Paving Wiz lays driveways, patios and walkways in Lansdowne, Wynberg Hill, Ottery and Belthorn. The streets here have been built up long enough to have mature trees in them, and on a good number of the driveways we are called to look at, the problem is not the paving at all — it is a root.
Tree roots lift paving from underneath
Contents
A root under a driveway does not push evenly. It lifts a line, and the bricks above that line ride up and then rock under every wheel that crosses them. Re-laying the surface without dealing with what is under it buys about a season.
On site we open a section over the high point first and look. Sometimes the root can be cut back and a root barrier set; sometimes the level has to be re-set over it; occasionally the honest answer is that the tree wins and the driveway is routed around it.
Roots want water, and paving changes where water goes
Solid paving over a root zone sheds every drop toward the edges, which is one reason roots track along the line of a driveway looking for moisture. A permeable surface lets water through where it falls, which suits a plot with a big established tree better than a sealed one does.
Repair or replace, and how we decide
| What we find | What it needs | Cost effect |
|---|---|---|
| One lifted line, bricks sound | Lift, cut root, barrier, re-lay same bricks | Labour only, R100 – R200/m² |
| Several lifted areas, base gone | Strip, re-base, re-lay | R60 – R120/m² to lift, then the build-up |
| Bricks cracked or spalled | New pavers over a corrected base | Full installed rate |
| Root too large to cut | Re-route the driveway or go permeable | Quoted per job |
What it costs in Lansdowne
What a Lansdowne job costs depends almost entirely on whether your existing bricks can go back down. That is decided on site, not from a photo.
| Route | What it includes | Installed |
|---|---|---|
| Re-lay existing bricks | Lift, correct base, re-lay | from R150/m² |
| Re-lay plus root barrier | As above, plus cutting and a barrier | Quoted per job |
| New paving, 35m² driveway | Excavate, sub-base, new 60mm pavers | R10,500 – R14,700 |
| Permeable over a root zone | Open surface, stone base | R350 – R500/m² |
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.
Lansdowne paving questions
Can you just re-lay the bricks I have?
If they are sound, yes. Lifting and re-laying your existing pavers costs from R150 per square metre and saves the paver cost entirely.
Will cutting the root kill the tree?
It depends on the size and which side. We open up and look before anyone decides. If the root is structural we say so and we work around it.
How long does a re-lay take?
A typical driveway re-lay is one to two days, less than a full rebuild because there is no excavation to full depth.
Get a written quote in Lansdowne
Tell us what you need paved in Lansdowne, 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 Cape Flats. Related guide: permeable paving in Cape Town.
Prefer to talk? Call 081 408 9946