--- title: "Solid Ground Paving — questions and answers" canonical: https://solidgroundpaving.co.uk/faq robots: noindex date_modified: 2026-08-06 --- # Solid Ground Paving — questions and answers ## General Q: How do I get a quote from Solid Ground Paving? A: Call {{PHONE}} or send the quote form. We arrange a site survey, measure the area, check ground conditions, access and drainage, then issue a written itemised quote within two working days. We do not quote from photographs or over the phone alone. Q: Do you charge for quotes or surveys? A: No. Surveys and written quotes are free anywhere inside our 40-mile working radius, with no obligation and no follow-up sales pressure. Q: What areas do you cover? A: We work across two areas — Gloucestershire, and Somerset, North Somerset and Bristol — including Gloucester, Cheltenham, Quedgeley, Churchdown, Brockworth, Hucclecote and the surrounding villages. Q: Are you insured? A: We carry public liability cover of {{PUBLIC_LIABILITY_COVER}}. Certificates are supplied with every quote and on request before work starts. Q: What guarantee do you offer? A: {{GUARANTEE_TERMS}} The guarantee is issued in writing with the final invoice and covers workmanship. Material defects are covered by the manufacturer's own warranty. Q: Do you take a deposit? A: No deposit is taken before materials are ordered, and we never ask for payment in full up front. Staged payments are agreed in writing before work starts. Q: Do you cold-call or door-knock? A: Never. If someone knocks offering leftover tarmac from a nearby job at a discount, it is not us and it is not a legitimate offer. Q: How long does a typical driveway take? A: Three to six days for a standard domestic driveway: excavation and spoil removal, sub-base and edgings, then surfacing. Additional drainage or poor ground adds a day or two. Q: Do I need planning permission for a driveway? A: Usually not, provided the surface is permeable or drains to a permeable area inside your boundary. Non-permeable surfaces over five square metres draining to the highway do require permission. Q: Which driveway surface lasts longest? A: Block paving and tarmac both exceed twenty years on a correct build-up. Block paving is the more repairable of the two because individual blocks lift and relay; tarmac is cheaper per square metre. Q: What is the cheapest driveway surface? A: Tarmac, per square metre installed, because material and labour are both lower than block paving or resin. The saving disappears if the base is skimped, so compare build-up depths rather than headline prices. Q: Can you repair an existing driveway rather than replace it? A: Where the base is sound and failure is localised, yes — patching or relaying an area is often the right answer and we will say so. Where the base has failed, a repair buys a season at most. Q: Do you remove the old driveway? A: Yes. Excavation, loading and disposal under waste transfer documentation are included and itemised separately on the quote, because spoil volume is one of the bigger cost variables. Q: Do you install drainage? A: Yes — channel drains, gullies, soakaways and connections to existing surface water systems, sized to the area draining into them. Q: Do you do patios, fencing or landscaping? A: We lay hard surfaces and carry out the groundworks beneath them. We do not do planting, turfing, fencing or garden structures. Q: Do you work for commercial clients? A: Yes. Car parks, access roads, yards, playgrounds and industrial hardstanding, phased so the site keeps operating. RAMS and insurance documentation are provided up front. Q: How do I pay? A: Bank transfer against staged invoices agreed in the written quote. We do not ask for cash and we do not offer a discount for it. Q: What happens if the weather turns during my job? A: Tarmac cannot be laid in steady rain or below temperature, so we reschedule rather than lay material that will fail. You are told the same day, not left waiting. ## Driveways Q: Can you lay a driveway over an existing one? A: Only where the existing base is sound and levels allow. Overlaying a failed base transfers the failure straight to the new surface. We core or dig a trial hole to check before recommending it. Q: What happens to the material you dig out? A: It is loaded and removed under waste transfer documentation the same day where possible. Spoil volume is one of the larger cost lines on a driveway, so it is itemised separately on our quotes. Q: Do you install dropped kerbs? A: Yes, where the local highway authority grants a vehicle crossing licence. The application has to be made and approved before the work starts; we can carry out the crossing once it is in place. ## Tarmac Driveways Q: Can tarmac be laid in the rain? A: Light drizzle is workable; steady rain is not. Water cools the material below compaction temperature