Block Paving in Poole
Tell us the postcode and roughly how big the drive is. Block paving firms covering Poole come back to you with a price.
Block paving a driveway in Poole runs from about £2,400 for a single car space to £7,500 for a wide double. The ground here is layered clay and sand, and clay holds water where sand lets it through. Ask any contractor quoting you what they found when they dug, because on clay the answer changes the drainage and the price.
Block paving is one of five surfaces worth pricing. Resin, tarmac, concrete and gravel are costed side by side on our driveways in Poole page.
What block paving costs
Prices below are UK figures from two independent cost guides, both updated in 2026. Measure your drive in square metres and work from there.
Swipe the table sideways to see every column.
| Drive size | Roughly | Typical cost | Days on site |
|---|---|---|---|
| One car | 20m² | Around £2,400 | 2 to 3 |
| Two cars | 50m² | £5,000 to £7,500 | 3 to 5 |
| Wide or multi car | 80m² and up | £8,000 and up | 5 plus |
Per square metre that works out at £90 to £150 for block paving laid. Digging out and carting away the old surface is another £30 to £50 a square metre before a single block is laid.
Poole sits on clay
Poole sits on the Poole Formation, which is layers of clay and sand laid down when this was a river delta. The clay layers are named after the places they were dug: the Parkstone Clay, the Broadstone Clay, the Oakdale Clay and the Creekmoor Clay. Those same clays fed Poole Pottery for generations.
Clay behaves differently from the sand further east, and for a block paved drive that matters.
- Water sits on it. Sand lets rain soak away. Clay does not, so a soakaway that would work in Bournemouth may do nothing in Parkstone or Creekmoor. The water has to be sent somewhere it can actually go.
- It moves with the weather. Clay swells when it is wet and shrinks when it dries. A shallow sub-base laid straight onto it will show that movement within a couple of winters.
- It varies street by street. The Poole Formation is interleaved clay and sand, not one or the other. Two houses on the same road can sit on different ground, which is why a contractor who digs a trial hole before quoting is worth listening to.
Ask the question directly. What did you find when you dug? Where is the water going? A contractor who has laid drives in Poole for years will answer both without pausing.
Low ground near the harbour
A good part of Poole sits barely above the water. The Environment Agency’s own strategy for Poole Harbour counts 573 properties in central Poole with a one in a hundred annual chance of tidal flooding today, and 23 in Lower Parkstone. Both figures rise a long way over the coming century.
That is not a reason to avoid block paving. It is a reason to be clear about where the rainwater goes before the work starts.
- Permeable blocks are worth the extra here. They let water through the joints into a stone layer underneath, which holds it and releases it slowly instead of pushing it towards the road.
- A soakaway only works if the ground can take the water. On low, wet clay the ground is often saturated already, so a soakaway dug into it fills up and stops working.
- The fall of the surface matters. The drive has to shed water towards a border or a drain that can take it. Get that wrong and the puddle sits by your front door.
How block paving should be laid
Most of the cost of a driveway is buried where you cannot see it. These are the standard figures for a domestic block paved drive, so you can ask about them.
- Sub-base, at least 100mm. Crushed stone, compacted, laid to the falls and levels of the finished drive. That 100mm is a minimum for a domestic drive, and on soft clay a good contractor digs deeper rather than less.
- Laying course, 25mm to 40mm. A bed of sharp sand that the blocks sit in. It is not there to make up for a bad sub-base, and using it that way is exactly why some drives sink.
- Blocks, 60mm thick. The standard driveway block is 200 by 100 by 60mm. Thinner blocks are for paths and patios, not for cars.
- Edge restraints on concrete. The blocks at the edge are bedded on concrete and haunched behind. Without that, the whole drive creeps outwards every time a car turns on it.
- Herringbone at 45 degrees. The interlocking pattern is what stops blocks shifting under a turning wheel. Stretcher bond looks tidy. It shifts more under a turning car.
If a quote does not say how deep the sub-base is going, ask before you compare it with anything else. Where two prices differ on the same drive, the difference is usually under the blocks.
The dropped kerb
If there is no crossing over the pavement yet, that is a separate job controlled by BCP Council, not by your driveway contractor. It costs £130 just to apply, and around £2,000 for the work. The full detail is on our Bournemouth driveways page, and the rules are the same across Poole.
Getting quotes in Poole
Give us the postcode and the rough size of the drive. Mention anything awkward, like a narrow entrance, a slope, or a tree near the front, because all three change the price.
Where we cover
Poole and the surrounding postcodes, BH12 to BH17. That takes in Parkstone, Branksome, Canford Cliffs, Sandbanks, Broadstone, Creekmoor, Hamworthy and Upton.
- BournemouthCheck Now
- PooleAll Surfaces
- ChristchurchCheck Now
Laying block paving over in Bournemouth or Christchurch instead? The ground changes what goes under the blocks, so each has its own page at block paving in Bournemouth and block paving in Christchurch.