Help me choose a driveway paver contractor

[Amethyst]

Attached are three bids to replace our cracked concrete driveway with concrete pavers. One was on 2 pages- hope they uploaded sequentially.

All 3 have decent reviews. All 3 we're recommended by people who have worked on our home. C3 did our kitchen/bath guy's driveway. C2 installed the driveway next door, which looks great but is only a year old. C2 is the most aggressive salesman, who stresses his "lifetime warranty."

I kind of like C3 best, but he wouldn't come down on price. C1 is cheaper, plus takes a CC with only 1.5% fee. I'd still earn .5%.

All insights are welcome, thanks!

C1. $17,135. Remove and haul away old concrete. Grade driveway. Place and compact crushed concrete footing. Pave with concrete pavers in standard pattern (they all use the same one).
Two year labor warranty.

C2. $17,900. All of the above. "Lifetime" warranty on labor. 6 inch thick footing. 8 inches thick at the perimeter.

C3. $17,900. Same as No. 1.

 

[RobbieB]

Poured into forms or premade pavers? If premade how thick?

Oh I see premade 2 3/8" thick?

 

[ivinsfan]

Thanks for the bonus water view...actually I think number two bid is missing.



Who recommended C1, you don't mention that...


What does that little note that says add 10% for waste mean?

 

[Amethyst]

Premade, factory is about 100 miles from us. The samples I saw were about 1.5 inches thick I would say. All 3 use same paver source.

Poured into forms or premade pavers? If premade how thick?

 

[Amethyst]

Anything in my handwriting can be disregarded. I was making notes while talking to contractors (or their wife, in one case). The "waste" is approximately 200 pavers, because our driveway is sharply curved and the pavers are square/oblong.

Thanks for the bonus water view...actually I think number two bid is missing.


Who recommended C1, you don't mention that...


What does that little note that says add 10% for waste mean?

 

[Amethyst]

C1 and C2 were recommended by someone who worked on our house, and whose good sense and honesty I trust. I looked up their reviews, which were fine.

Had to use my phone to post the photos.. hard to tell what I was posting, as I hadn't bothered to rename the photos. Anyway, the middle photo is the first page of C2. The second page has the lifetime warranty claim and the bid of 17,900.

Thanks for the bonus water view...actually I think number two bid is missing.



Who recommended C1, you don't mention that...


What does that little note that says add 10% for waste mean?

 

[RobbieB]

I would check out poured in place. No waste and they pull the forms to make it look like pavers and you still get the good drainage. Lotta labor putting down and removing the forms the forms though. And you have to fill the gaps with stones.

I'm amazed that all the quotes are essentially the same.

 

[Amethyst]

hey Robbie, I checked out pouring a new (plain) concrete driveway and it would cost more than pavers - only talked to one contractor, but they are big in this area. Thanks for the idea, though!

I would check out poured in place. No waste and they pull the forms to make it look like pavers and you still get the good drainage. Lotta labor putting down and removing the forms the forms though. And you have to fill the gaps with stones.

I'm amazed that all the quotes are essentially the same.

 

[Aerides]

We did this about 13 years ago. I didn't go with the cheapest, or most expensive, as they were all over the place.

The ones I picked:
Had a location I could visit, with paver samples, an office, long time in business
Didn't try to tell me what I didn't need - thing that the county doesn't require, but ultimately were better for the construction, the ones that were going "oh you don't have to do that reinforcement thing so you can save $500" - not what I wanted to hear. I want the one that recommends the reinforcement
The actual pavers were made by a well established firm and I could look at a stack of them before deciding
BBB ratings were best

With a curved driveway, you know the most important thing is to avoid shifting. You don't want everything moving 6 months after it's installed. So the one that paid the most attention to that detail and explained how they'd ensure it stays put is the one that would get my vote.

 

[Aerides]

Oh, and if you go pavers get the polymeric sand that gets sealed in there. Regular paver sand is gone in a week, or after the first rain.

Oh and hey, is any of your quotes from Cobra? They did mine, was quite happy, and they are still around and cover up to your area.

 

[MC Rider]

We did poured concrete about 10 years ago, I think it was about $3500 then, and we got a good price due to work was slow at that time. It's maybe 500 or 600 SF, so I hope your is a lot bigger and the prices have not gone that crazy.


Prices are all close, go for the quality.

 

[Amethyst]

Yes - ours is 4X - 5X that size. I don't know where you're located, but prices here run high. I always seem to end up in HCOL areas.

Not sure how I determine quality. Everybody has good reviews online.

We did poured concrete about 10 years ago, I think it was about $3500 then, and we got a good price due to work was slow at that time. It's maybe 500 or 600 SF, so I hope your is a lot bigger and the prices have not gone that crazy.


Prices are all close, go for the quality.

 

[MC Rider]

Yes - ours is 4X - 5X that size. I don't know where you're located, but prices here run high. I always seem to end up in HCOL areas.

Not sure how I determine quality. Everybody has good reviews online.

Hard to tell quality of work ahead of time. Take your best guess, I guess.
We are in Reseda / Los Angeles. Def a HCOL area.
Good luck with project.

