Paving questions, answered

As a rough guide, supplied-and-laid paving in Gauteng runs from about R220 to R500 per m². A flat driveway on firm soil, using a standard interlocking paver, sits near the bottom of that range. A sloped site, a decorative or imported paver, or a heavy-duty industrial base pushes the number up. We don't like guessing over the phone, so the number that actually matters is the one we give you in writing after the free site visit.

Mostly four things: how much excavation and spoil removal the site needs, the ground you're building on (rock and heavy clay take longer to dig and compact than sandy soil), access (a driveway a wheelbarrow can reach is cheaper to build than a courtyard through a narrow side gate), and the size and shape of the area. We itemise all of this on the written quote, so you can see exactly what you're paying for rather than a single lump sum.

Yes. We come out, measure the area properly, check the soil and the falls, talk you through paver options, and hand you a written price per square metre — at no charge and no obligation. Any deposit or payment terms get set out clearly on that same quote, so nothing gets sprung on you once the trucks arrive.

Usually because something's been left out — a shallow dig, a thin sub-base, or pavers laid straight onto old soil instead of a properly compacted base. It looks fine on handover day and starts sinking the first rainy season. Our price includes the groundwork most cut-rate quotes skip, which is also why we can put a workmanship guarantee behind ours. If you'd like to see how that holds up, our customer reviews are a good place to start.

A 60mm interlocking or cobble paver, laid in a herringbone pattern. The interlocking shape and the herringbone lay work together to resist the shifting caused by braking and turning wheels, which is exactly what breaks up a thinner or straight-laid driveway over time. Our driveway paving page covers the options in more detail, and we'll bring samples to the site visit so you're choosing a colour in daylight, not off a screen.

Thickness is matched to load, not looks. 50mm suits foot traffic — patios, garden paths and pool surrounds. 60mm is the standard for a home driveway carrying cars and the occasional delivery bakkie. 80mm heavy-duty pavers are for industrial yards, loading bays and anywhere trucks or forklifts run daily. Fit a thinner paver where a thicker one belongs and you're looking at a rutted surface within a year or two.

Herringbone is the strongest choice for any surface vehicles turn or brake on, because the angled joints lock the blocks together under load. Stretcher (straight rows, like brickwork) and basketweave suit patios, walkways and other low-traffic areas where the look matters more than the load. We'll recommend the pattern based on what the surface has to carry, not just what photographs well.

No — we lay all the major South African ranges, including Technicrete, Bosun, C.E.L. Paving, Corobrik, Infraset, Smartstone, Revelstone and Cape Brick, and every one is SABS-approved. Have a look through our interlocking pavers range, then we'll bring physical samples out to site so you can see the actual colour and finish against your own walls and garden.

On plenty of sites, yes, and we'll sometimes suggest it ourselves. Permeable pavers let rainwater soak through the joints into the ground below instead of running off, which helps on properties with drainage restrictions or a low spot that already floods after a Highveld storm. They cost a little more than standard interlock, but they solve a drainage problem outright instead of just moving it further down the garden.

Because it's what keeps everything else in place. We excavate to the right depth, build up a compacted sub-base, screed a flat bedding layer, and lock the perimeter with proper edge restraints so the whole field of pavers can't creep or spread. Skip any one of those steps and the prettiest paver in Gauteng will still rut, sink or gap within a season or two. It's invisible once the job's done, which is exactly why it's the part some installers rush.

G5 is a graded crushed-stone material that compacts into a dense, stable layer once it's properly wetted and rolled or plated. We build it up and compact it in stages rather than dumping it in one go, because a single deep layer never compacts evenly all the way through — it looks solid on top and stays soft underneath. Layered compaction takes longer, and it's the difference between paving that's still flat in fifteen years and paving that dips where the wheels track.

A standard residential driveway usually runs three to five working days from excavation to the final sweep, depending on size, access and the weather. A patio or walkway can be quicker; a large commercial parking area or an industrial yard takes longer and gets its own schedule, sometimes worked in phases so you're never without access. Have a look at our completed projects for a sense of scale on the bigger jobs.

Usually not, and we'll say so plainly rather than take the easy quote. Laying new pavers over a cracked or sunken surface just transfers those same faults upward into the new job. If the old base genuinely is sound, we can sometimes build on it; more often the right answer is to take it out and build a proper base underneath. See our residential driveway paving page for how we handle a full re-lay.

All of it, in practice — Johannesburg, Sandton, Pretoria, Centurion, Midrand, Randburg, Roodepoort, Fourways and right across the East Rand. Check areas we serve for your specific suburb, or just phone us and ask; if it isn't listed, we've probably still paved there. A job in Sandton gets exactly the same base-first approach as everywhere else on our books.

Phone 086 199 5093, fill in the quote form, or send a photo of the area on WhatsApp — we'll often give you a rough ballpark before we've even seen the site. We aim to get a free site visit on the calendar within a few working days, then confirm a start date once you've approved the written quote. See our contact page for every way to reach us.

Yes, regularly. Complex and estate paving is part of our everyday residential paving work, and we're used to phasing a shared driveway or parking area so residents keep access throughout, rather than closing the whole site at once. We'll agree working hours and access arrangements with the trustees or managing agent upfront, in the same written quote.

All three. Alongside home driveways and patios, we pave commercial parking lots and forecourts and heavy-duty industrial yards and loading bays. The base gets deeper and the pavers thicker as the loads get heavier, but it's the same team and the same fixed-quote process start to finish.

Yes. Every job gets a written workmanship guarantee covering our base preparation and installation, on top of the manufacturer's guarantee on the pavers themselves. If our work settles or fails because of how we built it, we come back and put it right.

The manufacturer stands behind the block itself — its strength, its finish, its colour holding up over time. Our guarantee stands behind everything we do underneath and around it: the excavation depth, the compacted sub-base, the falls, the edge restraints and the laying itself. Most paving failures are base failures, not paver failures, which is why that split matters. Read more about how we work on our why choose us page.

Not much is needed. An occasional sweep, a hose-down, and a top-up of jointing sand every few years keeps the joints locked and the weeds out. Avoid harsh acid cleaners on coloured pavers, and if a block is ever badly stained or cracked, it lifts out and swaps in without disturbing the rest of the surface.

Depends on the cause. If it's a small dip or a section that's come loose at the edge, we can usually lift, re-level and re-lay just that area — our paving repairs service covers exactly this. If the whole base has failed across a wide area, patching it just moves the problem along, and we'll tell you honestly when a full re-lay is the better spend.