Poole · Dorset
Driveways in Poole
Most of a Poole driveway is the part nobody sees, the dig and the compacted sub-base underneath that actually carries the car.
01
Sand inland, made ground at the quay
Most of the town sits on sandy heath ground, running out through Canford Heath, Creekmoor and Broadstone. It drains quickly and rarely holds water for long, so a soakaway is usually workable and permeable block paving has somewhere to send the rain. It is a pattern rather than a promise, though. Clay pockets and made ground turn up plot by plot, so drainage is worth proving on site. The other half of sandy ground is bearing strength, because loose sand shifts under load, so the dig carries on past the first dry-looking layer to ground that does not move, and it is the sub-base, compacted in layers, that carries the car rather than the surface on top. Around the quay, Hamworthy and Holes Bay, the ground has been built on and made up again for a very long time and the water sits closer to the surface, so old surfaces, buried rubble and forgotten services come up in the dig. A trial hole before pricing shows how deep the digging actually goes, so the estimate is based on what is under the frontage rather than on a guess.
02
Poole frontages are not one shape
Frontages around Parkstone and the Old Town tend to be short and narrow, and the useful measurement is not the area of the front garden but whether a car can turn in off the road and still leave the front door reachable. A drive that short is mostly edge, so the cut around the bay window and the gate post is most of what anyone sees. AGR is a Brett Approved Installer, which is where the block paving specifications come from. Inland the estate frontages are deeper, often with an existing run to a garage that fixes the line. On the waterfront roads the wind sets the terms, because loose gravel travels on a frontage that exposed and wind strips the jointing sand out of block paving, so sweeping and re-sanding is ordinary upkeep there rather than a sign of a failed drive. Whatever goes on top, the edges want a haunched concrete restraint, or paving laid over sand creeps outwards and the joints open up.
Covering Poole
We provide driveways throughout Bournemouth, Christchurch, Poole and the surrounding parts of Dorset. Call 07926 470907 for a free, no-obligation estimate.
How it works
Simple, straightforward process
- 1
Get in touch
Call, message or use the enquiry form. Tell us roughly what you need and we’ll arrange a convenient time to come and look.
- 2
Free estimate
We visit, measure up and talk through the options and materials — then give you a clear estimate, free and with no obligation.
- 3
The work
We agree a date, turn up when we say we will and get on with it, keeping you informed and keeping the site tidy as we go.
- 4
The walk-round
We walk the finished job through with you and leave everything clean. If anything isn’t right, tell us and we’ll put it right.
