio. It wasn’t the most straight forward to lay but Aaron managed to get the finish I wanted and was completely flexible and accommodating to make it happen for our time lines. Would highly recommend.
Read more on GoogleA drive you can take apart and put backBlock paving is the only major driveway surface where a settled patch, a stain or a trench dug for a service can be lifted and relaid with the original blocks rather than patched over.
A finish that suits an older Cornish frontageColour, size, pattern and border are all choices, so the drive can be matched to granite, slate, render or brick instead of imposed on it.
Edges that hold the whole surface togetherHaunched edge courses are what stop an interlocking pavement spreading outwards, and they are the part most often left thin on a drive priced only on its area.
Run-off you can design outWhere the front garden rules bite, a permeable specification keeps the water inside your own boundary without changing the look of the drive.
Call or use the enquiry form with your postcode, the rough area, and a photograph of what is there now.
One of the owners checks the levels at the threshold and the boundary, where the water can go, and how a machine and a wagon will reach the drive. Block and brick samples come with us so the colour is chosen against your own house.
Excavation, sub-base, edge courses, the blocks and the pattern, the jointing and the drainage, priced before you commit and with no obligation.
Old surface away, formation checked, sub-base compacted in layers, edge courses laid and haunched to the finished levels.
Blocks laid to the pattern, cuts made to the borders, the surface vibrated in, joints filled with kiln dried sand and topped up before we hand it over.
Block paving is a structural pavement, not a decorative layer, and it is covered as one. BS 7533, the British Standard series for pavements constructed with clay, natural stone or concrete pavers, deals with the structural design of the pavement, the laying course beneath the units and the jointing between them, because those are the three things that decide whether an interlocking surface stays interlocked. It is the reason our quotes talk about the bedding course and the edge restraint rather than only the blocks.
We dig the base ourselves. Excavation, drainage and sub-base are our own trade, so the layer that decides the life of the drive is not somebody else's part of the job.
Thirty years of laying drives in this county. Mike Wherry has spent his career on drives and patios in west Cornwall, and Aaron Hunt brings 10 years and the groundworks side, which is 40 years of combined experience.
HW Contractors is Mike Wherry and Aaron Hunt, two directors who each built a business of their own before joining them together. Mike came up through driveways and patios, Aaron through groundworks and machines, and both of them are on site rather than sending someone. The person who quotes your block drive is the person who cuts the borders on it.
Anyone can lay a field of blocks. The job shows itself in the cuts, the border and whether the edge was haunched properly, because that is what is still holding it together in ten years.Mike Wherry, co-owner of HW Contractors
40 years of combined experience, Mike 30 years and Aaron 10
CPCS 360 excavator tickets above and below 10 tonnes between them, plus CSCS cards and dumper tickets
Fully insured: public liability and full business insurance
Block and brick paving suits the older housing stock this side of the county, which is why most of ours goes down in the towns and villages rather than out on the tracks. We lay it across Helston and the Lizard villages, in Mullion, around Penzance and Falmouth, and on through Porthleven, Camborne, Redruth, Truro, St Ives and Newquay.
Block paving is priced on labour as much as on materials, because the laying, the cutting and the edge work are where the hours go.
A written quote from us sets out:
A drive with curves, a circular feature or several borders carries far more cutting than a plain rectangle of the same area. The site visit and the quote are free, and there is no obligation to go ahead.
See how block paving stacks up against resin, tarmac, gravel and concrete before you commit to one.
Driveways
The same materials and the same base discipline, applied to patios, paths and garden paving.
Patios and paving
Sub-bases, drainage and edge foundations: the groundwork that keeps a block drive exactly where we laid it.
GroundworksSend us your postcode, the rough size of the drive and a photograph of the frontage, and one of us will come out with samples, tell you whether the existing base can be saved, and put a written price to it.
Call us on 07886 070245·Get a free quote online
Porthleven, Cornwall
Phone: 07886 070245
Email: info@hwcontractors.co.uk
Hours: Monday to Friday, 8am to 5pm
Last updated: 22 September 2026