Paver work across Palm Beach County
Estate drives, club properties, and long approaches where the pattern has to hold a line for a hundred feet.
What this county does to a paver base
Estate drives, club properties, and long approaches where the pattern has to hold a line for a hundred feet.
Summer rain in South Florida tends to show up all at once, and it lands on sandy ground that shifts when water runs through it. That combination puts more pressure on a paver base than a drier climate ever would. A base that would pass up north gets tested here every year.
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.
Old trees cause plenty of it too. Their roots go wherever there is water, and since the base under pavers holds water, the roots move in and slowly jack the surface upward.
What we are actually doing down there
The same paver can go on a garden path or a delivery drive. What changes is everything under it. People on foot put very little load on a base, so a walkway can sit shallow. A driveway with a loaded pickup on it every day needs more depth, and a commercial drive that takes delivery trucks needs the most. Picking the paver is the easy decision. Sizing the base is the one that gets measured.
The base is a stack of thin layers, each one compacted on its own. That is what building in lifts means. The shortcut is to spread all the aggregate in one go and compact the surface, which leaves a firm top over material that never got pressed down. For a while you cannot tell the difference. Then, about a year in, the surface starts settling in uneven spots.
A field of loose pavers only works because of what is under it. The pavers spread a load out sideways. The bedding course, a thin layer of sharp sand screeded perfectly flat, gives each one an even seat. Below that the compacted crushed aggregate base takes the weight and passes it down over a wider area, so the subgrade, your own soil, never feels the full point load of a tire. Take out the base and the pavers are just a pile of blocks.
If nobody talks to you about drainage, they are quoting a different job.
We think about where water will run before we think about pattern or color. Every paver surface needs a gentle fall, roughly an eighth to a quarter inch per foot, pointed away from the house or building. It is subtle enough to go unnoticed and steep enough to work. A flat or backward pitch shows up in the first heavy rain.
A tight commercial lot with no fall available is a drainage problem before it is a paving problem. The surface can shed water, but something has to receive it. Our usual choices are a channel drain at the low edge, a permeable section that passes water through to a stone reservoir, or a regrade of the adjacent planting bed. We pick one while the site is open, because retrofitting any of them costs more.
Most of the damage we see comes from water that was aimed at the pavers by accident. The downspout that dumps at the edge is the classic one. Irrigation is close behind, since a head spraying one spot twice a day keeps the base wet all year. A neighbor’s grade can do it too. Rain landing on the surface is rarely the culprit.
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
Firm from top to bottom, which takes lifts. Aggregate goes down a layer at a time and each layer is compacted. A single dump gets a crust and little else.
Where we work in Palm Beach County
Each of these has its own page with what we see locally.
Choosing material for this part of the state
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.
Clay brick keeps its color essentially forever because the color is the fired clay itself. It costs more, comes in fewer shapes, and it is the right answer when you want a surface that looks the same in twenty years.
Concrete in the midday sun can get uncomfortable on bare feet. Travertine stays noticeably cooler, which is the main reason it is the paver people ask for around pools. The tradeoffs are that natural stone varies from piece to piece and that it should be sealed anywhere it is likely to get oil or heavy staining.
A lifted edge is the one problem worth fixing the week you notice it. Past about a quarter inch it becomes a trip hazard. Catching it early usually means resetting a few pavers. On a commercial property, waiting also means carrying a liability question until it is done.
The main job is the joints. When the sand drops below the edge of the pavers, add more. When leaves collect in them, sweep them out before they rot and start growing weeds. A properly built surface really does not need much beyond that.
Whether to seal is your call. A good sealer brings the color up a shade and makes an oil drip or a spill easier to clean off. The tradeoff is upkeep, since it wears and has to be reapplied every few years, and the wrong product can leave a plastic shine or trap moisture underneath. We will tell you which way we would go on yours.
Palm Beach County on the map
Where these jobs go wrong
These are the mistakes you cannot catch by looking at a fresh install. That is exactly what keeps them in circulation.
Sealing too early
Everybody wants the new pavers sealed right away. That is the mistake. Concrete pavers need to cure and clear their efflorescence first, and sealing in the first month 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.
Skipping the geotextile
Fabric between the ground and the base is a small step that keeps the base doing its job. Sandy soil especially wants to wash up into the stone layer above it. When it does, the base loses its strength and you get low spots that come back no matter how often they are reset.
Using the wrong sand in the bedding
The grains matter. Sharp, angular concrete sand interlocks and holds a paver’s position. Rounded sand, such as mason or beach sand, keeps shifting under weight and lets the pavers wander.
Compaction in lifts is the difference between ten years and two.
Common questions
How long does the job take
A typical paver work 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. Many of our customers come home to a finished section after work. Just make sure we can reach the area and have a water source. Surprises get a same-day call.
Will the new pavers match what I already have
What matters most is where the repair sits. In a back corner, a close match is usually fine. By the front door it needs to be better, and if the line is discontinued we can borrow pavers from a less visible part of the surface for that spot. Either way you see the options before we order.
What happens to the old surface
We take it out and take it away. Old concrete and pavers get recycled where a facility is available, and hauling is built into the scope from the start, so there is no surprise charge at the end.
How do you keep it from settling again
Settling is a symptom. The cause is almost always water or a weak base, and occasionally a tree root. We correct whichever one it is, rebuild the base where it failed, and then relay the pavers, so the spot has no reason to drop again.
Do you cover Palm Beach County
Yes. Palm Beach County is inside our regular working area and we are out that way most weeks. Call and we will tell you honestly when we could get to you.
Have somebody come look at it
The quickest route to a straight answer is a visit. One of us comes out, walks it with you, watches where water heads, and writes it all down for you to keep.
Quality you can stand on