Free written scope consultation - allowances, timeline, and change-order rules on paper before a single trade is scheduled
Why Sacramento Homeowners Choose Unilock Construction
We’re an independent Unilock construction and repair contractor serving Sacramento and the surrounding suburbs, including Natomas, Elk Grove, Folsom, Arden-Arcade, and Carmichael. We install new Unilock paver driveways and patios, but the bulk of our calls are from homeowners whose existing Unilock hardscapes are failing, shifting, or spalling. Because we work on Sacramento’s clay-heavy soils day in and day out, we know exactly why Unilock pavers misbehave in this climate and how to fix them so they stay fixed. Call (279) 300-1177 for a free estimate on any Unilock repair or new installation. We’re not a Unilock dealer and we’re not authorized by the manufacturer; we’re simply a local remodeling and hardscape contractor who knows these products inside out.
Why Trust Penhallow Remodeling Sacramento for Your Unilock Construction?
Our crews have laid and repaired Unilock hardscapes across Sacramento for years. We know the difference between a paver that’s spalled from freeze-thaw against a worn sealer and one that’s pitted because the original base was never compacted properly. That distinction drives every repair quote we write. Trevor Nash, our owner, got his start in the trades at Los Angeles Trade-Technical College and spent two decades swinging a hammer across Southern California before bringing his crew up to Sacramento. He’s the one who trains our technicians on Unilock repair protocol: identify the failure mode first, then quote the fix. We use genuine Unilock pavers for color-matched replacement units, but we’re equally comfortable specifying commercial-grade aftermarket joint sand, sealers, and edge restraints when they outperform OEM in Sacramento’s specific conditions. You won’t get an upsell pitch from us. You’ll get a straight answer about what’s failing, what it costs to fix properly, and what’ll happen if you let it ride another season.
Our promise on every Unilock job runs through The Kingswell Way: written price before any work starts, a defined arrival window, and a 365-Day Done Right Promise that says if the work fails within a year, we come back and make it right at no charge. No service call fee. No re-inspection fee. No fine print you’d need a lawyer to parse.
Styles & brands we work with
Common Unilock Construction Problems We Fix in Sacramento
Here’s what we see most often in Sacramento yards, specific to Unilock products:
- Spalling and surface pitting on older Unilock pavers. Sacramento’s winter frost is intermittent, but it lands. When moisture gets trapped under a worn sealer on a Beacon Hill Flagstone or Brussels Block paver, freeze-thaw cycles fracture the paver’s surface, leaving craters you can feel with a thumbnail. We see this most on north-facing patios and driveways that hold water longer after a winter rain.
- Edge restraint failure on sloped driveways. The original black plastic paver edging used around Unilock Brussels Block and Beacon Hill installations degrades in Sacramento’s summer UV. Once it snaps, pavers on a sloped driveway in Folsom or Arden-Arcade drift outward within a season. The fix isn’t more plastic; it’s heavy-gauge aluminum edging spiked 12 inches into compacted base.
- Joint sand erosion after heavy winter rains. Sacramento gets hard rain in January and February, and if your paver joints weren’t filled with polymeric sand rated for the traffic load, water washes it right out. Pavers shift, lips form, and your patio or driveway starts to sound hollow underfoot. We re-sand with a commercial-grade polymericsand that sets up hard against Sacramento’s wet-dry cycles.
- Polymeric sand haze and efflorescence. This is a classic Richcliff wall problem. Apply polymeric sand to joints on a hot Sacramento afternoon and fog the sealer before the sand is fully cured, and you’ll get a white haze across the paver surface that traps moisture. Efflorescence follows. We remove the haze, let the wall dry completely, and re-seal under the right temperature window.
- Clay heave under Town Hall paver patios. Sacramento’s expansive clay soils expand dramatically when wet and shrink when dry. A Town Hall patio poured over an unmodified native-soil base will heave within two years near downspouts and irrigation lines. We dig out the clay, install a proper gravel sub-base and geotextile separation fabric, then re-lay the pavers so they don’t move again.
Unilock Parts & Our Repair-vs-Replace Approach
Here’s our standing rule on parts: for pavers themselves, we use genuine Unilock. Color matching a five-year-old Brussels Block driveway with an aftermarket paver is a fool’s errand, and you’ll see the patch from the curb. For joint sand, we use commercial-grade polymeric sand from Techniseal or Alliance Designer Products, chosen for how it performs against Sacramento’s wet winters and 105-degree Julys. For edge restraints, we skip the OEM plastic entirely and install heavy-gauge aluminum edging with 12-inch galvanized spikes. It outlasts plastic by a decade.
On repair versus replace, we are direct. If you have two or three spalled pavers in an otherwise healthy patio, a patch makes sense. If a quarter of the surface is pitted, the color has faded unevenly, and the base underneath was never right, we will tell you a section replacement looks better than patching. Here’s the test we use: if we can spot the repair from ten feet away, the repair isn’t good enough. Call (279) 300-1177 and we’ll evaluate your existing Unilock hardscape honestly.
Our Unilock Service Process – Step by Step
- 1
Diagnosis on site. We inspect the pavers, the edge restraint, the joint sand, and what’s underneath. We check for base failure, not just surface damage. On a Fair Oaks Boulevard driveway, a homeowner called about “wavy pavers.” The real issue was a snapped plastic edge restraint letting the entire 220-square-foot Brussels Block field drift downhill.
