Knutsford Revisited

As we are in the area again, we thought it would be rude not to call back on one of our favourite projects.  Six years ago this Easter we completed this beauty. The property owner is a car enthusiast, as such required a driveway capable of withstanding  a fair amount of traffic while still looking the part.   This is where the use of natural stone really stands out compared to concrete.  Six years on and the setts look as good as the day they were laid and have only been cleaned once.

Seaton Ross, Yorkshire

This is one of our projects in the Seaton Ross area of Yorkshire.   Our brief was to remove the  existing driveway and replace with new York stone setts actually sourced from Yorkshire itself.

Once Cookie has unwrapped the setts like a kiddie at Christmas, it is time to lay the band course to picture frame the drive.All setts are fixed with cement bond bridge.

For pointing we are using 5/1 slurry.  One of the essential tools of the trade, the Pergo belt cleaner ready for action.  The remaining pictures were given to us by the client, a view we rarely get to see.  Client was very happy to be able to get the car back onto the drive and so were we.

In total there was  220m2 of the new York stone setts 150mmx50mm deep wide and 90mm up to 450mm long random sizes to add interest rather than having uniform lines and they were tumbled to age.

High Wycome

New driveway to be completed using new granite setts bush hammered grey/silver granite setts and plain textured black basalt setts supplied by CED stone, West Drayton. Design feature is black basalt on perimeter of fans and bands with the grey/silver making up the rest. All laid on our standar 4/1 sharp sand base and slurry pointed.
As you can see we mark out the fan pattern to allow accurate placement and calculations.

We then get rid of all that concrete and prepare the area for the setts.



Setts needn’t be boring, use of colour can add dramatic effect, here we are using black Basalt setts to the perimeter.  We also installed some new stone steps.



Whilst it is totally acceptable to have the fan all the same colour, using a contrast such as the Black highlights each individual fan.  We have used the photograph taken from above to show how striking the setts really are. Once all setts have been laid we move onto the less glamorous but vital step of slurry pointing. To soften the edges a small patch of grass and bark was used to blend in seamlessly with the neighbouring hedge.

All complete and ready to hand back to customer.  Our customer has very kindly provided us with a before and after shot.