and traps moisture in the mat, which causes early failure. We reschedule rather than lay in poor conditions. Q: Is red or coloured tarmac available? A: Yes. Coloured surface courses and resin-bound edging details are available at additional cost. Colour sits in the surface course only, so the build-up beneath is identical. Q: Should tarmac be sealed? A: No. We do not seal or paint tarmac and would advise against anyone offering it. Sealants trap moisture, wear unevenly and are the classic mark of a resurfacing scam rather than a repair. ## Block Paving Q: Why does block paving sink in places? A: Nearly always a laying course that was not screeded to a consistent depth, or a sub-base compacted in one thick layer instead of two. Both are correctable, but only by lifting the affected area back to the base. Q: How do I stop weeds in the joints? A: Keep the joints full. Weeds root in the debris that collects in an empty joint, not in the sand itself. Topping up kiln-dried sand every couple of years does more than any weedkiller. Q: Can you match blocks on an existing driveway? A: Often, though weathered blocks never match new ones exactly. Where we extend an existing driveway we usually blend lifted originals into the visible area and put new blocks where they are least noticeable. ## Resin Bound Driveways Q: How long does resin take to cure? A: Foot traffic after around six hours, vehicles after 24–48 hours depending on temperature. Cold weather extends the cure; we do not lay below 5°C or onto a damp base. Q: Does resin fade? A: UV-stable resin holds colour well. Non-UV-stable resin yellows within a couple of years and is noticeably cheaper — worth asking any contractor which one they are quoting. ## Commercial Surfacing Q: Do you work for local authorities and managing agents? A: Yes. We work to programme, provide RAMS and insurance documentation up front, and invoice against agreed stages. Q: Can you patch rather than resurface? A: Where failure is localised and the base is sound, planing out and patching is the right answer and we will say so. Where the base has gone, patching buys a season at most. ## Groundworks Q: Do you provide waste transfer documentation? A: Yes. All excavated material leaves site under waste transfer notes to a licensed facility, and copies are supplied with the final invoice. Q: Can you work on restricted-access sites? A: Usually. Micro excavators and conveyor muck-away let us work through gateways and side passages. Access is assessed at survey because it materially changes the price. ## Gloucester Q: Is there a call-out or travel charge for Gloucester? A: No. Surveys and quotes are free anywhere inside our working radius, and travel is not added as a line item. Q: Can I see work you have done near Gloucester? A: Yes. Every case study published on this site was built in Gloucester or the surrounding villages, with photographs and video taken on site. Browse them at /projects, then ask at survey stage and we will point you to finished work near Gloucester you can look at from the road. ## Cheltenham Q: Is there a call-out or travel charge for Cheltenham? A: No. Surveys and quotes are free anywhere inside our working radius, and travel is not added as a line item. Q: Can I see work you have done near Cheltenham? A: Yes. Every case study published on this site was built in Gloucester or the surrounding villages, with photographs and video taken on site. Browse them at /projects, then ask at survey stage and we will point you to finished work near Cheltenham you can look at from the road. ## Quedgeley Q: Is there a call-out or travel charge for Quedgeley? A: No. Surveys and quotes are free anywhere inside our working radius, and travel is not added as a line item. Q: Can I see work you have done near Quedgeley? A: Yes. Every case study published on this site was built in Gloucester or the surrounding villages, with photographs and video taken on site. Browse them at /projects, then ask at survey stage and we will point you to finished work near Quedgeley you can look at from the road. ## Churchdown Q: Is there a call-out or travel charge for Churchdown? A: No. Surveys and quotes are free anywhere inside our working radius, and travel is not added as a line item. Q: Can I see work you have done near Churchdown? A: Yes. Every case study published on this site was built in Gloucester or the surrounding villages, with photographs and video taken on site. Browse them at /projects, then ask at survey stage and we will point you to finished work near Churchdown you can look at from the road. ## Brockworth Q: Is there a call-out or travel charge for Brockworth? A: No. Surveys and quotes are free anywhere inside our working radius, and travel is not added as a line item. Q: Can I see work you have done near Brockworth? A: Yes. Every case study published on this site