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Unilock Driveway & Pavers: The Austin Owner’s Guide
Unilock paver driveway installation in Austin typically runs $7,000 – $18,000 installed, depending on square footage, paver series, and the base work required. We stock and install Unilock-compatible pavers for driveways, patios, and walkways, and we can usually get your project priced and scheduled within a week. Most Austin homeowners call us after a paver has cracked, sunk, or shifted out of place, or after tree roots and clay soil have turned a once-flat driveway into a washboard.
We’re an independent Austin contractor. We’re not affiliated with Unilock, but we work with their product lines every season and know which pavers hold up to central Texas heat and which ones don’t.
Which Unilock Models This Applies To
Unilock makes three paver families we see most often in Austin driveways: the EnduraColor line (including Courtstone, Richcliff, and Umbriano), the Estate Stone series (Brussels Block, Hollandstone), and the U-Cara multi-piece wall system for driveway borders and retaining edges. If you know your paver’s name, that’s half the answer. If you don’t, measure the paver: Brussels Block runs 6″ x 9″, Richcliff is 6″ x 12″, and Umbriano comes in 6″ x 12″ and 6″ x 9″ mixes. The measurement plus the surface texture is usually enough for us to identify it from a photo.
The compatibility gotcha with Unilock is color lot matching. Unilock pavers are made in regional plants, and the same named color (say, Sierra or Fossil Beige) can shift noticeably between production runs. If you’re replacing a section rather than a whole driveway, we recommend pulling the old paver and matching against current stock in person, not from a catalog photo. As for OEM versus aftermarket: Unilock doesn’t make “repair parts” the way an appliance brand does. The paver is the part. Generic concrete pavers can match shape but almost never match the color and surface finish well enough to look right next to the originals, so for visible areas we almost always recommend genuine Unilock product.
Styles & brands we work with
Signs Your Unilock Driveway & Pavers Is Failing
- Sinking or low spots after rain. This is almost always a base problem, not a paver problem. Austin’s expansive clay soil swells and shrinks with moisture, and if the base layer was poured too thin or skipped entirely, the pavers go down with it.
- Cracks running through multiple pavers in a line. That’s a sign the base underneath is cracked or settling unevenly. Patching the pavers without fixing the base means the same crack comes back within a season.
- Pavers rocking or shifting underfoot. Loose edge restraints or washed-out joint sand let pavers drift, and once one moves, the ones next to it start to wander too.
- Weeds or ant mounds pushing up between pavers. Austin’s fire ants love to tunnel through the joint sand, and that tunneling is what eventually lets water under the pavers and starts the sinking cycle.
- White, chalky patches on the surface. That’s efflorescence, which is cosmetic and common in humid Texas weather, but it’s worth mentioning because it’s one paver issue that doesn’t require replacement. It can often be cleaned and sealed.
Replacement Cost & What’s Included
A full paver driveway installation in Austin runs $7,000 – $18,000, and most of the range comes down to three things: square footage, whether we’re removing an existing concrete slab or old pavers first, and how much base work the Austin clay soil demands. A standard two-car driveway in the 600 to 800 square foot range with proper excavation, 6 to 8 inches of compacted base, and a mid-range Unilock paver like Richcliff typically lands between $9,000 and $14,000. Smaller replacement sections or porch pads start lower; driveways with steep grades, drainage corrections, or retaining borders run higher.
Every quote includes the full scope in writing: demo and haul-off, base material, joint sand, edge restraints, the pavers themselves, and labor. The number we give you before work starts is the number on the final invoice. No change orders because we “found something.” If we uncover a base problem during excavation, we stop, show you what we found, and give you a new written number before touching another paver. And the work carries our 365-Day Done Right Promise: if a paver sinks, shifts, or fails inside the guarantee period, we come back and fix it at no charge, in writing, on every project.
See the difference
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AfterDIY or Call Us?
For a single cracked paver or a small patch that’s sunk, a determined homeowner with a rubber mallet, a pry bar, and some patience can make a decent repair. The honest catch is that paver work is less about the paver and more about what’s under it. If the base is the problem, and in Austin’s clay soil it usually is, surface repairs will look fine for a few months and then fail again.
There’s also the color match problem we mentioned earlier, and the fact that re-compacting base and re-screeding sand is more physically demanding than most people expect. We’ve followed more than a few DIY paver repairs that lasted one summer. If the repair involves more than three or four pavers, or you see cracks in the base, call us at (325) 225-5429. Trevor Nash will walk your driveway, tell you straight what the base looks like, and give you a written price before you spend a dime.
FAQs
With proper installation over a good base, Unilock concrete pavers last 25 to 40 years in central Texas. The pavers themselves rarely fail first; it’s the base, edge restraints, and joint sand that wear out and get replaced, which is why the install quality matters more than the paver brand. Call (325) 225-5429 for an exact assessment of your driveway’s condition.
Yes, if the base is still intact we can lift the affected section, re-grade and re-compact the base, and reinstall the existing pavers, which typically costs less than a full replacement. If the base has washed out or cracked extensively, a full re-install is usually cheaper in the long run than patching it twice. Give us a call and we’ll tell you which situation you’re in.
Most paver driveway installations in Austin take 3 to 7 working days from excavation to final compaction, depending on size, access, and weather. We give you a real arrival window before the job starts and a written schedule, and we don’t leave the site until you’ve walked it with us.
We don’t keep a full Unilock inventory on the truck, but we can source and color-match most current Unilock series within a few days through our Austin-area suppliers. For older or discontinued lines, we’ll match as close as the current production runs allow and show you the match before we install it.
What to Do Next
If your Unilock driveway is sinking, cracking, or shifting, the best move is to get a real set of eyes on it. Call (325) 225-5429 and you’ll get a live person, not a voicemail. We’ll schedule a walkthrough, take measurements, and hand you a written price for the repair or replacement, including the base work, before any work starts. Tell us what you need, we’ll tell you what it costs, and we’ll go from there.
Written by Trevor Nash, Owner, Penhallow Remodeling Austin at Penhallow Remodeling Austin, serving Austin and nearby areas.
