Free written scope consultation - allowances, timeline, and change-order rules on paper before a single trade is scheduled
Why Austin Homeowners Choose Unilock Construction
Penhallow Remodeling Austin provides independent Unilock paver installation, Unilock repair in Austin, and re-leveling service for driveways, patios, and walkways across the Austin metro. We are not a factory-authorized dealer, and we don’t pretend to be one. What we are is a local remodeling crew that has spent well over a decade re-setting, re-edging, and re-compacting Unilock pavers on Austin’s shifting clay soil, which means we know which Unilock lines actually survive Central Texas conditions and which ones need a smarter base than the original installer bothered to build. If you’ve got a Unilock patio that’s started to rock, a driveway border that’s pulling away from the field, or joints that washed out after the last thunderstorm season, call us at (325) 225-5429 and we’ll give you a written price before any work starts.
Unilock pavers are good product. The reason they fail in Austin usually has nothing to do with the paver itself and everything to do with what’s underneath it. Our crews work on Unilock surfaces all over town, from Mueller to Circle C to the older neighborhoods off South Congress, and in nearby areas like Unilock repair in Cedar Park, and the failure patterns repeat themselves so consistently that we can usually diagnose a patio from a phone photo before we ever set foot on the property.
As an independent Unilock service provider, we’re free to tell you the truth about what’s worth fixing and what’s worth starting over. There’s no factory rep looking over our shoulder and no quota to move product. If a selective repair will hold, we’ll quote the repair. If the base has failed, we’ll tell you that too, and we’ll explain exactly why Austin’s soil is the culprit.
Why Trust Penhallow Remodeling Austin for Your Unilock Construction?
Trevor Nash, the owner behind Penhallow Remodeling Austin, learned the fundamentals of construction at Los Angeles Trade-Technical College before spending years swinging hammers on foundation repairs and full kitchen rebuilds. He’s been serving Austin homeowners for over a decade, and he built this company on a single idea: give the customer a real number on day one, then do exactly what you said you’d do. That applies to a paver driveway just as much as it applies to a kitchen remodel.
Our crews work with Unilock pavers regularly, which matters more than most homeowners realize. A paver is not a paver. Unilock’s EnduraColor Plus line has a bound top layer that behaves differently under pressure washing than a standard Series 3000 paver. Unilock’s Brussels Block pattern locks together on a specific spacing tolerance, and if you re-lay it too tight or too loose, the border rows start walking within a season. Thurnbury and Mattoni pavers have tumbled edges that hide chips better but also require a different joint sand approach than the crisp-edged Richcliff line. These are the kinds of things you learn by doing the work, not by reading a spec sheet.
Every Penhallow Remodeling Austin job runs on the Kingswell standard, which has been in place since 2004: a written price before any work starts, a defined arrival window, a clean job site, and a written guarantee on every project. Our 365-Day Done Right Promise means if the work fails inside the guarantee period, we come back and fix it at no charge. That promise is in writing on every single project, including paver repairs.
And when you call, a live person answers. Always. No voicemail maze, no callback window. That’s a standing fact of how we operate, not a marketing line.
Styles & brands we work with
Common Unilock Construction Problems We Fix in Austin
Here’s what we actually see on Unilock surfaces across Austin, and why each one happens. These aren’t theoretical failure modes from a brochure. They’re the calls we get every spring and fall.
- Border rows separating from the field on Unilock Brussels Block and Courtstone patios. Austin’s expansive clay soil swells when it rains and shrinks when it dries. Over a single wet-dry cycle, that movement can be enough to push an edge restraint outward and leave a gap you can catch a heel on. The fix usually involves re-compacting the edge zone and installing a heavier restraint, not replacing the whole patio.
- Sand-filled joints washing out after heavy thunderstorm seasons. Austin gets intense, short-duration downpours. If the original installer used standard joint sand instead of a quality polymeric sand, or if the poly sand wasn’t activated correctly, the joints erode. Once that happens, water gets under the pavers and starts eroding the bedding layer from below. This is the number one cause of rocking pavers on Unilock Series 3000 installations.
- Chalky, faded edges on Unilock EnduraColor Plus pavers after pressure washing. EnduraColor is a two-layer paver with a bound top surface. Aggressive pressure washing with too high a PSI or too tight a nozzle angle can strip that surface layer and leave the edges looking white and chalky. It’s not a manufacturing defect. It’s a cleaning error, and it’s permanent once it happens.
