At last! The Book
After years and years of being asked, it's a real pleasure to announce that a book to accompany this website has, at long last, been published and is now available for sale at all good bookshops, a few crappy bookshops, all the usual online retailers, or direct from here.
Entitled "Driveways, Paths and Patios - a complete guide to design, management and construction", it's over 160 colour pages, hardback, and stuffed full of the high-quality diagrams and illustrations you've come to expect from the Pavingexpert website, along with photos taken on a number of projects constructed by some of the contractors that use this site on a regular basis, and a wealth of dead good photies from several manufacturers that support the website.
It is NOT a book-version of the website, but is all new material, examining the design process in as much detail as the actual construction process, which is something I've never actually covered on the website. It's primarily aimed at those looking to have a new driveway or patio, whether it's to be a DIY job or installed by a contractor. However, it should be a useful read for student types, as it goes into quite some detail regarding the design process and how we set out paving projects. Contractors, too, will find it to be a handy collection of construction drawings, quantity calculations and design ideas. In fact, there's summat for everyone!
- A Brief History of Paving
- Spoiled for Choice
- The Design Process
- DIY? Contractor? Costs?
- Costings
- Tools
- Pavement Layers
- Setting Out
- Drainage
- Laying Block Paving
- Laying Techniques for Flags
- Laying Other Materials
- Steps, Ramps, Stepping Stones and Crazy Paving
- Completion, Remedial Work and Disputes
- Useful Links
- Glossary
- Index
The cover price is a mere £16.99 but you can buy your very own copy of the book direct from the publisher's website by using the link shown opposite.
Alternatively, you can buy a copy direct from the Amazon website for the discounted price shown opposite. Please note that, because Amazon (and other cut-price retailers) heavily discounts the cover price of books, the commission paid to the author is similarly discounted, and a pitiful 84p of the sum shown opposite is all that will find its way into the cavernous emptiness of my pockets.
E-Book
And now we've entered an age where everyone wants things that don't really exist other than as a digital stream of electrons, you can even have an e-book version to clutter up your Kingle or Tablet or other e-reader yoke. Imagine that: paving on yer mobile!
Signed Copies
Anyone daft enough to want a signed version (hardback book only - does not apply to e-book) can either carry a copy with them at all times and hope to collar me at one of the many trade shows I attend each year where they may exchange one pint of finest ale or porter for an unlimited number of personalised yet barely legible signatures, or they may order a signed copy from my own personal stash.
Sadly, I can't compete with the Amazon price shown opposite, and since the government flogged off the Post Office at a discounted rate to their mates in the City, the cost of postage has, surprise, surprise, risen to a point where I can no longer afford to offer free P&P. So, the cost of a personal copy inscribed with the message of your choice is now a very reasonable £20.