 

[RobbieB]

We did 900 sq-ft of poured into forms grey colored concrete with about 100 having "pounded in pebble" top for 9 grand. So about $10/sq-ft. Yeah, kinda expensive, but it's all cast in place steel reinforced concrete and the guy had to go to 3 places to find the matching pebbles. About 11 cubic yards of poured (pumped) concrete.

Bottom line, I don't mind if it costs more I'm looking for quality and durability.

 

[MC Rider]

Our guy used a tow behind the truck size electric powered mixer.
And for the other patio job in back with drains, used wheelbarrows to place the concrete. No pumper or concrete mixer truck. A bunch of 90# bags of material.
Sand and gravel pile dropped off, we supplied water.

Job came out good. So, you may not need a big mixer truck. :>)

 

[zinger1457]

So, you may not need a big mixer truck. :>)

Hand mix concrete for a 2-3K sq-ft driveway? I'm pretty sure the labor cost involved in doing that would be well past the break even point of using a cement truck and pump.

 

[Sunset]

if you are going to have problems, they are going to be sinking or shifting.
All the pavers will not be damaged.
Gravel and sand are cheap.

So the "Lifetime" warranty on labor will mean the bulk of any repairs are free.

Question is: has that company been in business long, and can they give reference of someone they had to do warranty work on ?

 

[Bamaman]

Go to YouTube and you can see the tight way to install pavers. Make sure whoever gets the job uses right methods and not short cuts. The gravel and sand under base must be properly compacted.

 

[Amethyst]

That is a very good question, considering what a big selling point he made of it. Incidentally, when I mentioned it to C3, he started to diss C2. Then caught himself and said "I don't like to knock any others." C2 did our next-door neighbor's driveway, pool deck, etc., before they bought (next door is a very expensive flip job).

i

So the "Lifetime" warranty on labor will mean the bulk of any repairs are free.

Question is: has that company been in business long, and can they give reference of someone they had to do warranty work on ?

 

[Amethyst]

Well, they all say they compact the base. C2 is the most specific about it, on paper. C1's wife told me "Everybody does it the same way, it's code." I have no idea where to find "code" for paver driveways.

Go to YouTube and you can see the tight way to install pavers. Make sure whoever gets the job uses right methods and not short cuts. The gravel and sand under base must be properly compacted.

 

[Jerry1]

if you are going to have problems, they are going to be sinking or shifting.
All the pavers will not be damaged.
Gravel and sand are cheap.

So the "Lifetime" warranty on labor will mean the bulk of any repairs are free.

Question is: has that company been in business long, and can they give reference of someone they had to do warranty work on ?

Normally, in the building arena, lifetime warranty means nothing since the company won’t be around when something goes wrong. I usually discount a lifetime warranty to be worth zero. However, if the company has been in business a long time - say 20 years, that might be a good way to differentiate the bids. It’s likely that the pavers will shift or settle but it is unlikely that will happen quickly. I’d press them on what they do to keep the pavers from shifting/settling and the specifics of their warranty. Ask about how much shifting/settling will have to happen before they will correct it. Their idea about what needs fixed and yours might be very different.

 

[The Cosmic Avenger]

if you are going to have problems, they are going to be sinking or shifting.
All the pavers will not be damaged.
Gravel and sand are cheap.

So the "Lifetime" warranty on labor will mean the bulk of any repairs are free.

Question is: has that company been in business long, and can they give reference of someone they had to do warranty work on ?

But the warranty is on labor, not materials, so wear and tear or even a defective paver might not be covered. The fact that the contractor is pushing the warranty so hard only makes me more suspicious.

Can you offer cash and see if any of them will give you a 1% discount for it? I've gotten that before, or better, and it would beat the 0.5% rebate you'd end up with.

 

[street]

As far as choosing a contractor, I would ask for references. I also would ask them who they have done paver work at and for who. I would go look at their work and or talk to people that have paver work done by them.

Saying that, I personally wouldn't use pavers as a driveway for many reasons. Getting a good compaction is important. Even a well compacted foundation the pavers will become uneven after a while from weight of cars. If you live in an area with rainy season and such it can be worse. The look of pavers are beautiful but not as good as a continuous slab of material for heavy weight.

 

[sengsational]

But if your storm water bill charges more for impervious square footage, pavers can save money.

 

[Aerides]

Saying that, I personally wouldn't use pavers as a driveway for many reasons. Getting a good compaction is important. Even a well compacted foundation the pavers will become uneven after a while from weight of cars. If you live in an area with rainy season and such it can be worse. The look of pavers are beautiful but not as good as a continuous slab of material for heavy weight.

My driveway pavers have held up with zero issues in my driveway for 12+ years now. One side usually has car, the other almost never, but the driveway is as even as when the pavers were laid. I wouldn't do pavers on a circular driveway, or if I had big huge trucks perhaps.

The only area I have a little dip is in a 3ft wide winding pathway that connects the driveway around to the back patio. But it was an area that was dug up a bit due to a sprinkler repair, and never quite got back to grade. I could probably lift up the pavers, re-sand, and re-lay by myself and get it back to good enough, but it's not bothering me to warrant the effort.

Meanwhile I see many slabs that have cracks, and certainly lots of cracks in stamped concrete, after just a few years. Stamped for a driveway, in S. Fla? Nah, I haven't seen any that hold up.