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Heaton Park
Six hundred acres of parkland on the northern edge of the city, with the hall, the boating lake, the tramway museum and enough space to lose a whole Sunday.
Learn more about Heaton Park
Driveways In Manchester
Looking for a driveway company in Manchester that finishes the job it starts?
Block paving, resin bound, tarmac and patios across Blackley, Moston, Harpurhey, Crumpsall and the wider city
We are ten minutes up the A664 from the top of the city, so most of our Manchester work sits in the north of it - the Victorian terraces of Moston and Harpurhey, the 1930s corporation semis around Blackley and Crumpsall, the newer estates off Rochdale Road. Two decades of digging out front gardens along the Irk valley has taught us exactly how the ground here behaves, which is the bit of a driveway you never see and the bit that decides whether it lasts.
No obligation
Free Driveway Quote In Manchester
Scott usually rings back the same working day.
About Manchester
Driveways and patios built for Manchester houses and Manchester ground
North Manchester is a mix of everything the city has built in the last 150 years. Moston, Harpurhey and Newton Heath are mostly bay-fronted terraces with short front gardens that were never designed for a car, so a lot of what we do is turning a walled front into a proper two-car drive with a dropped kerb. Crumpsall, Blackley and Cheetham Hill have bigger Edwardian and interwar houses with room for a wide block paved sweep and a patio out the back. Around New Moston and the edges of Failsworth you get 1960s and 1970s semis with concrete drives that have cracked and heaved, and further in there is the new-build stock around Ancoats and the Green Quarter, where developers laid the cheapest thing they could get away with.
The ground under most of it is the River Irk's doing - heavy glacial clay with bands of sand and, in places, old fill from the mills and railways that used to sit here. Clay holds water and moves with the seasons, so a drive laid on a thin base will rut in the first wet winter. Manchester gets roughly 140 days of rain a year and around 850mm of it, more than the English average, and the city council's drainage team expects front gardens to deal with their own run-off rather than sending it down the road. Every one of our Manchester drives is built with that in mind.
20+
Years Laying Drives
Middleton and North Manchester
7
Surface Types
Resin to porcelain, one crew
Free
Site Visits & Quotes
Written, itemised, fixed
10 yr
Guarantee
In writing, terms and conditions apply
Services
Every surface we lay, available in Manchester
From £70/m²
Resin Driveways
Resin bound stone laid over a properly built permeable base. Smooth, weed-free and SuDS compliant without a planning application.
Learn more about Resin Driveways
From £60/m²
Block Paving
Herringbone, basketweave or stretcher bond in clay or concrete block, cut in tight to edges and kerbs. The driveway Middleton asks for most.
Learn more about Block Paving
From £45/m²
Tarmac Driveways
Hot-rolled tarmacadam with a proper binder course underneath, framed in block or kerb edging. The most cost-effective surface for bigger drives.
Learn more about Tarmac Driveways
From £65/m²
Printed Concrete
Pattern imprinted concrete in slate, cobble and flagstone textures, colour hardened and sealed. One continuous slab, nowhere for weeds to start.
Learn more about Printed Concrete
From £75/m²
Patio Installation
Patios built on a full mortar bed with falls set away from the house, steps, retaining walls and drainage included in the design.
Learn more about Patio Installation
From £80/m²
Indian Sandstone
Calibrated Indian sandstone in Raj Green, Kandla Grey, Fossil Mint and Autumn Brown, laid on a full bed and pointed with a resin jointing compound.
Learn more about Indian Sandstone
From £95/m²
Porcelain Paving
20mm vitrified porcelain slabs primed and laid on a wet bed for a patio that will not stain, fade or green over through a Manchester winter.
Learn more about Porcelain PavingAlso
Groundworks, drainage and walls
Excavation, footings, soakaways, retaining walls and steps. Usually part of a drive or patio job, sometimes the whole job.
Why us in Manchester
What a driveway in Manchester gets from a Middleton firm
- ✓Dropped kerb applications handled with Manchester City Council highways, so a terrace front garden in Moston or Harpurhey becomes a usable drive rather than a paved garden you cannot legally drive onto
- ✓Sub-bases dug to 200mm and beyond on clay plots, because a 100mm base on Irk valley ground is a guarantee of ruts
- ✓Permeable block, resin bound or built-in drainage on every drive, keeping you inside the 2008 front garden rules without a planning application
- ✓Skip and machine access planned around Manchester's narrow terraced streets and parking pressure - we know which roads need a permit and which do not
- ✓One firm for the lot: excavation, drainage, walls, steps and the surface, rather than three trades pointing at each other when something is wrong
“Around half of the terrace fronts we convert to driveways across North Manchester need a dropped kerb the owner did not know they had to apply for.”
Based on jobs handled by S P Groundworks & Driveways.
The guarantee
Every drive we lay in Manchester is put in writing
A driveway is a structure. The part you see - the block, the resin, the tarmac - is 50 to 60mm of the 250mm we build, and it is the 200mm underneath that decides whether it is still flat in ten years. So our guarantee is written around the bit that matters: the excavation depth, the compacted MOT Type 1 base, the edge restraints haunched in concrete and the falls that move water off the surface. If any of that lets you down inside the ten years, we come back and put it right at our cost. Terms and conditions apply, and you get them on paper before we start, not after.
- Sub-base depth and compaction stated on the quote, not left to chance
- Edging set in concrete so the surface cannot spread or rock
- Settlement, sinking or lifting caused by our work put right free
- Materials backed by the manufacturer on top of our own cover
20+
Years in the trade
The same name, the same phone number, the same man on site
10 yr
10-year guarantee on every job
Terms and conditions apply. Handed over in writing at the final walk-round, kept on file at our end too
How we work
Seven steps to a driveway in Manchester that stays flat
Most of what goes wrong with a drive goes wrong in steps three to five, which is why they are the ones we spend the longest on.
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Free site visit
Scott comes out, measures up, looks at what is under the existing surface and how the ground drains. On Manchester clay that visit is where the real decisions get made.
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Written, itemised quote
Excavation depth, sub-base spec, edging, drainage and the surface all listed with a fixed total. The price on the paper is the price you pay.
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Excavation and sub-base
The old surface comes out completely. We dig to the depth the ground needs - never less than 150mm of MOT Type 1 for a drive - and compact it in layers with a plate or roller.
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Edge restraints
Kerbs, block edging or aluminium trims are bedded and haunched in concrete before anything is laid, so the finished surface cannot spread or rock.
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Drainage and falls
Linear channels, gullies and soakaways go in now, with falls set so water leaves the surface and stays inside your boundary as the rules require.
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Laying the driveway
Screeded sand and machine-cut block, hot-rolled tarmac, hand-trowelled resin or floated and stamped concrete - laid by the same crew that did the groundwork.
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Handover and guarantee
We walk the job with you, sweep and sand-in or seal as the surface needs, take the waste away and hand over the ten-year written guarantee before we leave.
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Want to see the steps on a real job? The projects page has every one of them photographed on the day we finished.
Drag to compare
What a Manchester front could look like
Two of our own jobs, photographed the day we arrived and the day we left. Slide the handle.
Resin
Cracked concrete to cream resin
Old concrete broken out, full-depth base, resin bound in a cream blend with a charcoal block edge
Porcelain
Back lawn to grey porcelain
Lawn excavated, Type 1 base, grey porcelain primed and wet-bedded with a charcoal border
Out and about
What to do in Manchester while the drive cures
Block paving can be walked on straight away, but resin needs a day and tarmac wants an afternoon. Three good reasons to be out of the house.
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Science and Industry Museum
The story of Manchester's mills, engines and computers in the world's oldest surviving passenger railway station on Liverpool Road.
Learn more about Science and Industry Museum03
National Football Museum
In the Urbis building at Cathedral Gardens - the country's football history under one roof, ten minutes from Victoria station.
