Free written scope consultation - allowances, timeline, and change-order rules on paper before a single trade is scheduled
Unilock Driveway & Pavers: The Sacramento Owner’s Guide
Unilock paver driveway installation in Sacramento typically runs $7,000 – $18,000 for a full project, and paver repairs on existing Unilock surfaces usually fall between $400 and $2,500 depending on the section size and what’s underneath. We stock common Unilock pavers on the truck and can match most current product lines within a few days when a special order is needed. Most Sacramento homeowners discover a problem the same way: a paver shifts underfoot near the garage apron, a low spot pools water after a February rain, or the sand joint starts washing out between stones. Sometimes it’s a single cracked paver from a dropped tool or a delivery truck that cut the corner too tight. Often it’s the base, not the paver itself, that’s giving out.
Bradford Remodeling Co Sacramento is an independent contractor. We install and repair Unilock products, but we are not affiliated with Unilock. What that means for you: we’ll tell you straight what’s a paver problem, what’s a base problem, and what’s a drainage problem before anyone picks up a shovel.
Which Unilock Models This Applies To
Unilock sells through three main product families relevant to Sacramento driveways and pavers: the EnduraColor™ architectural line (including Courtstone, Brussels Block, and Richcliff), the Series™ line (Modular, Promenade, and Il Campo), and the Town Hall® and Hollandstone classics. Each line uses different dimensions, thicknesses, and surface textures, so matching an existing Unilock driveway means more than “close enough gray.”
Here’s the compatibility gotcha most homeowners don’t know: Unilock changes the mold dimensions between production runs, and older pavers can be off by up to 1/16 inch from current stock. On a small repair that’s usually fine. On a large driveway replacement where new sections have to tie into old ones, that 1/16 inch becomes a visible seam if the installer isn’t paying attention. We measure the existing paver with a caliper before ordering replacements, not after the old section is pulled. If your Unilock paver predates 2015, it’s a coin flip whether current stock matches exactly. That changes the scope, and you should know it before we give you a price.
Identifying what you have: flip over a loose paver. Unilock stampes the series name on the back or bottom edge about 80% of the time. Thickness matters too – driveway pavers are 60mm or 80mm; patio pavers are often 50mm or thinner. If someone installed 50mm pavers on a driveway, that’s the reason they’re cracking under vehicle weight.
For replacements, we stock OEM Unilock pavers in the common Sacramento color runs, especially the greys and tans that dominate Folsom, Arden-Arcade, and Elk Grove driveways. Quality aftermarket equivalents can work for big jobs where the entire surface is being replaced and matching isn’t the issue. For patch repairs on a driveway less than 10 years old, we recommend OEM Unilock pavers so the repair doesn’t announce itself from the street.
We also handle the surrounding hardscape pieces from other manufacturers on the same job, including KraftMaid for outdoor kitchens that tie into the patio, Cambria or Silestone surfaces on a built-in grill, and Belgard products when a project mixes paver systems. That keeps the scope readable and the sourcing simple.
Styles & brands we work with
Signs Your Unilock Driveway & Pavers Is Failing
- Low spots that hold water for more than a day after rain. This is almost never about the paver itself. A low spot means the aggregate base under that section has settled or washed out, usually from poor compaction or a drainage path cutting through. Sacramento’s clay soil expands and contracts through wet and dry seasons, which punishes undersized base material hard.
- A paver that rocks or clicks when you step on it. That click is the paver pivoting in the bedding sand. Left alone, the edges chip, the joint opens up, and water gets under the section. It’s a ten-minute fix early and a panel replacement if ignored through a full winter.
- Sand missing from the joints, especially on a slope. Sacramento’s dry-season wind and occasional heavy rain both strip joint sand. Once joints are empty, pavers shift. Re-sanding is routine maintenance on Unilock driveways, and the product used matters – polymeric sand mostly stays put, playground sand mostly washes out.
- Rust-colored streaks running down from the garage apron or a planter edge. That stain usually means a steel edge restraint is corroding, or water with iron in it is flowing across the surface. The paver is fine. The edge restraint is not. In the Sacramento valley, irrigation overspray on steel edging speeds this up predictably.
- Hairline cracks running through multiple pavers in a line. A single cracked paver is usually impact damage. A line of cracked pavers, especially running diagonal across the driveway from the garage door, usually means the base is moving underneath, and the pavers are failing in tension. That’s a base repair job, not a paver swap.