was built in Gloucester or the surrounding villages, with photographs and video taken on site. Browse them at /projects, then ask at survey stage and we will point you to finished work near Brockworth you can look at from the road. ## Hucclecote Q: Is there a call-out or travel charge for Hucclecote? A: No. Surveys and quotes are free anywhere inside our working radius, and travel is not added as a line item. Q: Can I see work you have done near Hucclecote? A: Yes. Every case study published on this site was built in Gloucester or the surrounding villages, with photographs and video taken on site. Browse them at /projects, then ask at survey stage and we will point you to finished work near Hucclecote you can look at from the road. ## Longlevens Q: Is there a call-out or travel charge for Longlevens? A: No. Surveys and quotes are free anywhere inside our working radius, and travel is not added as a line item. Q: Can I see work you have done near Longlevens? A: Yes. Every case study published on this site was built in Gloucester or the surrounding villages, with photographs and video taken on site. Browse them at /projects, then ask at survey stage and we will point you to finished work near Longlevens you can look at from the road. ## Abbeymead Q: Is there a call-out or travel charge for Abbeymead? A: No. Surveys and quotes are free anywhere inside our working radius, and travel is not added as a line item. Q: Can I see work you have done near Abbeymead? A: Yes. Every case study published on this site was built in Gloucester or the surrounding villages, with photographs and video taken on site. Browse them at /projects, then ask at survey stage and we will point you to finished work near Abbeymead you can look at from the road. ## Tewkesbury Q: Is there a call-out or travel charge for Tewkesbury? A: No. Surveys and quotes are free anywhere inside our working radius, and travel is not added as a line item. Q: Can I see work you have done near Tewkesbury? A: Yes. Every case study published on this site was built in Gloucester or the surrounding villages, with photographs and video taken on site. Browse them at /projects, then ask at survey stage and we will point you to finished work near Tewkesbury you can look at from the road. ## Stroud Q: Is there a call-out or travel charge for Stroud? A: No. Surveys and quotes are free anywhere inside our working radius, and travel is not added as a line item. Q: Can I see work you have done near Stroud? A: Yes. Every case study published on this site was built in Gloucester or the surrounding villages, with photographs and video taken on site. Browse them at /projects, then ask at survey stage and we will point you to finished work near Stroud you can look at from the road. ## Bishop's Cleeve Q: Is there a call-out or travel charge for Bishop's Cleeve? A: No. Surveys and quotes are free anywhere inside our working radius, and travel is not added as a line item. Q: Can I see work you have done near Bishop's Cleeve? A: Yes. Every case study published on this site was built in Gloucester or the surrounding villages, with photographs and video taken on site. Browse them at /projects, then ask at survey stage and we will point you to finished work near Bishop's Cleeve you can look at from the road. ## Dursley Q: Is there a call-out or travel charge for Dursley? A: No. Surveys and quotes are free anywhere inside our working radius, and travel is not added as a line item. Q: Can I see work you have done near Dursley? A: Yes. Every case study published on this site was built in Gloucester or the surrounding villages, with photographs and video taken on site. Browse them at /projects, then ask at survey stage and we will point you to finished work near Dursley you can look at from the road. ## Weston-super-Mare Q: Is there a call-out or travel charge for Weston-super-Mare? A: No. Surveys and quotes are free anywhere inside our working radius, and travel is not added as a line item. Q: Can I see work you have done near Weston-super-Mare? A: Yes — our published case studies are Gloucestershire jobs, and at survey stage we will point you to completed work near Weston-super-Mare that you can look at from the road. ## Clevedon Q: Is there a call-out or travel charge for Clevedon? A: No. Surveys and quotes are free anywhere inside our working radius, and travel is not added as a line item. Q: Can I see work you have done near Clevedon? A: Yes — our published case studies are Gloucestershire jobs, and at survey stage we will point you to completed work near Clevedon that you can look at from the road. ## Portishead Q: Is there a call-out or travel charge for Portishead? A: No. Surveys and quotes are free anywhere inside our working radius, and travel is not added as a line item. Q: Can I see work you have done near Portishead? A: Yes — our published case