Quality you can stand on.
Paver driveways, patios, pool decks and walkways, built on a base that keeps them flat for decades.
A crew that got tired of doing it somebody else’s way
We started this company because we were tired of working for other people and wanted something we could be proud of putting our name on. Between us there is about twenty years of doing this work, and a fair amount of that was spent watching corners get cut on jobs we did not control.
Almost every paver problem we get called out to is a base problem wearing a surface disguise. The pavers themselves are fine. They are concrete or stone, and they will outlast most of us. What moves is what is underneath them.
Two inches of rain in an hour is the kind of afternoon storm we plan for, and our soil is mostly sand over limestone. Fast-draining sand handles light rain without complaint. Under that kind of downpour it reaches its limit, and the base above either holds together or begins to wash.
So we do the unglamorous part properly. Excavate to the depth the job actually needs, compact the aggregate in lifts instead of one dump and a quick pass, screed the bedding flat, and lock the perimeter down so the field cannot creep. Then the pretty part stays pretty.
Everything we do, laid out plainly
Driveways, patios, pool decks, walkways, repairs. 225 different jobs, and they are not the same job.
Driveways
The one surface that takes a vehicle every day. Base depth is the whole conversation.
All 17 in Driveways →Walkways
Level, edged, laid to drain. A quarter inch of lift is a trip waiting to happen.
All 14 in Walkways →Outdoor
Kitchens, fire pits, courtyards, lanais. Rooms without a roof, floored properly.
All 16 in Outdoor →Restoration
Cleaning and sealing that lift the grime without stripping the color out.
All 18 in Restoration →Materials
Brick, concrete, travertine, porcelain, stone. What it should be made of, and why.
All 14 in Materials →Before, and after
Two frames from the same property. The surface on the right is what happens when the base underneath gets rebuilt instead of patched.
Before
AfterWhat we are actually doing down there
Depth is decided by what the surface has to carry. A walkway that only ever sees people can sit on a shallower base than a driveway that takes a loaded pickup every day, and a commercial drive that takes delivery trucks needs more again. Anybody who quotes the same base depth for a garden path and a driveway is not measuring, they are guessing.
If you watch one part of the install, watch the base go in. Aggregate should arrive in thin layers, a few inches each, with the compactor running over every layer before more is added. A crew that dumps the whole depth and runs one pass over the top is leaving loose material underneath a firm crust. That base will look perfect and behave for about a year before patches start dropping.
If you are comparing contractors, ask them about the three layers you will never see. A paver surface has four. The pavers on top are the wearing surface. Under them sits a thin bedding course of sharp sand, screeded flat. Under that is the base of compacted crushed aggregate, the layer that does the structural work. Under that is the subgrade, your native soil. A contractor who only wants to talk about paver colors is skipping the part that holds the thing up.
If nobody talks to you about drainage, they are quoting a different job.
Irrigation is the one people overlook. A sprinkler head that hits the same few feet of paver twice a day keeps that part of the base saturated, and over time the sand underneath washes. Downspouts discharging at the edge and runoff coming off a neighboring grade do the same. The rain itself, landing on a well-jointed surface, is rarely the problem.
Getting the fall right is quiet work. It means setting the base so the finished surface drops about an eighth to a quarter inch per foot away from the building, then checking it as the job goes. Done right, nobody notices it. Done wrong, you either get standing water or water pushed back against the foundation.
Sometimes the best place for the water is straight down. A permeable paver section lets rain pass through the joints into a stone reservoir below, which helps on a tight lot where the surface has no fall to give. Other sites call for a channel drain on the low edge or a regrade of the planting bed beside the paving. Any of those costs less to build now than to add after the fact.
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
Layered, then compacted, then layered again. One load spread and run over once looks finished and leaves loose material below the crust.
What it can be made of
The material changes the price, the feel underfoot, and how it ages. We will tell you which ones actually make sense for your exposure rather than which one has the best margin.
Brick Pavers
Clay brick that keeps its color because the color is the material.
Concrete Pavers
The workhorse: the widest range of shapes, colors, and price points.
Travertine Pavers
Natural stone that stays cool underfoot and reads high-end.
Porcelain Pavers
Dense, low-absorption, and close to stain-proof.
Natural Stone Pavers
Cut stone where every unit is slightly its own thing.
Permeable Pavers
Surfaces that let stormwater through instead of shedding it to the street.
Limestone Pavers
Limestone, which is the rock most of this region is built on.
Marble Pavers
Marble where the property calls for it and the exposure allows it.
Driveway Pavers
The units that hold up under a vehicle every single day.
Patio Pavers
Units chosen for bare feet, furniture and how they sit in the sun.
Decorative Pavers
Shape, texture and color chosen to be looked at.
Large Format Pavers
Big units, which need a flatter base than anything else.
Textured Pavers
Texture for grip, and for the way the surface reads in the light.
Interlocking Pavers
Units shaped to lock together and spread the load across the field.
What actually happens, start to finish
We come look at it
Nobody can tell you much from a photo. One of us comes and walks the property with you, looks at where water collects, and gives you an honest opinion, small job or big one.
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
Ten years from now, the surface is either flat or it is not, and the base decides which. That is why we start there: digging to the right depth, compacting aggregate in lifts, and screeding the bedding layer.
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.
The failures we get called out to fix
Every one of these looks fine on the last day of the job. That is why contractors keep getting away with them.
Using the wrong sand in the bedding
Concrete sand goes in the bedding for a reason: its grains are sharp and angular, so they lock. Mason sand and beach sand are rounded and let pavers wander under load.
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
An overlay inherits everything beneath it. Settled spots and a soft base stay exactly where they were. If the base is what sank the old surface, the new layer just hides it for a season before the same failure comes back.
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.
The edge restraint is the piece nobody thinks about and the reason the field holds.
Things people ask before they call
Do I need to be home while you work
No. We need access and a water source. Most people go to work and come home to a finished section. If we hit something unexpected we call you that day, not at the end.
Will the new pavers match what I already have
Often the best match is already on your property. When a new paver will not blend, we can pull units from a less visible area, use them on the visible patch, and put the new ones where nobody looks. Otherwise matches range from exact to close, because concrete pavers shift color a bit with sun and age.
What happens to the old surface
Old surfaces come out completely before anything new is built. We haul the debris away and recycle the concrete and pavers wherever we have a recycler to take them. Nothing about removal gets billed as an add-on.
How do you keep it from settling again
The answer depends on what made it settle, which is why we look before we price it. Drainage problems get corrected and a failed base gets dug out and rebuilt, and if a root is pushing, it gets dealt with too. Then the pavers go back down on a base with a reason to stay put.
Do you work with HOAs and property managers
Regularly. We are used to submittals, board timelines, and phasing work so residents keep access. Tell us what your approval process looks like and we will work inside it.
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
Get in touch however suits you, with a call or an email with pictures attached. You will hear plainly what is wrong and what the repair involves. Some problems are better left another year, and when yours is one of them, we will tell you.
Quality you can stand on