Divider Black

Edgings & Kerbs – Your Choices

A vitally important aspect to any paved area is it’s edgings and kerbs. Sometimes overlooked when considering the type of surface you want to install to your drive, car park and even roadway, the edgings or kerb selection can determine the longevity of your surface. As an aesthetic decision to the final look of any area, it’s important that you select an appropriate edging to withstand the requirements of the surface.

All tarmacadam, brock or block paved surfaces must have an edging. Below we discuss some options to consider.

Wooden “Gravel Boards”

This is by far the cheapest option, and unsurprisingly the one that offers the least longevity. Installing wooden edgings is often used when budget is key, or where the area is designed for very light use, such as footpaths across sports pitches etc. Fast and cheap to install, this option can be affective, but of course will deteriorate over a relatively short period of time. Unless a client is adamant, we would avoid using these for driveway or similar surfacing projects.

Pre-Cast Concrete Edgings

The most cost effective and common types of edgings we install are Pre-Cast Concrete flat top edgings. These are neat, quick to install and give a solid edge to an area. Perfect for laying tarmac to and installed upon concrete haunching, like light duty kerbs. At 50mm wide they are unintrusive and can be set to finish flush with the final surface or with an upstand. They are also available with rounded tops for a different look.

Granite Setts

Setts can give a more rustic aesthetic when laying a brand new surface to help it blend into older surroundings. Often roughly cut into 200mm x 100mm blocks, these work well when installing more irregular shaped driveways or areas. They are set with small gaps between them and then pointed with cement to create a neat finish. More labour intensive but certainly worth considering as an edging option.

Block Pavers

Block paved edgings aren’t only suitable for block paved drives. You can use these edgings to give you a neat area to your new block paved driveway, or any other surfacing finish. Set as soldier course (side by side) or stretcher course (end to end), these are set in concrete haunching as any other edgings and produce a neat, more geometric look to an area, suitable for newer properties with a squarer aesthetic.

Kerbs

Kerbs are of course used for more heavy duty areas and those that require a long lasting edging, such as a commercial access. They are large, require more haunching concrete, and aesthetically not really suitable for smaller driveways, but if a larger parking area is required, such as a sports ground car park, can be considered as a more substantial option to a Pre-Cast Concrete flat top edging.

There are of course many other options and variations for edgings and kerbs. Cobbles, decorative topped edgings, all variety of shaped solid stone and concrete edgings, and even metal edgings often used for Resin bound surfacing are available. Quite often we would lay surfacing to areas such as farm access tracks without edgings where budget doesn’t allow for them, but we wouldn’t advise this for private domestic projects.

We are always on hand to discuss your options and help you decide from a wide variety of choices.

Mark Edwards
Surveyor, Edwards Surfacing

0 replies

Leave a Reply

Want to join the discussion?
Feel free to contribute!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *