Paver Driveway Cleaning without the part that fails later
Cleaning that lifts grime without eroding the face of the unit.
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 water table sits high across a lot of the coast, so there is less room for water to go down and more reason for it to move sideways. That is what takes the sand out from under a driveway edge.
Tree roots lift more pavers than people expect. They chase water and the base holds water, so once a root grows into that layer it keeps raising the surface above it.
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
Plenty of problems look worse than they are. One of us comes out, walks the property with you, checks the drainage, and gives you a direct answer, even if that answer is a small repair.
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
Pavers sit on top of the work that matters. First comes excavation to the right depth for your job, then a compacted aggregate base laid in lifts, then a screeded bedding layer. None of it shows, and it is the reason the surface stays flat.
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 driveway asks of the ground under it
A driveway is the only paver surface on most properties that carries a vehicle, and that changes everything under it. Passenger cars are not the design case; the design case is the delivery truck, the moving van, and the day somebody parks a loaded trailer on the apron.
The apron, where the drive meets the street, takes the worst of it. Vehicles turn there under load, which grinds and shoves the surface sideways rather than just pressing down. That is why aprons need the deepest base on the job and the most serious edge restraint.
Width matters more than people expect. A drive built to the minimum feels fine until somebody steps out of a car onto wet grass every time it rains, and the edge course starts breaking down from being driven over.
The edge restraint is the piece nobody thinks about and the reason the field holds.
Polymeric sand needs a dry patio to go into. It is designed to bind when it gets wet, which is why it resists washout better than plain sand, and also why moisture at the wrong moment ruins it. We fill the joints dry, sweep the surface fully clean, then water it in following the manufacturer’s instructions. When that sweep gets rushed, the residue bonds to the paver faces and leaves a haze.
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.
Base depth
Set by what the surface carries, not by habit. A walkway and a truck-bearing drive are not the same excavation.
Compaction
Thin layers, each one compacted before the next goes on. A thick dump with one pass of the plate leaves loose stone hiding under a firm skin.
Fall
Built into the base at roughly an eighth to a quarter inch per foot, away from the building. Too slight to see, enough to move water.
More driveway work
We cover the whole region for this. Areas we work in regularly include:
What it asks of you afterwards
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.
Keep an eye on paver edges. A lip of roughly a quarter inch is where a surface stops being uneven and starts tripping people. At home that means a stubbed toe. On a commercial property it also means a liability question, so a lifted edge there should not wait for the next maintenance round.
If the base was built right, you will spend very little time on it. An occasional sweep keeps organic material from composting in the joints, and a top-up of joint sand now and then keeps the pavers locked together. That is the list.
Concrete pavers cover the biggest share of what gets installed. They are pigmented through the body of the unit, so the sun fades them gently and evenly over time. New ones look a touch different from how they will look after a year or two, since the color settles as they cure out. Shapes and colors run wider than any other paver.
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.
Pool decks are where travertine earns its place. Bare feet notice the difference right away: in direct sun it runs cooler than concrete. Keep in mind that every unit is a little different, since it is quarried stone, and that areas exposed to oil or heavy staining should be sealed.
The shortcuts that surface two years later
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
Bedding wants sharp, angular concrete sand. Rounded mason sand or beach sand behaves like ball bearings under load and lets the pavers wander.
Sealing too early
If a newly sealed paver job looks cloudy white under the shine, it was probably sealed too early. Concrete pavers need to cure and release their efflorescence first. Sealed in the first month, that haze stays locked beneath the sealer.
Laying over the old surface
When someone asks us to pave over what they have, we look at the old surface first. If the base is why it failed, an overlay keeps that problem and puts a nicer face on it for a season. Quick and cheap, and still broken underneath.
Compaction in lifts is the difference between ten years and two.
Common questions
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
By fixing the reason it settled. That usually means correcting drainage and rebuilding the base properly, and sometimes it means dealing with a root or a downspout that is dumping water in the wrong place.
Do you work with HOAs and property managers
Yes. If your board only meets monthly, we plan the job around that meeting. Submittals and phased work that keeps residents moving are normal for us, so tell us how approvals run.
Do you cover Miami, FL
Yes. Miami is where Paverson is based, and we work across the city regularly. Reach us by phone or at info@paverson.com and we will tell you honestly how soon we could get there.
Is there a warranty
We warranty our workmanship in writing. That is the part we control, and we stand behind it. Material coverage on the pavers is the manufacturer’s, and we hand that documentation over at the end. We are also straightforward about exclusions, such as new roots or drainage conditions that change after the install.
Can you work around my pool being open
Usually. Pool deck work gets staged so you keep a safe path and the water stays covered while we cut. If there is a stretch where the pool has to be off limits we tell you which days up front.
Start with a conversation
Send a couple of photos or just call. We will tell you what we think is going on, what it would take to fix, and whether it needs doing now or can wait.
Quality you can stand on