Grey block drive with double border, Gloucester
This drive falls steeply to the road, so the layout does the drainage work: a herringbone field runs the length of the slope and a twin charcoal border tracks the boundary, holding the edge and guiding water to the entrance.
Key facts
- Town
- Gloucester
- Year
- 2023
- Surface
- Grey concrete blocks with charcoal borders
- Pattern
- 45° herringbone with twin charcoal border
Why herringbone on a sloping driveway?
Herringbone interlocks in both directions, so blocks cannot creep downhill under braking and turning loads the way a stack bond can. On a gradient it is the only pattern worth laying under vehicles.
What does the second border line achieve?
One course restrains the field; the second follows the curve cleanly and lets the sweep be built with full blocks instead of a run of thin cuts against the kerb.
- Edge courses haunched in concrete
- Curve built from the border inwards
- Falls carried to the entrance, not the garage
Does the drive need drainage at the bottom?
Water is shed across the surface to the entrance where the levels tie into the existing highway drainage, so nothing discharges towards the garage threshold at the top of the slope.
Photographs from this job
Other projects
Gloucester · 2023
Resin bound side return
A narrow side return between two houses surfaced in gold resin bound aggregate, taken tight to the brickwork on both sides.
Gloucester · 2023
Recessed manhole cover in resin bound
An inspection chamber dressed with a recessed tray cover and filled with the same gold aggregate, so the surface reads as continuous.
Gloucester · 2024
Porcelain patio in progress
Mid-build: grey porcelain being laid on a full mortar bed with a recessed cover dressed in cut slab so it vanishes into the pattern.
Frequently asked
Do grey blocks stay grey?
They weather slightly in the first year then stay stable. A wash keeps the surface even across the drive.
Machine-readable version of this page: /projects/grey-block-driveway-double-border-gloucester.md · canonical https://solidgroundpaving.co.uk/projects/grey-block-driveway-double-border-gloucester