- 2
Written quote before work starts. You’ll get a line-item price covering exactly what we’re digging out, replacing, re-compacting, re-laying, and re-sanding. The number on day one is the number on the invoice. If we find something unexpected mid-job, we stop and talk to you before touching it.
- 3
Repair or installation. We cut out failing sections, remove and re-grade the base, install new edging where needed, re-lay original or replacement Unilock pavers, pressure wash, re-sand joints, and seal if that’s part of the scope. For new paver driveway and patio installations, we follow the same process from the soil up: excavated clay out, compacted gravel in, geotextile fabric down, pavers laid level.
- 4
Test and walked inspection. Before we call a job done, we walk it with you. We check for lippage, drainage slope, joint fill, and edge movement under foot. If a paver wobbles, it comes back up and goes down on fresh bedding sand.
- 5
365-Day Done Right Promise in writing. Every Unilock job we complete carries our promise: if the work fails inside a year, we return and fix it at no charge. No service call fee. That’s the whole promise, written on every project.
See the difference
Before
After
Before
After
Before
AfterUnilock Products We Service & Install in Sacramento
We work on most Unilock product lines commonly installed in Sacramento yards. The four we see and handle most are Beacon Hill Flagstone, Brussels Block, Richcliff, and Town Hall. We service and install paver driveways, paver patios, walkways, retaining walls, and steps using these lines. We keep common color-matched replacement pavers accessible through our local supply network, which lets us turn around partial driveway repairs faster than ordering through the manufacturer’s distribution channel. If you own a Unilock product you don’t see listed here, call us: we have likely serviced it before, and we’ll tell you straight if we haven’t.
We Also Service These Brands
Penhallow Remodeling Sacramento offers General Contractor services as a full-scope remodeling contractor, not a single-brand shop. Alongside our Unilock hardscape work, we install KraftMaid and Wellborn cabinetry, Cambria and Silestone countertops, and Kohler fixtures on kitchen and bathroom remodels throughout Sacramento. Our breadth across brands means we won’t push you into a Unilock product when a different material fits your project better.
FAQs – Unilock Construction Service in Sacramento
Here are the questions Sacramento homeowners ask us most often about Unilock work.
Yes, in most cases. Brussels Block has been manufactured for years, and the standard color blends are still produced. We match against the original color code and inspect for UV fading on your existing pavers. If the surrounding pavers have sun-faded over a decade, we will tell you if a true match is possible or if we need to blend new and existing pavers across a larger section so the repair hides. Call (279) 300-1177 for an on-site color match assessment.
This is almost always a base failure caused by water concentrating at one point. A downspout dumping roof water directly onto the paver edge saturates the native clay base underneath, and Sacramento’s expansive clay heaves and settles unpredictably. The fix is not re-sanding the joints; it is correcting the drainage, excavating the saturated clay, and installing a proper compacted gravel sub-base before re-laying the pavers. Your downspout should extend at least five feet from the patio edge.
For most Sacramento homes, yes. A paver driveway runs $7,000 to $18,000 depending on size and the base work required, while poured concrete runs $4,500 to $12,000. The difference is in how the two materials handle Sacramento’s clay soil. Concrete slabs crack when the soil shifts. Pavers flex individually and can be lifted, re-based, and re-laid without an ugly patch. On expansive clay, pavers are the more durable long-term choice. We install Unilock driveways throughout Sacramento and Unilock in Roseville, and can quote both options if you’re deciding.
The white haze is usually moisture trapped beneath sealer that was applied under Sacramento’s hot afternoon sun or before the polymeric joint sand had fully cured. Water vapor pushing up through the sealer leaves minerals behind, and you get the haze. We strip the old sealer, let the wall dry completely through a full Sacramento weather cycle, then re-seal in the right temperature window so it cures clear. The fix is straightforward, but it does require patience and the right conditions.
We reset individually where the base underneath is sound and the only problem is a shifted or sunken paver. When the base has failed, resetting individual pavers is a temporary fix that will fail again within a season or two. In that case, we lift the affected section, re-compact or replace the base material, and re-lay everything level. We will show you what’s underneath and explain the difference before we quote either approach.
Here’s what you should budget for common Unilock projects we do in Sacramento:
| Service | Typical Sacramento Range |
|---|---|
| Paver Driveway Installation | $7,000 – $18,000 |
| Paver Patio Installation | $3,500 – $11,000 |
| Driveway Replacement (paver) | $5,000 – $14,000 |
What drives the number: size in square feet, how much clay we’re excavating and bringing back as compacted base, paver line and color, edge restraint upgrades, and whether drainage corrections are needed. Every job gets a written quote before work starts. Call (279) 300-1177 and we’ll walk your project and put the number in writing.
Book Your Unilock Service in Sacramento, CA
If your Unilock patio, driveway, or wall is shifting, hazing, or spalling, don’t let it ride another Sacramento winter. Call (279) 300-1177 and we’ll schedule a free on-site assessment. You’ll get a written price, a real arrival window, and our 365-Day Done Right Promise on every Unilock job we complete.
Written by Trevor Nash, Owner at Penhallow Remodeling Sacramento, serving Sacramento since bringing his Southern California remod
eling crew north to work on kitchens, bathrooms, and hardscapes throughout the greater Sacramento area.
