Paving Wiz lays driveways, patios, pool surrounds and parking areas in Bellville, Oakdale, Boston, Stellenberg and De La Haye. The ground under most of Bellville is Malmesbury shale weathering to clay, and clay does something sand never does: it changes volume with the seasons.
Clay swells in winter and shrinks in summer
Contents
Malmesbury clay takes up water and expands, then dries out and contracts. Over a year that is a slow up-and-down movement under whatever is sitting on top of it. Paving copes with that far better than a concrete slab does, because paving is made of small units with joints between them — it can flex without cracking.
What paving cannot do is survive being laid straight onto clay with a thin sand bed. The clay moves, the sand follows it, and the surface ends up with high and low patches that get worse each winter.
Why old Bellville driveways crack in a line
A lot of the driveways here are 1960s and 1970s concrete. Concrete on clay cracks, and it cracks in a line across the movement. Once it has cracked, water gets in, the clay under the crack takes up more water than the clay either side, and the crack opens further every season.
Paving over a cracked slab follows the crack unless the slab comes out or the crack is dealt with properly. That is the conversation to have before anyone quotes a price per square metre.
Concrete or paving on this ground
| Concrete slab | Paving on a compacted base | |
|---|---|---|
| Behaviour on clay | Cracks across the movement | Flexes at the joints |
| Repair after movement | Break out and recast | Lift, correct, re-lay same bricks |
| Repair visible afterwards | Yes, a patch | No, the bricks go back |
| Cost per square metre | Comparable | R300 – R520/m² depending on ground |
What it costs in Bellville
On clay the excavation depth is the variable, so the sub-base line moves more than anything else in a Bellville quote.
| Ground found on site | Excavation | Installed rate |
|---|---|---|
| Firm shale close to surface | Standard | R300 – R380/m² |
| Clay to moderate depth | Deeper, more stone | R340 – R450/m² |
| Soft clay, poor drainage | Deeper again, drainage added | R400 – R520/m² |
| Lifting an old driveway first | Add R60 – R120/m² | Rubble removed |
Labour on its own is R100 to R200 per square metre. The full breakdown — pavers, labour and sub-base — with more worked examples is on our paving prices Cape Town page.
Bellville paving questions
Can you pave over my cracked concrete driveway?
Only if the slab is stable. If it is still moving, paving laid over it will mirror the crack within a season or two. We look at the crack edges on site to tell which it is.
What does a double driveway cost in Bellville?
R21,000 to R31,000 for about 60m² on a vehicle-rated base. Clay ground can push that toward the top of the range.
How deep do you dig on clay?
Deeper than on sand, and how much deeper is decided when we open it up. The quote states the sub-base depth in writing so you can compare it.
Get a written quote in Bellville
Tell us what you need paved in Bellville, roughly how big it is and what is on the ground now. We come out, measure it, check the fall and put a written figure to it. There is no charge for the visit.
We also cover the rest of the northern suburbs. Related guide: driveway paving in Cape Town.
Prefer to talk? Call 062 397 4233