Driveways in Bere Regis

Tracks and shared accesses. A long private access is a different animal from a domestic drive. It carries heavier vehicles, gets no maintenance until it is bad, and potholes where water collects and where the wheels turn.

The repair that lasts is a dig to firm formation, a geotextile separation membrane so the stone cannot pump down into soft ground, and a graded sub-base compacted in layers rather than tipped and rolled once, finished in bound gravel, tarmac or crushed stone, with a crossfall built in so the rain leaves sideways instead of running the length of it.

A lot of the older houses in the village open more or less onto the lane, so the surface has to work as a path, a parking space and a threshold at once, and access dictates the method. No lorry can stand there, so material comes in by barrow and the spoil goes out the same way, or a grab lorry works from the nearest passing place. Setts, natural stone flags on a full mortar bed, gravel over a bound base and small unit block paving all suit these frontages better than large slabs, because they take an awkward cut without looking cut, and the edgings get haunched in concrete so nothing creeps. Where a joint has emptied, a re-sand with kiln dried sand puts it right before the blocks work loose and weed takes the jointing.

Drainage before surface, every time. Rain has to be dealt with on your own land: a soakaway where the ground will take it, a permeable build up where it will not quite, and a positive outfall where infiltration is hopeless. The government flood risk service will tell you in a minute whether your plot is in a flood zone, and if it is, digging a soakaway is the wrong answer before we even test it. Forty three listed entries sit in and around Bere Regis, so on those addresses what the frontage looks like is part of the question too.

A drive is priced from the ground up, and most of the cost is under the part you see. The dig and the sub-base. The depth depends on what will park on it and what is underneath. Most of Bere Regis sits on chalk, which usually drains, but the sub-base still has to be deep and well compacted, or ruts and sunken bays appear within a few winters.

Where the water goes. Permeable block paving, gravel on a stabilising grid, or a fall to a channel and soakaway all cost differently. Chalk usually takes a soakaway, but near the Bere Stream check the flood map first, as a permeable build-up may suit better.

Access. A lorry that can back onto the drive saves a day of barrowing. On a lane with nowhere to stand, deliveries are smaller and the spoil goes out in more loads.

The surface. Gravel, resin-bound, block and natural stone are different prices, and in the conservation area a traditional finish may suit the house and the street better.

The kerb. A new vehicle crossing over the footway is applied for through the council, and its cost sits outside ours.

Ask any quote how deep the dig and the sub-base go, where the water goes, and who takes the spoil away, and in how many loads.

We work from a base in Boscombe, 17 miles from Bere Regis, and lay drives across the village and BH20, over to Winterborne Kingston, Milborne St Andrew and Wool. For planning and the highway it is Dorset Council.

Bournemouth Roofing & Building Ltd is the company, registered in England and Wales as number 15471719. It is owned by Thomas Hannen, who comes to your drive, looks at the levels and the drainage, and prices the work himself. One verified customer has given us a 10 out of 10 rating on Checkatrade. The visit costs you nothing, and neither does a quote that sets out every item in writing. Before you book a visit in Bere Regis, you can read our customers' Google reviews, word for word, on our reviews page.

Most repairs in Bere Regis need no application at all. What decides whether a change to the outside of your house does is who the council is, whether a conservation area or a listing applies, and whether the place sits in a protected landscape.