[Pairadocs]

What options exist for a paver drive that is relatively good condition, but has deteriorated in places along edge, and has half a dozen pavers with cracks ? Must all pavers be removed and brand new concrete drive be poured ? In general, over the years we've noticed the plain concrete work in this area of Fl does not seem to be high quality...perhaps since the temp extremes are not as great as in the northern states, high quality is not a priority ? Does any know of, had any experience with any kind of topping, or overlay that can be done over a paver drive if in decent condition ? Not talking about just another expensive "sealing", looking for a more permanent solution if one exists. I am guessing the expense of first having an entire paver drive and walks removed, hauled away, and then contracting for a new, poured, drive is prohibitively expensive ? Looking for ideas and ball park costs for a "standard" 2 car drive about 24' and a few feet to walk to front door. If you've replaced, or resurfaced your in some way, very interested in your experience, costs, satisfaction, etc. Thanks so much !

[Two Bills]

Pavers are normally laid on sand, and are quite easy to replace for repair purposes.
If you know what you are doing!

[Laker14]

There are two types of pavers in TV. Thin pavers that are not really made for driving on, have been used often. They don't hold up very well. The advantage of thin pavers is that one can lay them on a thin layer of sand without removing the existing driveway. The disadvantage is that they crack a lot.
The proper way to use pavers for a driveway is to remove the concrete, and then use thicker pavers. Obviously much more of a job to do, and more expensive.
Our pre-owned home, which we bought in February of '21, had the thin pavers, over concrete. About 20% of them were broken. I got an estimate for having it rehabilitated, but it was costly enough that we decided to have the pavers taken out and had a "textured paint" treatment instead.
If you have the thin pavers, and you decide to keep them but replace the broken ones, you can find people to do that. You, most likely, will have a continuing maintenance issue with them, but everything requires some maintenance. BTW, when we looked into having ours done that way, the original pavers could not be replace with identical colors, so there was going to have to be some artistic work done to harvest some unbroken ones, and use new ones strategically, to make some design in the middle. I'm sure it could have been done, but it did add another layer of complexity to the job.

[Michael G.]

Originally Posted by Two Bills

Pavers are normally laid on sand, and are quite easy to replace for repair purposes.
If you know what you are doing!

But if replacing with new pavers, will the color match the original ones?

[Nucky]

When it rains and the rain goes between the pavers eventually the pavers become unstable or uneven. It is better to concrete the driveway if you want no future maintenance as you age. I don't know if Florida has Stone Dust at their quarries but if you use that for the base then pavers will NEVER move if it's compacted properly. Sand is not so great. I'm sure people have had success using sand but it's still not so good in my professional opinion.

Repairing the pavers may or may not meet your expectations. Good Luck.

[Tvflguy]

We have thin pavers on our driveway and entry, over original cement. Been installed 8 years. Over those years I’ve replaced 2 due to hairline crack. I would guess that if they are installed properly no issues, at least for us….

[Nucky]

Originally Posted by Tvflguy

We have thin pavers on our driveway and entry, over original cement. Been installed 8 years. Over those years I’ve replaced 2 due to hairline crack. I would guess that if they are installed properly no issues, at least for us….

That is fantastic that the contractor used concrete as a base. That is the ultimate primo way to go but the cost to do so on a paver job just about doubles. You are very fortunate. I like it.

[Tvflguy]

Originally Posted by Nucky

That is fantastic that the contractor used concrete as a base. That is the ultimate primo way to go but the cost to do so on a paver job just about doubles. You are very fortunate. I like it.

What? Cost doubles…why? Sure didn’t here. They only cut about 4’ of the driveway so the pavers met the curbing height. No other base-work at all. That said much less labor to lay directly onto the cement.

[Nucky]

Originally Posted by Tvflguy

What? Cost doubles…why? Sure didn’t hear. They only cut about 4’ of the driveway so the pavers met the curbing height. No other base-work at all. That said much less labor to lay directly onto the cement.

If it was a project where a contractor used concrete as his base instead of sand the total cost of the job would be close to double. I envisioned an entire driveway or sidewalk being done. You still got the best job with concrete.

Less labor for pavers into cement or concrete? Cement is an ingredient in concrete.

If you are happy that's all that counts.