See the difference
Before
After
Before
After
Before
AfterReplacement Cost & What’s Included
A full Unilock paver driveway installation in Sacramento runs $7,000 – $18,000. A driveway replacement, where the old surface is removed and the base is rebuilt before new pavers go in, lands between $5,000 and $14,000. Spot repairs on failing sections, where we pull a panel of pavers, repair the base, and reset the stones, typically run $400 – $1,200, with larger repairs reaching $2,500 when drainage corrections are involved.
What drives the spread on a new Unilock driveway: total square footage, how much base material has to be hauled in, whether the existing base can be reused or has to be excavated, paver thickness and series, edge restraint, and any drainage work like channel drains or re-grading. Every bid we give in Sacramento states the paver cost, the base and bedding material cost, the labor, and the disposal separately. You’ll never see a one-line total with no breakdown on a Bradford estimate.
Here’s the straight answer on scope: a driveway that “just needs new pavers” but has a failing base is not a paver replacement job. The base is what holds the driveway flat. We’ll put that in writing before work starts because a paver set on a bad base is a callback, and callbacks are exactly what our 365-Day Done Right Promise is built to eliminate. If we install it and it fails inside a year, we come back and correct it at no charge. That’s not marketing. It’s in the written guarantee you get at the end of the job.
DIY or Call Us?
You can safely handle routine paver maintenance yourself: re-sanding joints with polymeric sand, lifting a single loose paver to check what’s beneath it, cleaning surface stains. What goes wrong for DIY Unilock repairs is the base. If multiple pavers have shifted, if there’s a low spot, or if cracking runs in a line, the problem is under the stones, and fixing that requires excavating, re-compacting, and re-setting the section. Do it wrong and you’ll have the same failure in eight months, only now you’ve spent a weekend and a few hundred dollars to get there.
We’ve also fixed driveways where a well-intentioned owner used the wrong paver thickness or a non Unilock equivalent that stood out like a bad patch. Matching Unilock pavers is detail work. If you’re not sure what you have, call us and describe what you’re seeing before you order anything. The phone number is (279) 226-1509. A live person answers. If you want, we’ll come look and tell you whether it’s a Sunday-afternoon job for you or a half-day job for us, no charge for the opinion.
FAQs
A properly installed Unilock driveway in Sacramento lasts 25 to 40 years on top of a base that can go longer, but the driveway’s real lifespan depends on the base work, not the pavers. The pavers themselves carry a lifetime warranty from Unilock against manufacturing defects. What fails over time in our climate is the base and the edge restraint, because Sacramento’s clay soil expands and contracts through drought and rain cycles. If the base was cut thin or compacted poorly, the driveway will start showing problems in 8 to 12 years. If it was done right, you’ll re-sand the joints a few times and that’s about it. Call (279) 226-1509 if you want a straight answer on whether your driveway’s base is sound.
Yes, most Unilock driveway failures in Sacramento are sectional, not total. We pull the affected area, repair or rebuild the base beneath it, and reset the pavers. The catch is matching the existing pavers, especially on older Unilock lines where mold dimensions have changed slightly over the years. We measure before ordering, so you’ll know in advance if the patch will be invisible or if you’re going to notice a subtle size difference at the seam. For an exact quote on your repair, call (279) 226-1509 – estimates are free and the price we give is the price you get.
A typical single-car-width Unilock driveway replacement in Sacramento takes 5 to 8 working days from excavation to final compaction, including the base rebuild. A larger driveway or one with drainage corrections adds time, and if we’re removing an old concrete driveway first, add a day or two for demolition and haul-off. Weather matters here – we don’t compact base in standing water, so a run of Sacramento February rain can shift the schedule. We’ll give you a schedule in writing before we start and tell you if it changes, not disappear for a week and reappear with a different story.
We stock common Unilock pavers in the colors and sizes we use most in Sacramento, so most repairs using current product lines can start within a day or two. Older series and less common color blends are special ordered from Unilock’s west coast distribution, which adds time to the job. We’ll confirm lead time before we give you a schedule, never after. Call (279) 226-1509 with your paver’s series name if you can find it – it’s often stamped on the underside – or send a photo, and we’ll identify it over the phone.
Straight scope, firm price, no surprises after the drywall goes up. That’s how we run paver work too. Curtis Lane started Bradford Remodeling around one idea: give the client a scope they can read, a price that holds, and a finished product that passes inspection without a callback. If your Unilock driveway in Sacramento is showing signs of failure, call (279) 226-1509. We’ll tell you what’s wrong, what it costs, and whether it’s worth fixing now or watching another season. Free estimate, written price, and a one-year written guarantee on the work if you hire us.
Written by Curtis Lane, Owner, Bradford Remodeling Co Sacramento at Bradford Remodeling Co Sacramento, serving Sacramento and nearby areas.
