Any paving contractor Cape Town homeowners call can lay a neat surface. Far fewer build a base that survives a Cape winter. The difference is invisible on handover day and obvious two years later.
These are the six technical questions that separate the two. Ask them before you sign. A good contractor will answer in specifics. A bad one will change the subject to price.
Question 1: how deep is the sub-base, and what material?
The sub-base carries the load. Everything above it just spreads that load out.
- Driveway: 100 to 150mm of compacted G5 crusher run is standard
- Patio or walkway: lighter, sometimes just well-compacted subgrade on stable ground
- Soft or clay ground: deeper excavation, sometimes with geotextile separation underneath
The answer you want is a number in millimetres and a material grade. “We put down a good base” is not an answer. Roughly 40% of a proper paving cost is earthworks, so vagueness here is usually where a cheap quote gets cheap.
Question 2: what are you compacting with?
Compaction is the single most skipped step in residential paving. It is also the one you can check while the work happens.
- Plate compactor: fine for bedding layers, jointing and small areas
- Roller or heavy plate: needed for sub-base layers on a driveway
- Layer thickness: the sub-base must go in and be compacted in layers, not dumped in one 150mm lift
Ask how many passes and how many layers. A contractor who compacts 150mm of crusher run in one go has not compacted the bottom of it. That is the layer that later settles under a car wheel.
Question 3: where does the water actually go?
Cape Town gets its rain in concentrated winter months. Paving that drains badly does not just puddle, it pumps fines out of the bedding layer every time a car drives over standing water.
- Falls: the surface must slope, typically around 1:60 to 1:80, away from buildings
- Destination: a channel, a drain, a garden bed, a soakaway — not the neighbour’s boundary
- Doorways and garages: never fall towards them, and never end level with a threshold
Ask the contractor to walk the site and point out where the water leaves. If they cannot show you, the falls have not been planned. Where run-off is unavoidable, permeable paving handles it in the base instead of on the surface.
Question 4: how are the edges restrained?
Block paving works by interlock. Interlock only works if the perimeter cannot spread. Without restraint, the outer courses creep outwards, joints open, and the whole field loosens from the edges inwards.
- Concrete haunching along free edges is the normal solution
- Existing walls or kerbs can serve as restraint where they are sound
- Soil backfill is never an edge restraint, whatever you are told
Edges are cheap to do at the time and expensive to retrofit. Get them named on the quote.
Question 5: how thick is the bedding sand?
Bedding sand should be screeded to roughly 25 to 40mm, with 30mm as the working standard. It is a levelling layer, not a structural one.
Thick sand is a red flag. Contractors use extra sand to hide an uneven sub-base, and it is the classic cause of rutting and sinking later. If a quote mentions 50mm or more of bedding sand, the base underneath is not level enough. Paver strength classes and laying guidance come from the Concrete Manufacturers Association.
Question 6: what does the guarantee cover?
- Period: stated in writing, on the quote, not verbally
- Scope: settlement and workmanship, not just broken pavers
- Exclusions: tree roots, vehicle overloading, third-party excavation
- Process: who you phone, and what happens next
The same vetting logic applies to any trade you let onto your property, and our checklist for building contractors near me covers the general version. For paving specifically, the base questions above are the ones that matter.
What a good paving contractor Cape Town quote looks like
It reads like a specification, not a price. You should be able to see excavation depth, sub-base material and thickness, paver type and thickness, pattern, edge detail, and where spoil goes.
- Paver thickness stated: 50mm pedestrian, 60mm driveway, 80mm heavy duty
- Cutting and waste allowance mentioned for the chosen pattern
- Spoil removal priced, not assumed
- Falls and drainage described in a sentence
Full detail on the material choices and rates sits in our paving service page, and the process end to end is covered in our driveway paving Cape Town guide. If paving you already have is settling, the causes are diagnosed in our guide to paving sinking.
Before you commit
Get three quotes that describe the same specification. Visit one older job per contractor if you can. Then choose on the base, not the brick.
We assess sites free of charge with no call-out fee, and quote with the earthworks itemised so you can compare them properly. Send us your details and we will come and look at the ground.
Frequently asked questions
How deep should a paving sub-base be?
For a residential driveway, 100 to 150mm of compacted G5 crusher run under roughly 30mm of screeded bedding sand. Patios and walkways carry less load and can use a lighter base on stable ground. Soft or clay soils need deeper excavation, and sometimes a geotextile layer to stop fines migrating upwards.
What should paving be compacted with?
Sub-base layers on a driveway need a roller or heavy plate compactor, and must go in as layers rather than one thick dump. A standard plate compactor handles bedding, jointing and small patio areas. Ask how many layers and how many passes — compacting 150mm in one lift leaves the bottom loose.
What fall does paving need for drainage?
Around 1:60 to 1:80 away from buildings is typical, which is roughly 12 to 17mm of drop per metre. More important than the number is where the water ends up: a channel, drain, garden bed or soakaway. Paving should never fall towards a doorway, garage threshold or a neighbour’s boundary.
Do paving edges need concrete?
Free edges do. Block paving relies on interlock, and interlock fails if the perimeter can spread. Concrete haunching along open edges holds the outer courses in place. Sound existing walls or kerbs can act as restraint, but soil backfill never counts as an edge restraint no matter what a quote claims.
How thick should bedding sand be under pavers?
Roughly 25 to 40mm screeded, with 30mm as the working standard. It is a levelling layer, not a structural one. Thicker sand is usually being used to hide an uneven sub-base, and it is a common cause of rutting and settlement once vehicles start using the surface.