How to Choose a Driveway Installer (Without Getting Burned)
Driveways are a trade with brilliant local firms and, frankly, some cowboys. The difference rarely shows on day one — it shows two winters later. Here's how to tell them apart before you sign anything, whoever you end up choosing.
What a proper quote looks like
A written quote should itemise the things that actually determine quality:
- • Excavation depth and muck-away
- • Sub-base material and compaction method
- • Edge restraints and how they're set
- • Drainage — falls, channels, soakaways or permeable build-up
- • The surface specification (resin depth and UV grade, block type, tarmac courses)
- • Manhole covers, steps and detail work
- • Timescale and payment terms
Red flags
- • A price given on the spot with pressure to 'sign today'
- • Large cash deposits demanded up front
- • No written quote, no company details, no fixed address
- • 'We're doing a job round the corner and have materials left over'
- • A quote that never mentions the sub-base or drainage
- • No verifiable reviews, photos or social media trail of past work
Good questions to ask
- • Can I see recent local jobs or photos of work in progress?
- • Are you insured, and can you show documentation?
- • What guarantee do you offer, and is it in writing?
- • Who actually does the work — your team or subcontractors?
- • What happens if you find a problem once you've dug out?
Where we stand
Quantock Paving Ltd is a registered limited company (no. 16165417), local and family-run, fully insured for residential and commercial work, and every job is backed by a comprehensive workmanship guarantee confirmed in your written quote. Our recent work is on our Facebook and Instagram pages — we'd rather show you than tell you.