- Rocking pavers at stair noses and walkway edges on older Unilock Series 3000 and Series 4000 installations. Over years of Austin’s wet-dry cycles, the sand bedding layer under these pavers slowly washes away or compacts unevenly. The pavers at transition points, where foot traffic concentrates, fail first. You feel a wobble, then a clack, then the paver starts migrating.
- Weed roots pushing through decomposed granite and cedar pollen joints. Austin’s cedar pollen season coats everything in fine, sticky organic matter. That pollen mixes with decomposed granite grit from nearby beds, fills the joints, and creates a growing medium for weed roots. Once roots establish, they push pavers apart from below. Regular joint maintenance is the prevention; selective paver replacement is the cure once it’s gone too far.
Unilock Parts & Our Repair-vs-Replace Approach
We insist on genuine Unilock pavers or matching factory lots for any repair patch. There’s a reason for this. Unilock runs color lots in batches, and a paver bought from a different lot can be visibly off in tone, especially in Austin’s direct sun where there’s no shade to hide the difference. When a color has been discontinued, which happens with older Brussels Block runs, we’ll advise a documented close-match aftermarket paver from a local stone yard, and we’ll show you the match in daylight before we lay it.
For patio and driveway failures, our default is always a selective repair first. If the border row has separated but the field is still solid, we quote replacing the border and re-compacting the edge zone. If a section of driveway has sunk at the apron because a downspout was pouring into the base for years, we saw-cut that section, rebuild the base properly, and relay the original pavers. We only recommend a full reset when the base itself has failed, which in Austin usually means the original installer used the wrong aggregate or no aggregate at all. In that case, a full re-set with Austin-grade limestone and proper compaction is the honest call. Call (325) 225-5429 and we’ll walk you through what the repair versus replace math actually looks like for your specific situation.
Our Unilock Service Process – Step by Step
- 1
Site assessment and base inspection. Before we quote anything, we check what’s under the pavers. In Austin, that means evaluating clay content, checking for downspout discharge points, and identifying whether the original base included proper aggregate. We can often tell from the paver movement pattern whether the base is failing or just the bedding layer.
- 2
Written price and repair plan. You get a written number before any work starts. We specify what gets replaced, what gets re-used, what base work is needed, and how long the job will take. The price on day one is the price on the invoice.
- 3
Selective demolition and base correction. We saw-cut the affected section, remove the pavers carefully so they can be re-used, and correct whatever caused the failure: re-compact the base, add limestone, redirect a downspout, or install a heavier edge restraint. If it’s a new Unilock driveway or patio installation, we build the base from scratch to handle Austin’s clay movement.
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Re-lay, joint, and compact. Pavers go back in with factory-correct spacing. Joints get filled with the right polymeric sand for the paver line, activated properly, and the whole surface gets a final compaction pass.
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Test and walk-through. We walk the repair with you, point out what we did and why, and confirm the surface is flush, stable, and draining correctly. Then we hand you the written guarantee. If anything fails inside the 365-day window, we come back and fix it at no charge.
Unilock Products We Service & Install in Austin
We install and repair the full range of Unilock residential paver lines, including Series 3000 and Series 4000 modular pavers like Brussels Block and Courtstone, the EnduraColor Plus architectural line with its bound top layer, large-format Richcliff and Brussels Dimensional System pavers, and the European-style Thornbury and Mattoni lines with tumbled edges. For Austin’s heat and UV exposure, we regularly recommend EnduraColor Plus for driveways because the top layer holds its color longer than standard pavers under direct Texas sun. We keep a small local stock of common Unilock replacement pavers and edge restraints so selective repairs can move fast, and we special-order from regional suppliers when we need to match a specific color lot.
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AfterWe Also Service These Brands
Penhallow Remodeling Austin isn’t tied to a single manufacturer. Alongside Unilock, our General Contractor services regularly include KraftMaid and Wellborn cabinetry, Cambria and Silestone countertops, and Kohler fixtures. If your Unilock patio project is part of a larger outdoor living build or a whole-home remodel, we can handle the full scope with one crew and one written price.
FAQs – Unilock Construction Service in Austin
Is Penhallow Remodeling Austin authorized by Unilock?
