Uneven Paver Repair, from the subgrade up
Lifting and relaying the high and low spots back to a flat plane.
What actually goes wrong
Here is the honest version: a sunken paver is a symptom. The base under it lost material, usually to water, and the surface settled into the gap. Resetting the pavers without correcting the base just buys you a season.
Our ground is sand over limestone in most of the region, and sand drains fast right up until it does not. Add an afternoon storm that drops two inches in an hour and the base either handles it or it starts washing.
Mature trees are the second cause. Roots go where the water is, and a paver base holds moisture, so they grow straight into it and push the surface up.
We would rather lose a bid than skip the base work, because the base work is the job. Everything above it is finish.
How we run this job
We come look at it
A straight read starts on site. We come out, walk the whole property with you, trace the water, and tell you what we see without dressing it up. Small problems get called small.
You get the plan in writing
Scope, materials, how long it takes, and what it costs, written down before anybody starts. No verbal numbers that change later.
We build the base first
We spend the most time on what you will never look at. The dig goes to the depth your job needs, the aggregate gets compacted in lifts, and the bedding is screeded. Whether the surface stays flat in ten years depends on it.
Pavers go down and get cut in
Laying the field is the fast part. The care is in the cuts at the edges and the restraint that locks the whole field in place.
Joints get filled and the site gets cleaned
Sand swept in and compacted, surface washed, debris hauled by us. You get the property back the way we found it, minus the problem.
Working out what actually failed
Repair starts with diagnosis, not with lifting pavers. The surface tells you where it failed; it does not tell you why. Pull up a sunken section without answering the why and you have bought a season.
The usual why is water: a downspout discharging at an edge, an irrigation head hitting the same spot twice a day, or a neighboring grade sending runoff across a corner. Second most common is a root. Third is a base that was never compacted properly.
A good repair is invisible. That means keeping the units that came up, blending replacements so they do not read as a patch, and matching the joint sand so the repaired area does not sit a shade different from the field around it.
Water is what ends most paver surfaces, and it rarely arrives from the sky.
We treat topping up joint sand as structural repair. The sand in those joints transfers load from one paver to the next, which is how a field of loose units holds together as a surface. When it washes out, each paver takes its weight alone and soon starts to rock. Rocking pavers crack. Refilling early costs a lot less than resetting.
If your patio has a cloudy film that will not rinse off, look at the joint sand. Polymeric sand binds when water hits it, which is great inside a joint because it resists washout far better than plain sand. On the paver face it is a problem. It must go in dry, be swept off the surface thoroughly before wetting, and be watered in as the manufacturer specifies. Rushing those steps leaves the haze.
Separation
Geotextile between subgrade and base stops fine soil migrating up and destroying the aggregate structure.
Base depth
Set by what the surface carries, not by habit. A walkway and a truck-bearing drive are not the same excavation.
Compaction
Aggregate goes down in lifts and each one gets compacted. One dump and a quick pass gives you a crust over loose material.
Other repairs we handle
Our crews handle this across the region, and these are some of the areas we see most:
What it asks of you afterwards
Debris in the joints is the thing to stay ahead of. Leaves and grass clippings break down into soil, and soil in a joint is where weeds start. Sweep it out, keep the sand topped up, and a well-built surface will ask very little else of you.
If you like the look of freshly wet pavers, sealing gets you close to that all the time. It also makes stains easier to lift and helps hold the joint sand. What it asks of you is a recoat every few years and some care in choosing a product, since the wrong one can look plasticky or trap moisture. We will be straight with you about whether yours needs it.
Our rule of thumb is a quarter inch. A paver edge lifted more than about that much is a trip hazard waiting for someone, and it should move to the top of the list. On commercial sites, add liability to the reasons, since a fall there is more than a maintenance problem.
Porcelain is the material where installer skill shows most. It is dense and close to stain-proof, yet it will not hide an uneven bed, and it takes the right blade and patience to cut cleanly. It has only come into residential work fairly recently.
Concrete pavers are the easiest material to live with over the long run. If one cracks or a section needs resetting, matching it is usually straightforward. The color is part of the paver itself, so it softens gradually in the sun. It also changes a little in the first year or two as the units cure, which surprises some owners, so we mention it up front.
With clay brick there is no pigment to fade. The color comes from the clay as it is fired, so the paver looks essentially the same for as long as it lasts. The trade is a higher price and a smaller choice of shapes.
The failures we get called out to fix
None of these are visible on the day the work finishes, which is exactly why they keep happening.
Skipping the geotextile
Without a separation layer, the subgrade and the base slowly trade places. Soil particles ride water up into the stone while the stone presses down into the soil, and the base gets thinner every year. Surface repairs do nothing for that kind of settlement.
Using the wrong sand in the bedding
Pavers only hold their line if the bedding grips them. That takes sharp, angular concrete sand. Rounded mason or beach sand behaves like ball bearings once there is weight on it.
Sealing too early
A new concrete paver needs to cure and let its efflorescence work out before it gets sealed. Seal it in the first month and you can lock a white haze under the sealer permanently.
Laying over the old surface
A new surface laid over an old one usually looks fine for about a season. After that, the base that ruined the first surface starts ruining the second. Speed and price are the only things the shortcut buys you.
The pavers are a wearing surface. The base is the building.
Common questions
How long does the job take
A typical uneven paver repair job runs two to five working days once we start. Base work is the slow part; laying the field goes quickly. Weather moves things, and in summer we plan around the afternoon storms rather than pretending they will not happen.
Do I need to be home while you work
Most owners are at work while we are. What we need from you is access to the area and a water source. If the gate locks or there is a pet in the yard, tell us ahead of time. Should we run into a surprise, we will call you the same day.
Will the new pavers match what I already have
It depends mostly on whether the line is still made. If it is, we can usually get close, though sun and age shift the color of concrete pavers a little over time. If it has been discontinued, we show you the options before ordering, and that can include borrowing units from a less visible spot.
What happens to the old surface
Gone before the new base goes in. We demolish it, haul it, and recycle the concrete and pavers if a recycler is available locally. You will see it listed in the scope from the start.
How do you keep it from settling again
Find the water first. In most cases a settled spot traces back to drainage, like a downspout emptying at the edge, and the base under it has washed or softened. Correct the drainage, rebuild that section of base, and the pavers go back down on something solid.
Do you cover Miami, FL
Yes. Being Miami-based means we are in and around Miami, FL almost every week. Ask us about scheduling when you call and you will get a clear answer.
Tell us what you are looking at
The water usually explains the problem, so that is what we look at first. We come out, walk the property, trace where the water goes, and write up what we find. It is the fastest way to a real answer.
Quality you can stand on