Free written scope consultation - allowances, timeline, and change-order rules on paper before a single trade is scheduled
Before
After
Before
After
Before
AfterWhy Los Angeles Homeowners Choose Unilock Construction
We provide independent Unilock paver installation, Unilock repair in Los Angeles, and hardscape remediation across the metro area, from Echo Park bungalow courtyards to hillside terraces in Studio City. Our crew has worked with Unilock EnduraColor, Town Hall, Brussels Block, Lineo, Richcliff, and U-Cara products for over 15 years, and we carry genuine Unilock pavers and Unilock-brand polymeric sand locally for color-matched repairs. We’re not an authorized Unilock dealer and we don’t pretend to be; we’re an independent Los Angeles contractor who knows these products well enough to fix them properly when the ground shifts, the Santa Anas blow, or the efflorescence shows up. Call (877) 610-1318 to schedule a free on-site assessment of your Unilock hardscape.
Why Trust Barrett & Sons Construction for Your Unilock Construction?
Most hardscape failures aren’t the paver’s fault. They’re what’s underneath the paver, or what’s washing through the joints, or what the hillside did during the last heavy rain. That’s where Unilock expertise actually matters. Tom Barrett learned the trade at Los Angeles Trade-Technical College and has spent decades reading the way LA soil moves under load, especially in the Valley and the hills, where expansive clay and seismic pressure create settlement patterns that national installation guides never address, making Unilock service in Glendale and similar areas a specialized skill. When we reset a Unilock patio or driveway, we excavate to competent soil, not to what’s convenient. That’s the difference between a repair that lasts five years and one that lasts twenty.
We install Unilock products the way the manufacturer intends, using open-graded ASTM aggregate bases that outperform standard sand in seismic zones. We don’t shortcut base depth to shave a bid. Every job gets a written scope, written allowances, and written change orders before anything changes. Tom’s sons run the crews, and Tom’s the one who answers when something isn’t right after we leave.
Common Unilock Construction Problems We Fix in Los Angeles
- Efflorescence on dark Unilock pavers. White calcium deposits bloom across deep-tone EnduraColor pavers like Mattoni because LA municipal water carries dissolved minerals that surface through the paver’s pores during dry cycles. It’s not a defect and it’s not permanent, but removing it wrong, with acid or aggressive pressure washing, can etch the surface. We clean and reseal using processes that preserve the factory finish.
- Hairline cracking and spalling on older Town Hall and Brussels Block pavers. At higher elevations where winter nights dip below freezing, older Unilock lines with higher water absorption can develop surface spalling after repeated freeze-thaw cycles. This shows up most often around pool decks and north-facing patios. We assess whether individual units can be replaced with color-matched genuine Unilock pavers or whether the section needs re-laying.
- Polymeric sand washout in pool decks and driveways. Santa Ana winds drive fine sand out of paver joints and blow debris into them, then the first rain channels through the gaps and undermines the bedding layer. We see this constantly in Bel Air and Tarzana, where wind exposure is relentless. The fix isn’t just adding new sand; it often involves re-grading the surface so water drains away from the house, not through the joints.
- Settlement and edge migration on patios over expansive clay. LA’s clay soils swell when wet and shrink when dry, and that cycle pushes pavers around. Edges sink, middle rows bridge, and what was a flat patio becomes a wavy one. We correct this by excavating to competent soil, installing a geogrid-reinforced base where the site demands it, and re-compacting before the pavers go back down.
- Retaining wall joint failure on U-Cara multi-face walls. The U-Cara system is modular and handsome, but in seismic or hillside settings the facing panels can separate from the retaining block if the wall wasn’t built with proper drainage behind it. Water pressure builds, the wall leans, and the face pulls away. We rebuild these walls with proper drain rock, geotextile, and, where Los Angeles hillside code requires, engineering for seismic loads.
Unilock Parts & Our Repair-vs-Replace Approach
When a repair requires color-matched pavers, we use only genuine Unilock product. Aftermarket paver manufacturers can’t match Unilock’s color blends and surface texture, and a mismatched patch job is the first thing every future buyer notices. For polymeric sand, we use Unilock-brand product because the joint stabilizer is formulated to work with Unilock paver tolerances. For base materials, we specify ASTM-grade open-graded aggregate, which drains faster and resists seismic shifting better than the standard stone dust or sand that’s common on cheaper installs.
Our repair-or-replace math is simple and honest. If surface damage covers less than 30% of the total area, we repair section by section. If it’s beyond that, replacement usually costs less per square foot than piecemeal patching over multiple seasons. We’ll show you the numbers for both paths before you commit to either. Call (877) 610-1318 and we’ll walk the site with you.
Our Unilock Service Process - Step by Step
- 1
Diagnosis on site. We walk the entire hardscape, not just the failed section. We check base depth, edge restraints, drainage direction, and joint sand condition. For hillside and pool deck work, we note every low spot and where water is actually going.
- 2
Written scope and honest recommendation. You get a line-item scope on paper. If the fix is localized, we say so. If the base has failed and a patch won’t hold, we tell you that too, with the reasoning written out. Allowances are in writing. Nothing happens until you approve.
- 3
Excavation, base correction, and re-lay. We remove failed pavers, excavate to competent soil, install or restore the base (geogrid where needed), and re-lay Unilock pavers with fresh sand. On a Studio City hillside, our crew once reset 400 square feet of Richcliff XL pavers that had shifted after heavy winter rains, matching the original Sahara Beige exactly and anchoring the whole surface with a reinforced base.
- 4
Compaction, joint sand, and clean-up. We compact in passes, sweep Unilock polymeric sand into the joints, activate it properly, and leave the site clean.
