Huntingdonshire
In Ramsey, What Is Under the Drive Matters More Than the Imprinted Concrete on Top
A former abbey town sitting on an island of firmer ground with the fen all around it. In Ramsey, what is under the drive matters more than what is on top of it.
Family run since 1990
Over 30 years installing decorative surfacing
Based in Sawtry
Local team, Cambridgeshire properties
Five star rated
Verified Google reviews
Imprinted Concrete in Ramsey
Ground first, pattern second, on the Ramsey fen
Ramsey has one of the widest main streets in the county. The Great Whyte was a watercourse before it was a road, and it was covered over in the Victorian period, which tells you most of what you need to know about this town: water has always been the organising fact here. The town itself sits on higher, firmer ground, an island in what was once fen, and the settlements strung out around it, Ramsey Forty Foot, Ramsey St Marys, Ramsey Heights and Ramsey Mereside, sit out on the drained peat and silt proper.
Housing follows the same pattern. Around the Great Whyte and the abbey end there are older brick terraces and cottages with short frontages, some of them straight on to the pavement. The estates built out from the 1950s onwards, off Bury Road, Newtown Road and the streets north of the centre, give the standard postwar frontage of a single width drive, a garage and a lawn. Out in the fen villages the plots are bigger and more spread out, with long entrances and, more often than in town, a genuine turning area.
The ground is the reason we insist on looking. Peat ground shrinks as it dries and behaves nothing like the clay or gravel a few streets away in town, and a surface laid over made up or unconsolidated ground will follow whatever is beneath it. That does not rule out an imprinted concrete driveway in the fen villages, but it does mean the excavation, the compacted sub base and the drainage have to be worked out for that specific plot rather than assumed from a standard detail.
Driveways, patios and paths are the three things we install. Read what each one involves or why people choose imprinted concrete.
Make It Your Own
Colours and patterns for Ramsey properties
The older Ramsey brick is a warm red that sits well with brick red, autumn brown and sandstone finishes. The postwar estates are plainer and take grey much more easily. Out in the fen villages, where houses sit against a wide open sky and long views, mid greys and sandstone tend to hold their appearance better visually than very dark charcoal, which can read as a black rectangle in flat light. Samples come with us so you can judge it in the light you actually get.
- SandstoneNatural stone tone
- Brick RedClassic heritage
- Slate GreyModern charcoal
- Autumn BrownRich amber
See the full colour and pattern section for photographs of the finishes, or ask us to bring samples when we visit.
Before Anything Is Poured
Ground, access and drainage in Ramsey
In Ramsey the site visit does more work than usual. We look at what is under the existing surface, at how the plot sits relative to the road and the nearest drain or ditch, and at how water currently moves across it. Imprinted concrete does not let water through, so on the flat fen ground the falls have to be deliberately designed and often supported by a channel drain. Where the ground is soft or made up, the depth of dig and the sub base are decided on what we find rather than on a standard figure.
Recent Projects
Finished work worth comparing against your Ramsey property
For a long fen village entrance, the grey cobble driveway and turning area on our main page shows what a larger sweeping layout looks like. For a town frontage with a garage at the end of it, the charcoal ashlar driveway curving to a double garage is the better reference.
A narrow side access path in charcoal riven stone imprinted concrete, with galvanised channel drains along the run. 
Close detail of a cobble setts finish, showing the riven texture and the pale antiquing highlight that gives the surface its depth. 
A full width front driveway in grey ashlar imprinted concrete, with a stamped cobble border and a linear channel drain at the pavement line.
Five-Star Rated
What customers say
EXCELLENT Based on 12 reviews on Google. These are the company's own Google reviews and are not attributed to any particular town.
Rated 5 out of 5.
Very pleased with our driveway which was completed in January. Communication before the job was great and the work was carried out efficiently and to a high standard. Would definitely recommend them for anyone looking to get imprinted concrete work done.
Questions
Ramsey imprinted concrete questions
- Do you install imprinted concrete in Ramsey?
- Yes. Ramsey is one of the towns in the service area Driveway & Decking Co. publish, and it is a straightforward run from our base at Sawtry. Call 07949 078999 or use the quote form on this page.
- Do you cover Ramsey Forty Foot, Ramsey St Marys and Ramsey Heights?
- Send us the postcode and we will confirm. The fen villages around Ramsey are a different kind of site from the town, with longer entrances and softer ground, so we would want to look at the plot before saying what the work involves.
- Can imprinted concrete be laid on peat ground?
- It depends entirely on the plot. Peat shrinks as it dries and does not behave like clay or gravel, so any surface laid over it will follow what is underneath. That makes the excavation and the compacted sub base the critical part of the job rather than a formality. We will look at what is there and tell you honestly what we think is achievable.
- The whole plot is flat. How does the water get away?
- By design rather than by luck. On flat fen ground we set the finished levels to create a deliberate fall towards a chosen point, and where there is no natural outfall a channel drain is built into the layout. We would not lay a level surface and hope, because on this ground that is how you end up with standing water against a wall.
- My cottage frontage is very short. Is it worth doing?
- A short frontage can look excellent in a small scale pattern, because a cobble or brick finish repeats often enough to read properly across a small area. It is the large slab patterns that struggle in a small space. Worth asking about rather than assuming it is too small.
- What is the difference between a driveway and a patio in how you build it?
- The principle is the same, a prepared compacted sub base with a coloured concrete surface stamped over it, but a driveway has to carry vehicles and a patio does not, so the build up and the detailing differ. That is one reason we ask what a space will actually be used for rather than only how big it is.
- Can you do a driveway wide enough to turn a car around?
- Where the plot allows it, yes, and on the larger Ramsey area plots it is often the most useful thing you can do with the space. A turning area needs the shape planned properly, and it is a good example of somewhere a border pattern helps by defining the edge of the usable surface.
- Do ditches and drains near the boundary affect the work?
- They can, both as somewhere water might go and as something that has to be kept clear. Any watercourse or drain near the plot is worth mentioning when you enquire, and responsibility for it may sit with the internal drainage board or the landowner rather than with the property.
- Will the colour fade?
- Any outdoor surface changes in appearance with weather and use, and we would rather say that plainly than promise it will not. Routine cleaning and appropriate aftercare help it keep its appearance, and we will talk through what the finish you choose needs at the time.
- Can you install in winter?
- Weather affects concrete work, so timing is a genuine consideration rather than a sales point. We will be straightforward with you about what conditions are workable and when it is better to wait, because pouring in the wrong conditions is not worth the saving.
- Do you supply a written quote?
- Yes. Once we have seen the site you get a written quote covering what is included, and we would rather answer questions about it before you decide than afterwards.
- How do I arrange a visit in Ramsey?
- Use the quote form on this page with your postcode, call or WhatsApp 07949 078999. If your property is out in one of the fen villages, saying so helps us plan the visit.
Areas We Cover
Near Ramsey
Each of these has its own page, written for that place rather than this one.
Get a Free Quote
Request a quote for your Ramsey project
Tell the team whether you are planning a driveway, patio, path or another suitable imprinted concrete project. Include the postcode and an approximate size or a short description, and Driveway & Decking Co. can talk through the next step and arrange a quote or a site visit where that makes sense.
Prefer to talk it through?
- Telephone
- 07949 078999
- Message us on WhatsApp
- Address
- 23 Glatton Road, Sawtry, Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire PE28 5SY