Driveway pavers in Richmond CA - a driveway that sheds water and stays level
Cracked slab, puddles that sit for days or pavers that rock underfoot? We rebuild it on a packed base, with the water planned first.
- Fully licensed and insured.
- Free quotes on site.
- We reply within 1 business day.
Is a paver driveway right for your Richmond house?
Driveway pavers in Richmond, CA are concrete pavers set on a thin bed of sand over a packed stone base, and laid right they give you a driveway that drains, carries your car and can be lifted and reset in one spot instead of torn out.
Most people call us when an old concrete driveway has cracked into plates or water sits by the garage after every rain. The price mostly comes down to the size, how deep we dig to reach solid ground, the paver and pattern you pick, any drain pipe the ground calls for and whether the job runs out to the sidewalk and curb. The schedule turns on those same things plus the city, because street-side work waits on a permit, and the written estimate I send after my visit puts your own figures on it.
How can you tell your driveway is ready for pavers?
Cracks across the slab
A concrete driveway that's broken into plates, with edges lifting or sinking, usually means the ground under it has moved or washed out. Wait too long and those plates turn into trip edges while the base under them keeps getting worse.
Water that sits for days
Puddles that hang around near the garage or down the middle mean the surface isn't shedding water, so it's soaking into whatever is underneath. Soaked ground is what lets a driveway settle, and the longer it goes, the more has to come out.
Pavers that rock or sink
On a paver drive you already have, pieces that shift underfoot, ruts where the tires run or gaps opening at the sides usually point to a weak base or a missing edge. Caught early, that's often a relay of one section and not a whole new driveway.
How we lay driveway pavers, from the water up
On the first visit, before anyone draws a layout, we talk about where the water will go, because water getting under a driveway is what ruins it. Then our crew digs out the old driveway and the soft soil under it, packs the ground, spreads crushed stone in layers and packs each one, and sets edge restraints, the hidden borders that keep the pavers from creeping sideways. We smooth a thin bed of sand, lay the pavers, sweep sand into the joints and run the compactor over the top so the whole field locks together.
Driveways rarely stop at the driveway. On a sloped lot the low side often needs holding back, and retaining wall construction is how we keep that soil off your new pavers. On an older house, the brick steps, piers and planters beside the drive tend to look their age next to new work, and masonry restoration brings them back without replacing what can be saved.
Standard concrete pavers
This suits most driveways, because pavers on sand over a packed base take daily traffic well. If a utility line under them ever needs digging, we can lift that patch and put the same pavers back.
Permeable pavers
These suit owners who want rain to soak in through the driveway instead of running to the street, using gravel in wider joints over a deeper open stone base. They only make sense where the ground under your lot allows it, which we cover in the questions below.
Relaying an existing paver driveway
This suits pavers that have sunk or spread but aren't broken. We pull them up, fix the base and edges under them and set the same pavers back, which is often the right repair and not the biggest one.
Get a written estimate for your paver driveway
Send the form and we'll reply within one business day to set up a visit. I'll walk the driveway with you and send a free written estimate, with no pressure and no obligation.
(510) 369-4799- Based in
- Richmond, CA 94804
- Hours
- Mon–Fri: 8 AM–10 PM, Sat–Sun: 7 AM–9 PM
What happens after you call us about a paver driveway?
Here's how a driveway job runs from your first call to the last sweep, and who you'll be dealing with at each step.
Call or send the form
You call (510) 369-4799 or write through the form, and we get back to you to set up a visit. Tell us whether the work reaches the sidewalk or curb so I come ready for that part.
Walk the driveway with me
I come out, look the driveway over with you and start with where the water goes now. Then I send you a written estimate, so you have the job and the price on paper before you decide anything.
We handle the permit
If you go ahead, we take care of any permit the job needs and set up the city inspections. Before anyone digs, we get the underground lines marked through 811, which the city's permit form calls for.
Build it and clean up
Our crew builds the driveway with me on site until it's done and cleaned up. Work under the city's encroachment permit stops on Saturdays, Sundays and city holidays unless the City Engineer gives written permission, so street-side work lands on weekdays.
Why Richmond homeowners call Stonework Richmond Concrete and Masonry for pavers
The owner walks your driveway
I come out myself to look at the job and walk it with you, and I'm on site running our own crew while the work gets done. You're talking to the person who answers for it from the first visit to the cleanup.
