Driveways, Patios & Brickwork in Dover, Deal & Sandwich

Building in Dover: what to know

Here we're often asked for off-road parking on tight town plots, patios and walls in walled gardens, and repairs to flint and brick boundary walls. On the coast, choosing materials that stand up to salt and wind is part of every job.

• White-cliff chalk and Stour marshes

  Most of Dover district is chalk — the same chalk as the White Cliffs — which drains freely but is often only a thin layer of soil above the rock. Digging out can mean breaking chalk, and flints are everywhere. Around Sandwich, Worth and the lower Stour it changes to marsh alluvium and sand, which stays wet and needs careful drainage. We plan excavation and sub-base for whichever we're dealing with.

• Deal, Sandwich and historic streets

  Deal's Middle Street was one of the first conservation areas in Kent, and Sandwich has one of the best-preserved medieval townscapes in England, with a very high number of listed buildings. Front walls, paving and railings in these areas need a careful, sympathetic approach, often with planning consent.

• Flint walls

  Flint is the local walling stone across Dover district, often combined with brick. We repair and rebuild flint walls to match the original coursing and mortar, rather than patching them with modern materials.

• Coastal exposure and steep streets

  Dover's hillside streets and the open coast at Deal, Kingsdown and St Margaret's face strong winds and salt spray. We choose fence posts, fixings and paving to suit, and plan levels, steps and retaining walls on sloping plots.