Learn more about National Football MuseumWhere we work
Covering every part of Manchester
We are based on Ennerdale Road in Middleton, M24. Site visits across Manchester are free and usually within a few days of your call.
Video
See the finish before you book in Manchester
Short phone clips from the day each job finished. Silent until you tap one.
Reviews
What customers around Manchester say
★★★★★
“Scott and his lads did my driveway this week and did a brilliant job. They turned up when they said they would and finished the job on time. No messing and no BS. The lads liked their tea and were friendly. Great job, great price and great team.”
Michael I.
New driveway · Google review
★★★★★
“Scott gave us good honest advice from the first visit. The completed job was exactly what we wanted with a high quality finish and lots of comments from friends and family. Definitely went above and beyond, and for a very reasonable price.”
Sarah
Middleton · Block paved driveway
★★★★★
“Brilliant work done by the team. Completed the work in a timely manner, very neat and professional. Would highly recommend.”
Sajida R.
Manchester · New driveway · Google review
★★★★★
“Scott has amazing team and so quick really excellent work.”
Jacqueline O.
Google review
★★★★★
“Scott and his team arrived early, worked through and finished the whole drive by Sunday. Excellent workmanship at a competitive price - we could not be happier.”
Lesley
Heywood · Resin driveway
★★★★★
“Ian at SP created a driveway for us that surpassed our expectations. A fantastic, clean, exact job. He is a credit to the company.”
Laurie
Chadderton · Tarmac and block driveway
Rated 5.0 out of 5 from 4 reviews on Google. Read more on our reviews page or the Facebook page.
Pricing in Manchester
A guide price before anyone comes out
Our per-metre rates are the same in Manchester as they are in Middleton - there is no travel loading. Tarmac from £45/m², block paving from £60, printed concrete from £65, resin bound from £70, Indian sandstone from £80 and porcelain from £95, all including excavation and the base. Use the slider for a range, then book the free visit for a fixed figure.
What moves the price up or down →Instant guide price
Roughly what will it cost?
Pick a surface and slide to your approximate area. A typical two-car drive is 40 to 50m²; a rear patio is often 20 to 35m².
10m²150m²
Guide price range
£2,700 to £4,050
Includes excavation, sub-base, edging and the surface. Excludes VAT where applicable, retaining walls and dropped kerb fees. Every real quote follows a free site visit.
FAQ
Driveway questions from Manchester
Do I need planning permission for a new driveway in Manchester?
Usually not. Since 2008 you can pave a front garden of any size without applying to Manchester City Council provided the surface is permeable or the rainwater drains to a lawn, border or soakaway within your own boundary. Block paving, resin bound stone and tarmac with a drainage channel all meet that. The exception is if your house is listed or sits in one of the city's conservation areas, where the council may want a say on materials - we will tell you if that applies before you commit.
Can you drop the kerb outside my terraced house?
Yes. Manchester City Council handles dropped kerb (vehicle crossing) applications through its highways team and the work has to be done by an approved contractor. We prepare the application with you, build the drive to the council's specification and arrange the crossing so it all lands at the same time. Allow six to ten weeks for the council's side of things.
How long does a driveway take to install in North Manchester?
A typical two-car terrace or semi front takes three to five working days from breaking ground to handover. Bigger block paved drives with new walls or steps run to a week or more. We give you a start date and a finish date on the quote and we keep to them.
Is North Manchester ground difficult to build a driveway on?
It is heavier than most. The Irk valley left thick clay across Blackley, Crumpsall, Moston and Harpurhey, and in places there is old fill from the mills and railways. Clay swells when wet and shrinks when dry, which is why so many cheap drives here rut and sink. We dig deeper than the standard 150mm, use a geotextile membrane on soft ground and compact the MOT Type 1 in layers, and that is the difference between a drive that lasts two winters and one that lasts twenty.
Service area
Also covering the towns around Manchester
Book a free driveway site visit in Manchester
Scott will come out, look at the ground and the old surface, and give you a written fixed quote. No pressure, no sales patter, and no obligation to go ahead.