Cracked concrete or tired asphalt out front? We build interlocking paver driveways on a packed gravel base made to carry your car.
A paver driveway in Santa Barbara is interlocking concrete pavers laid over a packed gravel base and a thin bed of sand, which gives you one surface that carries your car and works just as well on foot.
Usually the driveway you've got is cracked concrete or worn asphalt, and you want something that looks better and is easier to fix. The price mostly follows the size, the paver you pick and whether an old driveway comes out first, and the schedule turns on that tear-out, the base work and any city review. On a sloped lot, the driveway sometimes needs a retaining wall along one side to hold the ground back.
California's contractor licensing has an earthwork and paving class that covers laying paving. We're licensed and fully insured, based in Santa Barbara, and we work in Goleta, Montecito, Carpinteria, Ventura and other cities around it. A new or replaced driveway here also falls under the city's storm water rules, which I cover in the questions further down.
Call (805) 456-2871 or use the form, and tell us roughly how big the driveway is. We get back to you and set a time for me to come out.
I measure up, check the slope and the old surface, and go through paver choices with you. You get the full price before anything's decided, and the estimate spells out the base we'd put down so you can hold it up against other bids.
If you go ahead, I find out which office covers your address and tell you up front how any review fits the schedule. Then I work with our crew to dig out, build and pack the base, and set the pavers.
Before we pack up, we walk the driveway with you and go over anything you want looked at again. We leave the site cleaned up and the old material hauled off.
Most of a paver driveway is work you never see, and what's under the pavers decides how the driveway holds up. We dig out to firm ground, haul off the old surface, then build the gravel base in layers and pack each one down before the sand bedding goes on. I'd rather spend the time there than come back for sunken spots later.
Once the pavers are set, we put in an edge restraint, a solid border that keeps them from creeping outward, then sweep sand into the joints and run a plate compactor over it so the pieces lock together. If the brick steps or a garden wall by the driveway have worn, that's masonry restoration, and I'll tell you straight whether it needs doing now or can wait.
What a paver driveway job covers:
When a few pavers have cracked or one patch has sunk, you rarely need a new driveway. We lift that section, fix the base under it and set the same pavers back so it matches. If the whole driveway is rolling and rutted, the base has usually given out all over, and patching just chases the problem around, so that's when I'd say take it up and start again. I'll tell you which one you've got.
Size is the biggest piece, then what has to come out first, since breaking up and hauling off old concrete or asphalt is real work. Base depth matters, and so do the paver you pick and the pattern, because a zigzag herringbone and curved edges mean more cutting. A sloped lot, a tight way in for equipment or a permeable build all add to it, and a plain rectangle on flat ground costs the least.
I grew up on a farm where you fixed a fence so it stayed fixed, and I still work that way. I come out to look at your driveway myself, and I work on the job beside our crew, so the person who quoted it is the one making sure the base goes in right.
We keep equipment off your lawn and plants where we can, clean up as we go, and tell you ahead of time when the driveway will be out of use. If part of the job can wait, I'll say so. Your satisfaction, guaranteed.
Call (805) 456-2871 with your driveway's rough square footage, and tell us if an old one comes out or you want it permeable.
Add your address, the driveway's rough size and whether the old one comes out. We reply within one business day to set up your free on-site estimate, with no obligation.
A sand-based concrete paver driveway in Santa Barbara usually runs about $16 to $19 per square foot, not counting tearing out an old driveway. That's the going rate around here, not our price, and where yours lands depends on the base, the paver and how much has to come out first. I'll give you the number for your own driveway when I come out.
Pavers cost more up front than a concrete slab, but they're simpler to fix. A cracked paver can be lifted out and swapped, while a cracked slab usually means patching it or replacing it. If you plan to stay in the house a long while, I'd lean toward pavers for that reason.
Ask each contractor what base depth their quote includes, since the base is what holds the driveway up. Industry guidance calls for at least 6 inches of base under a home driveway on well-drained soil, and one Santa Barbara price guide figured its numbers on a 4-inch base. Our estimate spells out the base we're putting down so you can compare like with like.
The city's storm water rules apply to any project that adds or replaces hard surface, the kind water runs off, whatever kind of city review the project goes through. Projects with 1 to 499 square feet of new or replaced hard surface pick and put in one or more Tier 1 storm water measures, and projects of 500 to 1,999 square feet have to capture and treat the runoff from that area. We'll go over where your driveway falls at the estimate.
It can, but it has to be built as a permeable driveway, because the gaps between ordinary pavers aren't enough to let water soak through the way a designed one does. City guidance says removing more than 12 square feet of existing hard surface can fully meet the Tier 1 storm water requirements, and its examples include replacing a driveway with permeable pavement. If a permeable surface clogs over time, vacuum equipment can bring back how fast water soaks in.
Interlocking concrete pavers laid in a herringbone pattern are the usual choice, because they lock together under a car's weight. The paver industry's installation guidance recommends herringbone, a zigzag pattern, for all paving that carries vehicles, and notes that thinner, larger paving slabs may flex and crack under car loads. Those big slabs suit a patio better than a driveway.
We're based in Santa Barbara and lay paver driveways in Goleta, Montecito and the cities around them. Pick your area below, or call if yours isn't listed.
