[jjombrello]

We had pavers installed over our original concrete driveway. Have had a few crack but replaced them with some spares we had. Two friends had the same thing done but could not find replacements of the same size. Had the center removed, a nice design of a different color installed, and used any good pavers to replace others that may have been cracked. Both driveways look very nice and I would do the same if my pavers crack or are no longer available.

[Laker14]

Originally Posted by Pairadocs

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 ?

Most of your original driveway is still there, I'd bet. The think pavers were laid right over the existing concrete except at the curb.
As another poster described, in order to have the thin pavers meet flush with the curb, a bit of original concrete drive was removed. I can't remember the exact width that was removed, maybe a foot or so? I thought maybe the same process had to be done for the garage junction but that wasn't the case.
So the process was:

Pavers removed. That was done by Lawn Services LTD. (Juan Santiago proprietor). He also did some landscaping for us, and he poured concrete to replace the concrete that was removed, at the curb.

It took a month, as I recall, maybe 5 or 6 weeks, my memory is fuzzy, before the new concrete was ready for the textured paint treatment. We used DesignStar for this. The owner is Aldo Bersani. He has a FaceBook page, under DesignStar, if you want to see pictures of his finished work. We were very happy. He did some prep work on the new and old concrete and then did the textured work.

If you are interested, you should contact DesignStar and have Aldo come and look and give you an estimate on price and when he could do the work. We found that these driveway texture treatment companies were pretty busy.

Design Star | Facebook

Good Luck

[Vernon Hud]

I would guess that 99.9999 percent of the driveways in The Villages are thin pavers laid over the original concrete driveway. If you would want to check that out, the only pavers that are cemented down are usually a 8 inch ribbon on the very outer edge of the driveway or sidewalk. Then the pavers are laid in with very thin joints with absolutely no sand beneath. When I did mine, I used a shop vac to make sure nothing was on the concrete, very essential. Once all the pavers are laid, the joints are filled with a fine sand that has a mortar mixture in it. This is then wet down with a fine spray of water, and it will eventually get hard. So if you would like to check to see if you have thin pavers, you can do so by taking maybe a broken one out. These thin pavers are about 5/8 of an inch thick. I put in my own driveway with thin pavers about 10 years ago, and have only had to replace a few. Still looks very nice, but have to reseal every 3-4 yrs.

[BunnyA]

We had pavers that were discontinued and were able to incorporate a diamond shape with new ones that were similar. Seemed to work well but after several years, many more of the old bricks are breaking, so not sure how many diamonds we can put in.

[Laker14]

Originally Posted by Vernon Hud

I would guess that 99.9999 percent of the driveways in The Villages are thin pavers laid over the original concrete driveway. If you would want to check that out, the only pavers that are cemented down are usually a 8 inch ribbon on the very outer edge of the driveway or sidewalk. Then the pavers are laid in with very thin joints with absolutely no sand beneath. When I did mine, I used a shop vac to make sure nothing was on the concrete, very essential. Once all the pavers are laid, the joints are filled with a fine sand that has a mortar mixture in it. This is then wet down with a fine spray of water, and it will eventually get hard. So if you would like to check to see if you have thin pavers, you can do so by taking maybe a broken one out. These thin pavers are about 5/8 of an inch thick. I put in my own driveway with thin pavers about 10 years ago, and have only had to replace a few. Still looks very nice, but have to reseal every 3-4 yrs.

I think you mean 99.9999% of the "paver laid driveways" are "thin" pavers. Certainly not that high a percentage of all of the driveways in TV are thin pavers.
Your comment that the pavers are laid directly on the concrete without a layer of sand between concrete and paver is interesting. I believe you 100% since you actually did yours yourself. By the time we bought our place the pavers were in bad enough shape that it looked to me upon inspection of a few broken pavers that I removed, that a very thin amount of sand was used under the paver. However that sand may have just seeped under the broken paver, or may have been dirt and grime from over the years.

