Driveway pavers in Tallahassee, FL - a driveway built to carry your cars
Cracked or sinking driveway? We build a firm base and lay interlocking pavers that carry your cars and sit well beside your house.
- Licensed and fully insured.
- Free in-person estimates.
- Expect a reply within 1 business day.
What goes into a paver driveway in Tallahassee?
A paver driveway in Tallahassee is a surface of interlocking concrete pavers laid over a packed stone base that's built to carry the weight of cars, so it stays even under daily parking and looks finished next to your house.
Most people who call me have a concrete or asphalt drive that has cracked, sunk or crumbled at the edges, or they're building new and want something better than a plain slab. The same pavers carry foot traffic just as well, so a matching walkway to the front door is easy to add. The price turns mostly on the size of the area, how deep the base has to go, whether an old driveway has to be broken up and hauled away, and the paver you pick. The schedule turns on that same tear-out and on whether the work reaches the street, because that part has to be settled with the city first. The written estimate I give you sets out each of those for your own driveway.
How we lay driveway pavers so they carry your cars
A driveway has to carry cars, so the base under the pavers matters more than the pavers you see, and I'll go over how we build ours when I give you the estimate. On the job we mark out the area, dig down to firm ground and haul off what comes up, then put the base down in layers and pack each one before the next goes on, because a base packed all at once tends to settle later. We level a thin bed of sand over it with a straight edge, set the pavers by hand in the pattern you've chosen and fix an edge along the sides so the pavers can't creep outward. Then we run a heavy vibrating plate over the top to seat them and sweep sand into the joints. I steer people to interlocking concrete pavers anywhere a car will go, because thinner, larger slabs can flex and crack under that weight, while interlocking pavers lock together and share the load. I learned under a mason who made me relay anything that wasn't right, so we check lines and levels as we go rather than at the end.
A driveway rarely stands on its own. If yours cuts into a slope or runs along a drop, retaining wall construction holds the ground back so it doesn't push on the edge of the pavers, and if the brick steps or front walls beside the drive are worn, masonry restoration brings them back so the old work and the new sit well together.
A new paver driveway
This suits a new house, or a lot where the drive is being added or moved. We start from bare ground, so the base can be built right from the first shovel of digging.
Replacing an old concrete or asphalt drive
This suits a driveway that has cracked, sunk or broken up past the point of patching. The old surface has to come out and be hauled away first, which adds to both the cost and the time.
Widening or adding a parking pad
This suits a household that has outgrown a single-car drive or needs room to turn around. We tie the new section into what's already there so the edges hold and it reads as one driveway.
If your driveway is breaking up or a low spot holds water after rain, call (850) 391-6065 rather than waiting, since we answer calls and messages within one business day.
What happens when you call about a paver driveway in Tallahassee?
Here is how a driveway job runs with us, from the first call to the final walk, who you'll deal with at each stage and what you'll have in hand before any digging starts.
Call or send the form
Call (850) 391-6065, 6 AM to 10 PM on weekdays and 8 AM to 10 PM on weekends, or use the contact form, and we'll set a time for me to come out. A rough idea of where the driveway goes and what's there now helps.
I look it over with you
I come out myself, walk the driveway with you and explain what I see before I write anything down. You then get a written estimate in plain words covering how we'll build the base, the paver you've chosen and the full cost, so you know where you stand before you decide.
We set a start date
If you go ahead, we pick a start that suits you and take care of the permit side where one applies, including the street end with the city. Settling that early means the crew isn't waiting on paperwork once the job is under way.
We build, clean and walk it
The small crew I trained does the work alongside me, and we clean up as we go so your yard isn't left in a mess. When the paving is done, we walk the finished driveway with you before we call it done.
Get a written estimate for your paver driveway
Send the form and we'll reply within one business day to set a time. I'll come out, look the driveway over with you and leave a written estimate, free and with no obligation.
(850) 391-6065Driveway pavers in Tallahassee and the city's rule for the street end
In Tallahassee, the part of your driveway that sits in the public right-of-way, the strip along the street, counts as the driveway connection, and the city requires that piece to be built of concrete of a set strength and thickness, so the pavers stop where the right-of-way begins and concrete takes over. If a new connection is going in, the city's Growth Management Department issues the driveway connection application it requires, and we sort out that end of the job with the city early. The city's rule speaks to the street end, so for the rest of the driveway I check what your lot needs rather than guess. If the driveway means taking down a tree or works near a floodplain or stormwater area, Leon County requires an environmental management permit from its DSEM office for that kind of project. We're licensed and fully insured, and where a job calls for a permit, I'll help you find out which office handles your property and we take care of the paperwork for our part of the work.
Many of our calls here come from owners of older brick homes, and on those houses I choose a paver color and laying pattern that sits well beside the brick instead of fighting it. We're based in Tallahassee and do the same driveway work across the cities around it, including Bradfordville and Quincy, where we meet plenty of longer drives that run back from the road.
Paver driveway questions from Tallahassee homeowners
What does a paver driveway cost in Tallahassee?
A sand-based concrete paver driveway in Tallahassee usually costs about $13 to $16 per square foot, according to a local price guide, and that covers the base and the sand bed but not tearing out an old driveway. A larger drive, or one with old concrete to break up and haul off, will come in higher. The written estimate I leave you gives the figure for your own driveway.
How deep should the base be for a paver driveway?
Industry guidance puts the minimum base under a paver driveway at 6 to 8 inches, while the Tallahassee price guide figures its prices on a 4-inch base. That gap is why you should ask every installer how deep their base will be, so you're comparing quotes on equal terms. I'll tell you how deep ours will be when I go over the estimate.
How soon can I drive on a new paver driveway?
You can park on a new paver driveway as soon as the paving is done, because concrete pavers don't need time to cure the way poured concrete does. If a new concrete section is being built at the street, that piece needs its own time to cure before you drive over it.
What causes driveway pavers to sink?
Sinking usually starts underneath, in a base that was too thin or wasn't packed well, so it gives under the weight of cars over time. Water getting under loose edges and washing out the sand bed can do the same, which is why we put as much care into the edges as into the middle.
Can sunken driveway pavers be fixed without replacing them?
Yes, where the dip is shallow the pavers can be lifted, the settling underneath corrected and the same pavers laid back down, with no wasted material and no patch that shows. Deeper or wider sinking usually means a closer look at the base, and I'd want to see it before saying what it needs.
How do I keep a paver driveway clean?
Sweep and rinse it now and then, and think about having it sealed, because sealer keeps stains from soaking into the pavers so they're easier to get off. Sealer wears with traffic and weather and may need to go back on from time to time, so ask us how often to plan for it on your drive.
Related masonry work around a new driveway
When your new driveway cuts into a slope or sits above the yard, a retaining wall holds the soil back so the edge of the drive stays put.
If the brick steps, piers or house front beside the drive are worn, restoring them alongside the new pavers keeps the whole entrance looking like it belongs together.
Ask for your paver driveway estimate
Call (850) 391-6065 or send the form with your driveway's rough size in square feet, and tell us whether an old drive comes out and whether the work reaches the street, so I come out ready to price it.