Driveway surface..

[Twizit]

Had block paving before in a previous house. As others have said, mare to look after and keep clear of weeds.

Just had current drive done in bound resin. Not cheap but looks great and has the benefit of being porous - it's laid on a large grain size tarmac so drains freely. We still have drains near the house as the drive slopes a bit that way, but water generally doesn't stay on the surface long enough to make it that far.

Maintenance should be a twice yearly pressure wash to stop build up of anything that could give rise to weeds. As said already though, the key is in doing your homework and checking up on who is doing the install. We took a long time asking questions, checking on prior work and ensuring we were comfortable with everything said and decisions made - and then checking the work as it was done.

 

[T4tomo]

Have you thought about Grasscrete?
View attachment 629044
Basically, concrete blocks with a pattern pierced right through them. Dig out to lay the blocks, fill the voids with earth, plant with grass seed, maintain with a Strimmer. The great advantage is that it lets rain water through so your surrounding plants and trees do not suddenly find themselves in drought conditions. It also helps the overall environment in keeping the ground water where it should be — in the ground — and not contributing to potential flooding. Worth considering.

or plant with creeping thyme or similar

 

[cyberknight]

Most of the block paving drives I see on my walks have weeds growing through the 'gaps'.
I like some of the resin/printcrete I see, very nice. Some of them look slippery though.
I have always like black tarmac with red bits in..... just appeals to me.

i can confirm slippiness , went arse over tip once on a printed concrete drive

 

[CXRAndy]

Tarmac road tillings is robust, porous and reasonably immune to weed growth

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

I should add - the Indian Stone has a tendency to grow moss in the winter in places that stay damn for any length of time
The front of our house faces North and last year the area where I park the car became so slippy that I had to power wash it twice in the cold weather
which was not fun - I don;t mind cycling in the cold and wet but working is just too much

 

[MontyVeda]

You can bind block pavers with polymeric sand. Its looks like sand but it hardens. The pavers can't move and there are no space for weeds to take root.

I think that's what my neighbour had on paved drive number three... whether the pavers had conned him or not i don't know, but after a few years, the weeds still got through

 

[derrick]

The tarmac with edging is another option I am considering, good to know its a decent one.

Knowing my lack of aftercare with most things, I will be looking at something I can forget about for a few years

Had ours tarmacked. Black with white specs, holding up really well, took a while to harden, had to be careful with it for a few weeks.

 

[MrGrumpy]

I think that's what my neighbour had on paved drive number three... whether the pavers had conned him or not i don't know, but after a few years, the weeds still got through

Still think it’s all about the prep in the sub base . Everyone round here has mono block drives and there are none with weeds sticking up . Bits of moss etc but nothing a power wash wouldn’t fix and resand. Drives that have been down for 20odd years . There are pros and cons to all types . I did fancy resin it looked clean and tidy but was scared that some brake fluid or something would ruin the surface. Once a crack or hole formed it’s game over .

 

[Salad Dodger]

We had block paving put down at great expense. It looked gorgeous. But now that I park on it regularly, it has sunk fractionally in places. Not enough to see by eye, but enough to cause shallow puddles after rain.

I haven't been unduly bothered by weeds.

We pressure wash it every couple of years and brush in some sand each summer.

All things considered, I don't think I would choose blocks again.

 

[Chislenko]

Have just this week had an imprinted concrete drive laid. Gotta come back to seal on the next dry day. Drains fitted and running into the drain at the bottom of the house down spout.

After the last 25 years of trying and failing to beat the weeds in the block paving one we had I could take no more.

I am using some of the old pavers to build dwarf walls around the front and back lawns thus eliminating that awful plastic edging that the strimmer likes to eat!!

 

[I like Skol]

Now here's an alternative view on block paving....
I had some done 20+ years ago, quite a long driveway between house and garage and in front of garage. Big enough to take a LWB van and two cars in front of van and garage.
I don't think the install job was done badly and we never had a big problem with weeds, but keeping a pristine appearance was never the aim, not my style really, which is why we chose tumbled blocks in muted colours to try and give an 'old' feel to it.
It did settle a little and developed a definite pair of grooves where the van was repeatedly driven and parked.

In 2013 a large single storey extension meant big changes to the driveway and I no longer used a van so parking was now just two cars at the front. The original blocks were relaid with minimal additional sand for leveling and because all the groundwork was now nearly 15yrs old all the settlement had taken place and the blocks were laid on rock solid ground. They haven't budged since and provide a hard wearing, low maintenance surface that will last for decades to come.
Sure, it might not be bling, but it is subtle and in keeping with the locale. It also looks good with an occasional sweep and some light weeding maybe once or twice a year.

 

[Arrowfoot]

Block pavers are ascetically pleasing and somewhat classy. It is costly as levelling and stamping have to be done well and the use of polymeric sand to stop weed growing. There are just too many cowboy builders out there. Resin and imprint concrete pavers are affordable and requires less skill and effort if they can get the drainage right. Between Resin and Imprint Concrete, the former looks better. The colour of concrete unfortunately gives it away no matter what imprint is used.

 

[MontyVeda]

Like most things, concrete can take a pigment and be many colours

 

[MrGrumpy]

There are alot of cowboys laying resin drives as well !! As attested by my neighbours horror show.

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

I think it is all down to the preparation and base layers
Hence the quality of the workmanship is critical - but you can;t really judge that at the time - or at least the average person can't.
So the only chance you really have is to try and check previous work and references and then hope for the best.
Often you only find out is was sub standard a few years later - unless it is REALLY bad