Every paver driveway starts with the base

Most of the job is under the pavers

Before the first paver goes down, we dig out the old driveway and the soil under it. Then we grade the ground so rainwater runs toward the street and away from the garage and the front door. A base of crushed rock goes in next, in thin layers, and each layer is compacted before the next one goes on. The pavers you see are the thinnest part of the whole job.

On a finished driveway the pavers sit flat and tight, with joints that line up from the street to the garage. A layer of bedding sand goes between the base and the pavers so each one beds in evenly. Once the pavers are laid, an edge restraint goes along the sides so the outer rows cannot creep out into the lawn. Without it, the edges spread. Then joint sand is swept in, and a plate compactor runs over the whole surface to lock it together.

Pattern and color get picked before any digging starts. The pattern decides how many pavers get cut at the edges. Curves take the most planning. Charlie Robb has a circular driveway. He wrote: "Citrus Pavers did an excellent job on our circular driveway, incorporating a beautiful paver design that complements the architectural style of our home." That fit starts at the consultation. The design gets matched to the house before the old driveway comes out.

• Design and color picked at the consultation
• Old driveway and soil under it dug out
• Ground graded so rain drains away
• Crushed rock base compacted in thin layers
• Joint sand swept in and compacted

Sandy soil and summer rain move pavers

Pinellas County sits on sand, and near the bays and the Gulf the water table is close to the surface. Summer storms drop heavy rain in a short window, and that water has to go somewhere. If the ground under a driveway stays wet, the base softens and the pavers start to settle. That is why the grade comes first and gets checked before any rock goes in.

When the base is too thin or was never compacted, the first sign is a dip where the tires roll every day. Water collects in that dip after a storm and soaks down through the joints, which softens the base even more. The dip spreads, and the pavers around it start to rock when you step on them. Lifting the pavers and relaying them on the same weak base only buys a little time. A proper fix takes the base out and builds it again.

Rain works on the joints too. A hard storm can wash sand out from between the pavers, and empty joints give the pavers room to shift. Weeds and ants move in next. Pressure washing a paver driveway also blows sand out, so fresh joint sand has to be swept back in after a wash. We offer pressure washing and paver sealing, and a sealer helps that new joint sand stay put.

Many Clearwater driveways are old cracked concrete

Many houses around Clearwater and Largo are concrete block ranch homes with stucco walls and a poured concrete driveway out front. After many years, that slab is often cracked and pushed up in spots by tree roots. Pavers should not go on top of cracked concrete, because the cracks keep moving and the pavers move with them. So the old slab gets broken out and removed, and the dig starts from the soil underneath.

Tree roots are the next thing we look for. Live oaks are common in older Pinellas neighborhoods, and their roots spread wide and run close to the surface. A root growing under a new driveway will push the base up over time, no matter how well it was compacted. We also do tree service, so a root problem can be planned for at the site assessment instead of being found later.

A driveway also has to meet two things that do not move: the garage floor and the street. The pavers at the garage finish just below the slab, so rain does not run inside. At the street end they meet the road without a lip that catches tires. On many older homes the garage floor sits only a little higher than the yard, which leaves little room for slope. Getting that slope right is the main reason we grade before anything else.

Driveway pavers have to carry car weight

Cars put far more weight on pavers than people walking do. A car turns its wheels in the same spot every morning, and a truck or boat trailer presses hard on the edges. Driveway pavers are thicker than the ones made for a patio, and the base under them goes deeper. Putting patio pavers on a driveway saves a little at the start, and then they crack where the tires turn.

The laying pattern matters for the same reason. In a herringbone pattern the pavers sit at angles and lock into each other, so a turning tire pushes on several at once. Straight rows running the same way the cars drive can creep apart when tires turn on them. At the consultation we go over patterns that hold up under cars, then you pick a color and a border that suit the house.

Most paver driveways get a border, a single row of full pavers along the outside edge. It frames the pattern, and it lets the cut pieces sit inside the border where whole pavers hold them in place. Small cuts right at the edge tend to break loose. Enio Labrada's review is about his new driveway. "Citrus Pavers did an amazing job installing my driveway. The work came out absolutely beautiful and the attention to detail really shows."