Our shop is here in Clearwater

Sandy ground decides how a driveway holds up

Clearwater sits on sand. Dig down a little almost anywhere in the city, from Druid Road up to Countryside, and you hit loose, fine sand. It shifts when water moves through it. That matters more than the paver you pick. A driveway is only as flat as the base under it, and a base laid on loose sand starts to sink where the tires roll.

The summer storms make it worse. A heavy afternoon rain drops a lot of water fast, and on a flat lot it has nowhere to go but through the joints. It carries the joint sand out with it. Once the joints empty, the pavers start to rock and the edges creep outward. Then you see low spots that hold puddles long after the rain stops.

So on a Clearwater job the digging comes first. We excavate and grade the area and work out where the water will run before anything gets built. Then the base goes in and gets compacted, and the pavers go down on top of it. The edges get held in place so the field cannot spread. Last, the joints get filled and the surface gets sealed, which helps keep that sand where it belongs.

• Site assessment before any digging starts
• Excavation and grading so water runs off
• Compacted base under every driveway and patio
• Joints filled, then the pavers sealed
• Pressure washing for older paver surfaces

Homes near the water need more sealing

The west side of Clearwater is a different job from the inland streets. On Clearwater Beach and the canal lots of Island Estates, pavers sit in salt air every day. The sun off the Gulf is strong for most of the year too. Unsealed pavers slowly lose their color in that sun. Salt that dries on the surface also leaves a dull film that a garden hose will not lift.

Around a pool, the problems add up faster. Pool water splashes onto the deck all summer, and the part of the deck in shade stays damp. Green and black growth moves into the joints there and spreads across the surface. That growth is slippery under bare feet, which is the last thing you want next to a pool. It also stains the pavers if it sits long enough.

For a pool deck or patio near the water, we pressure wash the surface first to take off the salt and growth. Once it dries, we seal it. Sealer helps the color hold up in the sun and makes the next wash easier. One customer wrote after we sealed their pool deck: "They did an awesome job sealing our pool deck! It looks fantastic." When an old deck is past saving, we install a new one, including travertine.

Old concrete driveways crack under big oaks

A lot of Clearwater's housing is older, especially in the established neighborhoods close to downtown. Many of those houses sit under big live oaks and still have their original poured concrete driveway. By now that slab has usually cracked, often where a root pushed up from below, and one side sits lower than the other. Patching the crack does not stop the slab from moving, so the crack comes back.

Swapping an old slab for pavers makes sense on these lots. The old concrete comes out, the ground gets graded, and a new base goes in. If a root lifts a section years later, those pavers can be pulled up and the base fixed. Then the same pavers go back down, so you never end up with a patch that does not match. A poured slab gives you no way to do that.

Older houses in Clearwater come in a lot of styles, so the layout is worth planning with care. We design the driveway or walkway with you and help pick colors and patterns that suit the house. That can mean a curved walkway that bends around a tree you want to keep, or a circular driveway. One customer wrote that their circular driveway's paver design "complements the architectural style of our home."

Getting a price in Clearwater

Call us at (813) 330-4403 or ask for an estimate online, and tell us what you want done and about how big the area is. Our shop is on Druid Road in Clearwater, and we can come out to look at the site before we price it. You get a written estimate before any work starts. We keep hours Monday to Friday from 5:00 AM to 10:00 PM, and Saturday and Sunday from 6:00 AM to 9:00 PM.