[Stu from NYC]

Makes me very happy the original owner of our house used regular concrete with a very nice design so all we have to do is seal every couple of years

[Pairadocs]

Originally Posted by Laker14

There are two types of pavers in TV. Thin pavers that are not really made for driving on, have been used often. They don't hold up very well. The advantage of thin pavers is that one can lay them on a thin layer of sand without removing the existing driveway. The disadvantage is that they crack a lot.
The proper way to use pavers for a driveway is to remove the concrete, and then use thicker pavers. Obviously much more of a job to do, and more expensive.
Our pre-owned home, which we bought in February of '21, had the thin pavers, over concrete. About 20% of them were broken. I got an estimate for having it rehabilitated, but it was costly enough that we decided to have the pavers taken out and had a "textured paint" treatment instead.
If you have the thin pavers, and you decide to keep them but replace the broken ones, you can find people to do that. You, most likely, will have a continuing maintenance issue with them, but everything requires some maintenance. BTW, when we looked into having ours done that way, the original pavers could not be replace with identical colors, so there was going to have to be some artistic work done to harvest some unbroken ones, and use new ones strategically, to make some design in the middle. I'm sure it could have been done, but it did add another layer of complexity to the job.

Thank you SO MUCH for your detailed answer. Right on target, the "pavers" here are nothing like the "pavers" we had at a former home, which were more what most of us would call "bricks". Ours here are much different, they are very porous, thin like "slices" of "brick", exactly as you described. I you could share, would very much like to know exactly what you had done for your remedy ? I take it you had someone remove all the of thin pavers ? Clean up all the sand, level it, etc. etc. and pour a traditional concrete drive ? Again, thank you so much if you can give more details. Sounds as if your answer was the only one that actually proposed an alternative to the pavers (which we would like to do away with, but not sure of the alternatives, so hope to get help on here. I do know the house had a concrete drive when built, and then later had the pavers added to it. But, would like to eliminate the pavers. Are there people who will remove them for the material, or who will pay for the truck load(s) of used ones ?

[Oneiric]

We had thin pavers put in by Paradise Pavers in a herringbone pattern over concrete. When initially put in, they gave us 15-20 extra spare pavers which we keep in the garage. Zero cracks or replacements over 8 years with two cars, normal usage. We have them re-sand in-between and re-seal every 3 years.

[meachemjs]

We had same problem. Yes you can have damaged pavers replaced if you can find them. But I you have loose pavers that are fine, they are very easily damaged. We had Paradise Pavers put in our medallion and take those pavers out and use them to replace old broken ones. We had about 100! They also fixed all loose ones then cleaned and sealed the whole driveway. It made a huge difference in the existing ones and looks great! We have 2 car garage plus gol cart and up to front door, Very pleased. Cost: $2500

QUOTE=Pairadocs;2152633]What options exist for a paver drive that is relatively good condition, but has deteriorated in places along edge, and has half a dozen pavers with cracks ? Must all pavers be removed and brand new concrete drive be poured ? In general, over the years we've noticed the plain concrete work in this area of Fl does not seem to be high quality...perhaps since the temp extremes are not as great as in the northern states, high quality is not a priority ? Does any know of, had any experience with any kind of topping, or overlay that can be done over a paver drive if in decent condition ? Not talking about just another expensive "sealing", looking for a more permanent solution if one exists. I am guessing the expense of first having an entire paver drive and walks removed, hauled away, and then contracting for a new, poured, drive is prohibitively expensive ? Looking for ideas and ball park costs for a "standard" 2 car drive about 24' and a few feet to walk to front door. If you've replaced, or resurfaced your in some way, very interested in your experience, costs, satisfaction, etc. Thanks so much ![/QUOTE]

[Bridget Staunton]

Good luck, my friends thin pavers cracked

[Villages Kahuna]

There is excellent information in the answers to this post. After 15 years we had used all the “spares” provided in the original installation of thin pavers, and probably a dozen more were cracked. The original colors were not available, but I had not yet begun to make calls on what to do. I had no idea that there were thick and thin pavers, and the certainty that over time the thin ones I had installed would crack.

The answers to this post provides excellent—although probably expensive—information. I suppose the only way to look at the problem is, if you didn’t have the original concrete driveway broken up, removed and replaced with thick pavers on a sand base, you’d be left just amortizing the original cost of the thin pavers and deciding how much you’d have to spend to “re-do” your driveway.