Licensed Paver Contractor without the part that fails later
A licensed crew that does this daily rather than between other trades.
What actually goes wrong
The failure is almost always below the pavers. Sand washes out of the joints, water gets down into the bedding, the bedding migrates, and the surface drops. Everything you can see is downstream of that.
The soil here is sand, and sand moves when water flows through it. Add South Florida’s habit of dropping a lot of rain in a short burst and the base under a paver surface is working much harder than it would up north. That is why the base gets so much of our time.
The other thing that lifts pavers here is roots. Ficus, black olive, and a lot of the older shade trees run their roots shallow and wide, and they will follow the moisture right under a walkway.
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
You walk it with us. We look at the surface and where the water runs off it, then tell you what we honestly think, and that includes saying so when it is minor.
You get the plan in writing
Scope, materials, schedule, and cost on paper before a shovel moves. The number you approve is the number, not an opening position.
We build the base first
A flat surface in ten years starts with the dig. We excavate as deep as the job needs, build up compacted aggregate in lifts, and screed the bedding course before any paver is set.
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
Joints filled and set, everything washed down, our own debris on our own truck. The site is yours again the same day we finish.
What a proper installation actually involves
Every lift of base gets compacted before the next goes on. That means a few inches of aggregate, a full pass with the compactor, then the next few inches. It is tedious and it matters more than almost anything else in the job, because a base compacted only on top hides loose material that settles later. On the day the work finishes, you would never know the difference.
When we pull up a sunken section on somebody else’s job, the pavers themselves are usually fine. The problem is below them. A paver surface is built in four layers: the pavers, a screeded course of sharp bedding sand, a base of compacted crushed aggregate, and the subgrade, which is the soil the property sits on. The base is the structural layer. If it was too thin or never compacted properly, the pavers on top simply followed it down.
Base depth is the most important number on a paver quote, and you cannot check it once the job is done. It should change with the load. A path that only ever sees people needs less, a driveway taking a loaded pickup every day needs more, and a commercial drive for delivery trucks needs more again. When two quotes differ, ask each contractor what depth they priced and why. A good one has an answer tied to your traffic.
The edge restraint is the piece nobody thinks about and the reason the field holds.
When a paver surface fails, look at the edges before you blame the rain. A downspout emptying right against the border, a sprinkler that wets the same corner every day, runoff from the lot next door: those are the usual suspects. Rain falling on a properly jointed field mostly runs off. Concentrated water from one source is what washes the base out.
Puddles that sit on a patio for hours after a storm are a grading problem. So is water that runs toward the building. Both come from getting the fall wrong. The target is about an eighth to a quarter inch of drop per foot, heading away from the structure, which is too gentle to notice underfoot and enough to move the water off.
Getting water off the pavers is half of the drainage job on a commercial property. The other half is deciding where it lands. On a tight lot with no fall to spare, we usually choose between a channel drain at the low edge, a permeable section that lets water through to a stone reservoir, and a regrade of the planting bed next door. Building that in now costs less than coming back for it.
Joint sand
Structural, not cosmetic. It transfers load between units, which is the whole reason a field of loose pavers behaves like a surface.
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.
More installation work
We cover this across the region. A few of the areas we work most:
What it asks of you afterwards
People walking across pavers are rarely looking at their feet, which is why a raised edge matters. More than about a quarter inch of lift is enough to catch a toe. Deal with that one quickly, especially on commercial property, where it is a liability concern along with a maintenance one.
Owners are often surprised how little a properly built paver surface needs from them. The joints are where most of the attention goes: keep them full of sand and free of leaves that would otherwise rot in place. Beyond that, keep an eye out for any area that starts to sink.
The upside of sealing is mostly cosmetic and practical: richer color, easier cleanup, a bit more hold on the joint sand. The downside is commitment. A sealed surface needs another coat every few years, and once it starts wearing unevenly it can look patchy. We will give you our honest opinion on yours before you decide.
Of everything we install for homeowners, porcelain is the newest. What it brings is density: it soaks up almost no water and resists staining better than nearly anything else. What it demands is precision, both in the base, which has to be truly even, and in the cutting.
If you are unsure which material to choose, concrete pavers are the safe default. The range of shapes and colors is the widest of anything we install, and matching them for a repair or an addition down the road is easier than with any other paver. Know going in that the color moves a little during the first year or two as they cure out.
Pick clay brick if you want a surface that still looks like the day it went in twenty years from now. Its color is the fired clay, so it stays put. You will pay more and have fewer shapes to choose from.
How this gets done badly
A finished job hides all of these. Because nobody can spot them at handover, they keep showing up on paver work.
Using the wrong sand in the bedding
Cheap, rounded sand in the bedding layer is how pavers end up drifting. Mason sand and beach sand roll under load. Bedding should be sharp, angular concrete sand.
Sealing too early
A white haze trapped under sealer usually means somebody sealed too soon. New concrete pavers need time to cure and push out their efflorescence first. Seal in the first month and that haze can be locked in for good.
Laying over the old surface
It is quick, it is cheap, and it inherits every problem underneath. If the base was the reason the old surface failed, putting a new one on top of it just hides the failure for a season.
Skipping the geotextile
When we tear out a failed paver job, a muddy base with no fabric under it is a common sight. The soil and the stone have blended into one weak layer. That is exactly what separation fabric is there to prevent, and why resetting pavers on top of that mess never holds.
Water is what ends most paver surfaces, and it rarely arrives from the sky.
Common questions
How long does the job take
A typical licensed paver contractor 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
No. Access and a working hose bib are all we need. We will keep you posted as the job goes, and if we uncover something we did not expect, you get a call that day so you can decide with us.
Will the new pavers match what I already have
You will know before we order anything. Plenty of repairs match exactly. Others come close, since concrete pavers shift color a little with sun and age and older lines get discontinued. When close is not good enough, we can move units from a less visible area onto the visible patch.
What happens to the old surface
That part is on us. The existing surface gets broken out and hauled off the property, and concrete and pavers go to recycling when there is a recycler in the area. It is covered in the scope you sign.
How do you keep it from settling again
A releveling that only lifts and resets the pavers will settle again, because whatever caused the dip is still there. Our fix starts underneath: rebuild the base in compacted layers, then sort out where the water is coming from, whether that is a downspout, a low grade or irrigation.
Do you cover Miami, FL
Miami, FL is squarely in our regular area. We work there most weeks. If you send a few photos of the job, we can usually tell you a lot before anyone even comes out.
Have somebody come look at it
Call and describe it, or send pictures. You will get a straight answer about what is wrong and what it takes to put right, including when the honest answer is that it can wait a year.
Quality you can stand on