In the trade since 2013
I started this business in 2013 after years framing houses, so we've been at brick, stone and pavers for 13 years. The old carpenter in me still checks a base for level the way I used to check a wall for plumb.
Fully licensed and insured contractor
We're fully licensed and insured. If something goes wrong on your property, you're dealing with a covered contractor and not sorting it out on your own homeowner's policy.
Your street edge, your upkeep
Richmond holds property owners responsible for keeping up the sidewalk, driveway approach and curb and gutter in front of their lot. So we look at that strip at the estimate too, because a new driveway meeting a broken approach still leaves you with the problem.
Send us your address, a rough size for the driveway and whether the work reaches the sidewalk, approach or curb through our contact page, or call (510) 369-4799, and I'll come take a look.
Paver driveways and street work in Richmond
Where your driveway meets the street, the city has the say. Richmond requires an Encroachment Permit from its Engineering Division for any work on the sidewalk, curb and gutter or driveway approach, the sloped strip where your driveway drops to the street, and the application goes in with an approved site plan, so we get that drawing done early and sort the street part out with the city before we dig. The driveway on your own lot is less settled. The city says a permit is likely required for everything not on its list of exempt work, and that list includes driveways no more than 30 inches above the ground next to them, not over a basement or a story below, and not part of an accessible route. That list may be older, so the city's Permit Center at 510-620-6868 is where to confirm the current terms, and when we're not sure what the city wants, we ask before we start instead of guessing.
A lot of the driveways we see around Richmond belong to older houses, poured as one long concrete slab years back, often narrow, with a garage at the far end and cracks where the slab meets the approach. We'd rather replace what's failing and keep what isn't, and we run into the same tired slabs on jobs in El Cerrito and San Pablo.
Questions about driveway pavers in Richmond
Do I need a city permit for a paver driveway in Richmond?
You need the city's Encroachment Permit for any part of the job on the sidewalk, driveway approach or curb and gutter. The driveway on your own lot depends on the city's exempt list we explain above, so we confirm it with the Permit Center before we start.
How soon can I drive on new driveway pavers?
You can drive on concrete pavers as soon as they're installed, because there's no curing wait like a poured slab. That cuts construction time and gets your driveway back sooner, so you're parking on the street for a shorter stretch.
What changes if the soil under my driveway is clay?
The trade association for concrete pavers recommends drain pipe in clay or other slow-draining soil under a driveway that carries cars. It says the small added cost comes back many times over in extra years of service, which is one more reason the water talk comes first on our visit.
How do I know if permeable pavers will work on my lot?
Permeable pavers generally aren't used where groundwater sits within 2 feet of the bottom of the pavement, so the depth to water under your lot decides it first. Where they fit, upkeep is sweeping or vacuuming, and a clogged surface can be vacuumed out so water soaks in again.
How much does a paver driveway cost in Richmond?
It comes down to your driveway's size, how deep the base has to go, the paver and pattern, any drain pipe and whether street-side work is part of it, and permeable pavers usually run more than standard ones. When you compare bids, ask which paver thickness each one uses, because the trade association recommends one thickness for home driveways and a thicker one for pavement under vehicle traffic. My written estimate gives you your own figure.
What is the best way to keep a paver driveway from cracking?
Start with pavers instead of one solid slab, because the joints between them help cut down the cracking you usually see in asphalt and concrete. After that it comes down to a well-packed base, water that drains away from it and a sweep now and then to keep the joints full.
Related masonry work around your driveway
Retaining wall construction
If your driveway cuts into a slope or sits above the yard next door, a retaining wall keeps the soil where it belongs and the pavers from shifting.
Masonry restoration
Old brick steps, piers and planters often look tired beside a fresh driveway, and restoring them saves what's sound instead of tearing out work that can last.
Service areas for paver driveways around Richmond
Stonework Richmond Concrete and Masonry is based in Richmond, CA, and we build paver driveways across the 12 cities with their own page here, from Berkeley to Pinole. We work in the cities around them too, so if yours isn't listed, just ask.
Richmond, CA
Book a look at your driveway
The first visit is where we settle the drainage and the street edge, and those two decide most of what the rest of the job looks like.