How to Choose a Driveway Company Without Getting Stung

Driveways attract more cowboys than almost any other trade. Here are the questions that separate the real firms from the rest.

Why this trade specifically

Driveways are high-value, one-off purchases where the customer can't easily judge quality, and most of the work gets buried before you see it. That combination attracts people who shouldn't be doing it. The good news is that a handful of specific questions filters them out fast.

Ask about the sub-base, in millimetres

'We'll dig it out and put a good base in' is not an answer. You want a number — typically 150mm of compacted MOT Type 1 for a car, more for heavier vehicles — plus a mention of a geotextile membrane. Anyone doing the job properly will answer this instantly, because it's what they think about all day.

Ask who's actually turning up

Plenty of firms quote the job and then sell it on to whoever's free. Ask directly whether the people quoting are the people laying it. If the answer is vague, the accountability is vague too.

Never pay a large deposit

Materials for a domestic driveway are not so expensive that a working firm needs your money up front. A deposit request on a £4,000 job is the single most common feature of the horror stories. Staged payments against completed work are reasonable; a big up-front lump sum is not.

Check an old job, not a new one

Anyone's work looks good the week it's finished. Ask to see something they laid three or four years ago. A firm that's proud of its work will have a customer nearby who's happy for you to look at the drive from the pavement.