Paver driveway installation, Peninsula & South Bay

About $30 to $37 per square foot all-in, with the middle of our completed driveways near $34. All-in means the paved surface plus the demolition, excavation and drainage a driveway replacement actually needs. The paver field on its own runs about $21 to $30 per square foot. Our project minimum is $25,000.

Because breaking out and hauling away the old driveway, excavating to grade and building the drainage are real costs that have nothing to do with how many pavers you buy. On our San Carlos project the pavers were $21,000 to $23,500 and demolition, excavation and site prep were a separate $14,000 to $16,000. A quote that gives you only a per-square-foot paver number is not telling you what the project costs.

Area and simplicity. Mobilizing the crew, staging material, excavating and finishing cost roughly the same whether the surface is 250 square feet or 2,500, so a large driveway spreads those fixed costs much further. A driveway is also usually one pattern with one border, where a small patio can be mostly cuts and edges. Across our published projects a 242 square foot patio ran $47 to $56 per square foot and a 3,800 square foot driveway field ran $21 to $25.

CMHA specifies a minimum compacted aggregate base of 4 inches under pedestrian areas, 6 inches under residential driveways, and 8 inches under streets, parking and heavy loads. Those are minimums over well-drained soils. Clay, fill, a high water table or a failed existing base can all mean more excavation, more base or stabilization, which is why the depth belongs in your proposal rather than in a brochure.

CMHA specifies a minimum of 98% of standard Proctor density, ASTM D698, under residential driveways, and 98% of modified Proctor, ASTM D1557 or AASHTO T180, under heavier vehicular areas. Base is spread and compacted in 4 to 6 inch lifts. A percentage quoted without the Proctor standard beside it does not mean anything, because 95% modified is a denser base than 98% standard.

Yes, when the paver is rated by its manufacturer for vehicular use and the base is built for the load. Thickness and the vehicular-use rating are the first two questions on a driveway, and they are the ones most often skipped when a patio product gets specified onto a drive. An RV pad or a drive that doubles as parking is the 8-inch case, not the 6-inch one.

Usually not, for a driveway. Overlay systems exist and can work on pedestrian surfaces, but under vehicle loads the old slab becomes the base, and if it is cracked, moving or badly drained the new surface inherits every one of those problems. Added height at the garage door and the street apron is the other common blocker. On most driveways the concrete comes out.

It depends on the city and the scope. The apron between the sidewalk and the street usually sits in the public right of way, and rebuilding it can require an encroachment permit, a specified material or an inspection. Drainage changes and any work affecting the sidewalk can also trigger review. We confirm what applies with your city before the design is finalized, and permits are itemized rather than folded into the field rate.

It depends on demolition, the area, access, drainage and materials. For scale, our San Carlos project put the crew on site for about nine working days of active install, and that covered a 782 square foot driveway and walkway plus turf, planting, drainage and lighting across the whole property. We set the completion date in writing once the scope, selections and any permits are confirmed.

No, not for most of it. Demolition debris leaves and roughly 40 to 60 tons of aggregate and pavers arrive, and the surface is out of service while the base is built and the field is laid and compacted. We agree where you will park and how material gets staged before mobilization rather than working it out on day one.

They can, and the cause is almost always the base or the drainage rather than the pavers. A base built to the wrong depth for the soil, compacted in one thick lift instead of proper lifts, or left to sit in water will move, and the surface moves with it. That is why this page spends more space on what is under the pavers than on what they look like. Individual units can also chip or crack, and a paver can usually be lifted and replaced where a concrete slab has to be patched.

Sometimes, and occasionally a city will ask for them. A permeable system stores and infiltrates runoff through an open-graded reservoir base rather than shedding it to a drain. It is a different assembly with a different base, different joint material and real ongoing vacuum maintenance, and it only works where the soil infiltrates and the design allows it. It is a considered choice for a stormwater problem, not an upgrade.

Not always. It depends on the product, the exposure, the appearance you want and the manufacturer’s instructions. Sealing can help with oil staining on a driveway specifically, which is a fair reason to consider it, but it is not universally required and it is not permanent. Joint material needs checking and topping up from time to time either way.

$25,000. A front-yard driveway replacement is often a straightforward remove-and-replace, which is the value end of paver work, and it is usually built together with the planting, drainage, lighting or wall work it connects to.