studies are Gloucestershire jobs, and at survey stage we will point you to completed work near Portishead that you can look at from the road. ## Nailsea Q: Is there a call-out or travel charge for Nailsea? A: No. Surveys and quotes are free anywhere inside our working radius, and travel is not added as a line item. Q: Can I see work you have done near Nailsea? A: Yes — our published case studies are Gloucestershire jobs, and at survey stage we will point you to completed work near Nailsea that you can look at from the road. ## Backwell Q: Is there a call-out or travel charge for Backwell? A: No. Surveys and quotes are free anywhere inside our working radius, and travel is not added as a line item. Q: Can I see work you have done near Backwell? A: Yes — our published case studies are Gloucestershire jobs, and at survey stage we will point you to completed work near Backwell that you can look at from the road. ## Congresbury Q: Is there a call-out or travel charge for Congresbury? A: No. Surveys and quotes are free anywhere inside our working radius, and travel is not added as a line item. Q: Can I see work you have done near Congresbury? A: Yes — our published case studies are Gloucestershire jobs, and at survey stage we will point you to completed work near Congresbury that you can look at from the road. ## Yatton Q: Is there a call-out or travel charge for Yatton? A: No. Surveys and quotes are free anywhere inside our working radius, and travel is not added as a line item. Q: Can I see work you have done near Yatton? A: Yes — our published case studies are Gloucestershire jobs, and at survey stage we will point you to completed work near Yatton that you can look at from the road. ## Banwell Q: Is there a call-out or travel charge for Banwell? A: No. Surveys and quotes are free anywhere inside our working radius, and travel is not added as a line item. Q: Can I see work you have done near Banwell? A: Yes — our published case studies are Gloucestershire jobs, and at survey stage we will point you to completed work near Banwell that you can look at from the road. ## Winscombe Q: Is there a call-out or travel charge for Winscombe? A: No. Surveys and quotes are free anywhere inside our working radius, and travel is not added as a line item. Q: Can I see work you have done near Winscombe? A: Yes — our published case studies are Gloucestershire jobs, and at survey stage we will point you to completed work near Winscombe that you can look at from the road. ## Cheddar Q: Is there a call-out or travel charge for Cheddar? A: No. Surveys and quotes are free anywhere inside our working radius, and travel is not added as a line item. Q: Can I see work you have done near Cheddar? A: Yes — our published case studies are Gloucestershire jobs, and at survey stage we will point you to completed work near Cheddar that you can look at from the road. ## Wells Q: Is there a call-out or travel charge for Wells? A: No. Surveys and quotes are free anywhere inside our working radius, and travel is not added as a line item. Q: Can I see work you have done near Wells? A: Yes — our published case studies are Gloucestershire jobs, and at survey stage we will point you to completed work near Wells that you can look at from the road. ## Burnham-on-Sea Q: Is there a call-out or travel charge for Burnham-on-Sea? A: No. Surveys and quotes are free anywhere inside our working radius, and travel is not added as a line item. Q: Can I see work you have done near Burnham-on-Sea? A: Yes — our published case studies are Gloucestershire jobs, and at survey stage we will point you to completed work near Burnham-on-Sea that you can look at from the road. ## Bridgwater Q: Is there a call-out or travel charge for Bridgwater? A: No. Surveys and quotes are free anywhere inside our working radius, and travel is not added as a line item. Q: Can I see work you have done near Bridgwater? A: Yes — our published case studies are Gloucestershire jobs, and at survey stage we will point you to completed work near Bridgwater that you can look at from the road. ## Bristol Q: Is there a call-out or travel charge for Bristol? A: No. Surveys and quotes are free anywhere inside our working radius, and travel is not added as a line item. Q: Can I see work you have done near Bristol? A: Yes — our published case studies are Gloucestershire jobs, and at survey stage we will point you to completed work near Bristol that you can look at from the road. ## Long Ashton Q: Is there a call-out or travel charge for Long Ashton? A: No. Surveys and quotes are free anywhere inside our working radius, and travel is not added as a line item. Q: Can I see work you have done near Long Ashton? A: Yes — our published case studies are Gloucestershire jobs, and at survey stage we will point you to completed work near Long Ashton that you can look at from the road.