I can tell you that the previous owner told me that the company that installed the pavers was long gone.
The person who gave me one estimate for rehabilitating the thin paver set up warned me that since I was on a corner, heavy trucks would tend to use my driveway to turn around, and he suggested that if I were to keep the thin paver system, I have about 10 feet of concrete removed so he could set the thick pavers down for that first 10 feet. Although there were broken pavers here and there throughout the length of the driveway, the largest percentage of broken pavers was close to the curb, so his analysis made sense, although I've never seen a big truck use my driveway to turn around. But his analysis and suggestion made it easier for me to abandon the thin pavers and go another route.

I could be wrong, but I would be surprised if there are still any companies around that install thin pavers over concrete, other than a few folks who will attempt to repair old failing efforts. I suspect the number of problems, and the availability of other driveway treatments have lead to the disappearance of this technique .

[lawgolfer]

Originally Posted by 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 !

Thin pavers over concrete are fine. If there is a problem with them, it will be a result of poor installation.

When we bought our 15 year old house, there were several cracked pavers on each side of the driveway. This resulted from the pavers overhanging the edge of the concrete because the installer didn't take the time to trim the edges of the pavers flush with the edge of the concrete. The pavers then cracked from being run over by the giant riding mower used by the lawn service.

To my great fortune and surprise, the installer had left a number of pavers stacked behind the air conditioner compressor. I removed the cracked pavers, scraped the old mortar and dirt out, fit replacements, and glued them in place with waterproof construction adhesive.

There were a few cracked pavers that were not at the edges. These cracked because the installer did not apply enough mortar when installing the pavers. There should be a dab of mortar at the four corners of the paver and a fifth at the center (you apply the construction adhesive the same way). To replace those, I used a masonry blade in a circular saw to score an X in the paver and then used a chisel and hammer to break up the paver. After scraping out the old mortar and dirt, I fit a replacement and glued it in place.

Hopefully, your installer left a supply of pavers somewhere around your property. The air conditioner compressor is a good place to start. The attic is the next place to look. If you're lucky and find some extra pavers, the replacement of the cracked pavers is reasonably easy whether it is DIY or by a handyman (this is not a job requiring great skills). If the installer didn't leave you replacement pavers, you can search all the construction supply houses for replacements. This may prove frustrating as the sizes, shapes, and colors are often changed.

If you don't want pavers or can't find enough replacements that will allow you to repair the existing ones to your satisfaction, you will need to remove them and have the driveway painted. This can be a hell of a job. It can be DIY, but be prepared for a lot of hard work.

You will need a heavy-weight scraper from Home Depot, Lowe's, or Ace Hardware.These sell for $40-$60. You could also rent an electric jackhammer at HD with a scraper blade. You start at one side of the driveway and scrape and pry the pavers free from the concrete. You then sand or, more properly, grind the old mortar from the concrete. You can do this with an industrial floor sander/polisher with the proper disk, or, if you are a glutton for punishment, on your hands and knees with a hand-held angle grinder and a carborundum disk. I did this with an angle grinder at our last house in the Southwest. I was young and foolish and, likely, took years off my life.

You then have to paint the concrete. If you choose this route, I'd first contact the company which will do the painting to see if they will grind away the old mortar as they, usually, have to sand, etch, and fill any cracks with epoxy before painting.

[HORNET]

Have thinner pavers that was installed in 2011, no cracks. Seal every other year ( myself) . Depends on the installer. Laid on existing concrete driveway, no sand under, only in between pavers. To maintain, spread silica sand when sealing.only draw back is having to power wash yearly, especially before sealing.

[Laker14]

Originally Posted by HORNET

Have thinner pavers that was installed in 2011, no cracks. Seal every other year ( myself) . Depends on the installer. Laid on existing concrete driveway, no sand under, only in between pavers. To maintain, spread silica sand when sealing.only draw back is having to power wash yearly, especially before sealing.

Who did the work?