Paver Design Service, from the subgrade up
We draw it, we lay it, and the person who drew it is on site.
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.
Dig down in a lot of coastal yards and you hit water sooner than you would expect. With the water table that close to the surface, rain has less room to go down and more reason to move sideways, and sideways water takes the sand out from under driveway edges.
Roots from mature trees are another cause. Moisture collects in a paver base and roots grow toward it. The result is a raised, uneven patch above wherever they spread.
None of this is visible in a finished photo, which is why the cheap version and the right version look identical on day one. They stop looking identical around year two.
How we run this job
We come look at it
Somebody who actually does the work comes out and walks it with you. They look at the problem, look at the drainage around it, and tell you what they see. Small fixes get called small fixes.
You get the plan in writing
Everything in writing up front: what we are doing, what it is made of, how long it takes, and what it costs. Nothing changes without you signing off on it.
We build the base first
The base comes first and gets most of our attention. Excavation goes as deep as the load requires. Aggregate is compacted layer by layer, then the bedding is screeded flat. You will not see any of it once the pavers are in.
Pavers go down and get cut in
The field goes down to the pattern, edge cuts happen on site, and the perimeter gets a restraint so nothing creeps.
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
The difference between a base that holds and one that sinks often comes down to a bit of extra time. Building it in lifts means spreading aggregate a few inches at a time and compacting each layer fully. Skipping that saves time on the day and costs the owner later, when a crust that was compacted only at the top lets the loose stone under it settle. You cannot see which method was used once the pavers are down.
Most of the work on a paver job is buried by the end of it. You see the pavers. You do not see the compacted crushed aggregate base under them, which is the part carrying the load, or the screeded layer of sharp sand they sit in, or the subgrade at the bottom, which is just whatever soil the property came with. The pavers spread weight and take the wear. Holding the surface up is the base’s job, and that is where we spend our time.
We work out depth by asking about the traffic. Mostly we want to know what parks on it and whether a truck ever backs onto it. A walkway carrying people gets a shallower base. A driveway with a loaded pickup on it daily gets more, and a commercial drive with deliveries gets more again. That number comes from your property, so it changes from job to job. When it never changes, it was a guess.
Water is what ends most paver surfaces, and it rarely arrives from the sky.
Water is the thing that ends most paver surfaces, and it almost never arrives from where people expect. It is rarely the rain landing on the pavers, because a properly jointed field sheds most of that. It is the downspout discharging at the edge, the irrigation head spraying the same spot twice a day, or the neighboring grade sending runoff across the corner.
Ask whoever is pricing your job what fall they are building in. The answer should be around an eighth to a quarter inch per foot, away from the building. That is enough for water to leave the surface and gentle enough that it feels flat underfoot. Flat surfaces puddle, and surfaces graded the wrong way push water at the foundation.
On a flat commercial lot, a channel drain across the low edge is often the cleanest answer. It catches sheet flow before it reaches a doorway or a parking stall. Where there is no fall to send water anywhere, a permeable section can let it soak through into a stone reservoir underneath, and sometimes the right move is regrading the planting bed alongside. We decide that during design, while it is still easy.
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.
Fall
About an eighth to a quarter inch of drop per foot, heading away from the building. You will never feel it. The water will.
More installation work
This service runs across our whole region. Some of the areas where we do the most of it:
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.
On a commercial property, a lifted paver is a liability item before it is a repair item. An edge that rises more than about a quarter inch above the surface around it is enough to catch a toe, so it deserves a quick response rather than a spot on next year’s list.
Concrete pavers are the workhorse and cover most of what gets installed. Widest range of shapes and colors, most predictable to lay, and the easiest to match later. Color is pigment through the unit, so it fades gently with sun rather than wearing off, though it does shift over the first year or two as it cures out.
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.
Around a pool, people want to walk barefoot at two in the afternoon, and travertine is the paver that lets them. It holds noticeably less heat than concrete in full sun. Being natural stone, each piece varies a bit in tone and veining, and if it sits near a grill or anywhere oil lands, plan on sealing it.
What we see when somebody else did it
Nothing on this list shows when the work is new. Each one waits a while before it surfaces, which is how it keeps getting repeated.
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
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
Give new concrete pavers time before sealing. They have to cure and let efflorescence work its way out. Sealing during the first month risks catching that white bloom under the sealer, where it stays for good.
Laying over the old surface
Whatever made the old surface fail is still down there when you pave over it. If the base was the problem, a new layer on top only covers the failure for a season, and then it shows through again.
The edge restraint is the piece nobody thinks about and the reason the field holds.
Common questions
Do I need to be home while you work
You can go to work as usual. We need to be able to reach the work area and use your water. If anything changes the plan, like what we find once the old surface is up, we call you that day.
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
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
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 work with HOAs and property managers
Regularly. We phase the work so residents can still reach their doors and parking while each section is rebuilt, and we fit into whatever approval process your board runs.
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 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