No. We are an independent Unilock service provider, not a factory-authorized dealer or installer. That independence matters: we have no manufacturer quota and no incentive to push a full replacement when a selective repair is the better call. What we bring is hands-on experience re-setting, re-leveling, and re-edging Unilock pavers across Austin’s specific soil and climate conditions.
Why did the joints on my Unilock paver patio wash out after two Austin thunderstorm seasons?
The joints washed out because the original joint sand failed. Austin’s thunderstorms deliver short, intense bursts of water that can flush standard joint sand out of the gaps. Once the sand is gone, water gets under the pavers and starts eroding the bedding layer from below. The fix is to clean the joints thoroughly, re-fill with a quality polymeric sand activated correctly, and address any drainage issues that concentrated water flow over the surface. Call (325) 225-5429 and we’ll take a look at your specific patio and tell you what it’ll take to make the joints hold.
Can you match a Unilock color that’s no longer in production for my older Brussels Block driveway?
In most cases, yes. Unilock runs color lots in production batches, and when a color is discontinued we work with local stone yards to find a documented close-match. We’ll show you the match in daylight, on the ground next to your existing pavers, before we lay anything. If we can’t find a match we’re confident in, we’ll tell you that straight and walk you through your options. Call (325) 225-5429 for a free estimate on your color-match repair.
My EnduraColor Unilock pavers look chalky after being pressure washed. Is that permanent?
Yes, that chalky appearance is permanent. EnduraColor Plus pavers have a bound top layer, and aggressive pressure washing strips that layer at the edges, exposing the lighter base material underneath. It’s not a defect, it’s a cleaning error, and unfortunately it can’t be reversed. The good news is that the structural integrity of the paver usually isn’t affected, so replacement is a cosmetic decision. If you’re looking at a chalky EnduraColor surface and deciding whether to repair or replace, call (325) 225-5429 and we’ll give you a written price for both options.
The border row of my Unilock patio is separating from the field. Do I need a full replacement?
Usually not. Border separation is typically caused by Austin’s clay soil moving through wet-dry cycles and pushing the edge restraint outward. If the field pavers are still stable and the base is sound, a selective repair is all that’s needed: pull the border row, re-compact the edge zone, install a heavier restraint, and re-lay the border. We always quote the selective repair first on this type of failure because in most cases, that’s the honest answer.
Will my Unilock driveway hold up to the drastic wet-dry cycles of Austin’s clay soil?
Yes, if the base is built right. The paver itself isn’t the weak point in Austin, the base is. A properly installed Unilock driveway sits on a compacted limestone base with the right thickness for our soil conditions, good drainage, and solid edge restraints. Without those things, even the best paver will heave, sink, or separate. That’s why we spend as much time on base preparation as we do on paver placement. For an exact quote on a new Unilock driveway or a repair of your existing one, call (325) 225-5429.
Unilock Paver Pricing in Austin, TX
Here are the price ranges for the Unilock services we most often quote in the Austin metro. These are starting reference points; your exact number depends on the square footage, the condition of the existing base, access, and the specific Unilock line you choose.
| Service | Price Range |
|---|---|
| Paver Driveway Installation | $7,000 – $18,000 |
| Paver Patio Installation | $3,500 – $11,000 |
| Driveway Replacement | $5,000 – $14,000 |
One real example from our work in Austin and Unilock in Georgetown: on a ranch house off South Congress, we found a Unilock Brussels Block driveway half-sunk at the apron because a gutter downspout had been pouring directly into the base for years. We saw-cut the affected section, re-compacted a limestone base to Austin’s clay-stabilized standard, and relaid the original pavers with new edge restraints and polymeric sand. The customer was so pleased with the now-flush transition that they had us extend the same Unilock pattern into a new back patio. That’s the kind of repair that costs a fraction of a full driveway replacement and gives the surface another decade of life.
Book Your Unilock Service in Austin, TX
Tell me what you need, I’ll tell you what it costs, and we’ll go from there. That’s the way Trevor Nash has run Penhallow Remodeling Austin from the start, and it applies to every Unilock repair, re-level, or new paver installation we quote. Call (325) 225-5429 and you’ll talk to a real person who can schedule your free on-site estimate and get you a written price before any work begins.
Written by Trevor Nash, Owner at Penhallow Remodeling Austin, serving Austin homeowners for over a decade.