- 5
Walkthrough and warranty. Tom or one of his sons walks the finished work with you before we leave, and the 90-Day Done Right Promise is on the contract. If something isn’t right, one call brings us back.
Unilock Products We Service & Install in Los Angeles
We work with the full span of Unilock product lines you’ll find on LA properties: EnduraColor pavers including Mattoni and Promenade for driveways and high-traffic patios; Town Hall and Brussels Block tumbled pavers on older homes in Highland Park, Unilock in Pasadena, and the Valley; Lineo and Richcliff dimensional stone for modern courtyards and pool surrounds; and U-Cara multi-face wall systems for terraced hillside lots and perimeter walls. We keep common Unilock products available locally through established supply relationships, which means shorter waits on color-matched repairs than ordering through a national outfit that doesn’t stock anything.
We Also Service These Brands
Unilock is a big part of what we install, but it’s not the only material we stand behind. The same crews that reset your pavers also handle KraftMaid and Cambria in kitchens, Silestone and Kohler in baths, GAF and CertainTeed on roofs, and Andersen and Marvin on windows. We’re a Los Angeles construction company first, not a single-brand franchise.
FAQs - Unilock Construction Service in Los Angeles
No, we are not an authorized Unilock dealer or warranty provider, and we won’t claim to be. We’re an independent Los Angeles contractor with 15-plus years of hands-on Unilock installation and repair experience. That independence means we recommend what’s right for your specific site, not what a manufacturer’s program tells us to push.
Yes, for all color-matched repairs and joint sand we use genuine Unilock pavers and Unilock-brand polymeric sand. There’s no aftermarket paver that matches Unilock’s color blends and surface finish well enough to look right next to existing work. For base and structural layers, we use ASTM-grade open-graded aggregate, which actually outperforms what many original installs used.
Localized repairs like joint sand replacement or paver resetting in a small area typically take one to two days. Larger projects like driveway replacement or a full patio re-lay run three to seven working days depending on base conditions, access, and Los Angeles permitting requirements on hillside sites, including Unilock repair in Torrance and surrounding South Bay areas. We’ll give you a written timeline with your estimate, and we’ll tell you if the site conditions change it before we change anything.
We service and install EnduraColor (Mattoni, Promenade), Town Hall, Brussels Block, Lineo, Richcliff, and U-Cara wall systems. If you’re not sure which line you have, we can identify it on site and confirm replacement options.
If your Unilock product is still under manufacturer warranty, our repair work using genuine Unilock materials and manufacturer-spec installation practices won’t void it. For properties outside any warranty period, which covers most Los Angeles homes we see, the workmanship is backed by our written 90-Day Done Right Promise instead. Call (877) 610-1318 and we’ll review your specific situation.
Here’s what we typically see across Los Angeles for Unilock hardscape work:
| Service | Typical Price Range in Los Angeles |
|---|---|
| Paver Patio Installation (Unilock) | $4,130 - $12,980 |
| Paver Driveway Installation (Unilock) | $8,260 - $21,240 |
| Driveway Replacement with Unilock pavers | $5,900 - $16,520 |
These ranges cover typical residential work. Hillside lots, seismic retaining requirements, pool deck drainage, and WUI-adjacent properties can push costs higher because the base and drainage work is more involved. Call (877) 610-1318 for an exact quote; estimates are free and written.
Yes, and we do this regularly across Los Angeles. Unilock color blends are manufactured in controlled batches, so we order from the same line and color name, then blend new pavers with existing ones across the transition zone so the eye never sees a hard seam. For older pavers that have faded from years of LA sun, we’ll advise on how much fading has occurred and whether a color adjustment is realistic before you spend anything.
EnduraColor pavers are manufactured with a concentrated color layer that resists UV fading better than standard pavers, so the surface color holds up well even under direct Valley sun. The harder issue in Los Angeles is efflorescence from hard water evaporating through the paver surface, which shows up as white deposits on dark colors like Basalt or Onyx Black. We clean and reseal those properly without damaging the factory finish.
For Unilock driveway pavers on LA’s expansive clay, we recommend a minimum 4 to 6 inches of compacted open-graded aggregate over a geotextile separation fabric, plus a 1-inch bedding layer, with the total depth adjusted up on hillside or high-clay sites. Standard sand-only bases fail here because the clay moves. That extra depth matters, and it’s the line item that separates a 20-year driveway from a 5-year one.
In most cases, yes. We can reset and re-sand Unilock pool deck sections without draining, though we’ll need to control dust and joint sand so nothing washes into the water. If the failure is drainage-related and water is channeling toward the pool shell, we’ll need to correct the grade, which may mean partial deck demolition and re-compaction. We’ll tell you exactly what the site requires before we start.
In Los Angeles, any retaining wall over 4 feet, or any wall on a hillside lot governed by the city’s Hillside Ordinance, needs engineering and permits regardless of the wall system used. U-Cara facing panels are modular and don’t add structural capacity on their own; the reinforced block behind them does that work. We pull permits on every eligible wall job and work with a licensed engineer when the site demands it, because the permit inspector works for you, not for us, and that’s how it should be.
Book Your Unilock Service in Los Angeles, CA
If your Unilock patio, driveway, pool deck, or retaining wall needs attention, call Barrett & Sons Construction at (877) 610-1318. We’ll send someone who knows Unilock products, writes everything down, and stands behind the work for 90 days, in writing. Free estimates, free second opinions on any written estimate, and no trip charge inside the county.
Written by Tom Barrett, Owner at Barrett & Sons Construction, serving Los Angeles since 1998.