Free written scope consultation - allowances, timeline, and change-order rules on paper before a single trade is scheduled
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AfterFast, Reliable Driveway & Pavers Across Highlands
A new paver driveway in Highlands typically costs between $7,000 and $18,000, while a standard concrete driveway runs $4,500 to $12,000. Those are honest, market-calibrated numbers for this part of Harris County, not a phone quote that shifts once we walk the property. Barrett & Sons Construction has poured, replaced, and repaired driveways across Highlands for years, and we know what this soil does to a slab. Call (877) 610-1318 and we’ll give you a written line-item estimate before any work starts.
Why Barrett & Sons Construction Is Highlands’s Preferred Driveway & Pavers Company
Tom Barrett founded this company in 1998, and the name on the truck is the name on the permit. Our Driveway & Pavers crew includes Tom’s sons, not subcontracted labor. When a Highlands homeowner calls, a live person answers. Tom lives close enough that a problem on a finished driveway means he’s driving out to look at it himself. We don’t do “call our corporate office” on a warranty issue. The 90-Day Done Right Promise is written on every contract: if something’s not right, one call brings us back.
Highlands homeowners have a specific reason to be picky about who pulls their permits. This is unincorporated Harris County. Permit reviews, inspections, and floodplain compliance run through Harris County Engineering, not a city hall. A contractor who mostly pulls Houston city permits can get surprised by the county’s freeboard rules after the work is already underway. We’re not surprised. We’ve done the elevation certificate paperwork, the floodplain review, and the inspection sign-off for driveway work in Highlands more times than we can count.
Three things Highlands customers mention when they refer us: the price on the estimate matches the price on the invoice, the county inspector signs off without drama, and Tom answers his own phone. The permit inspector works for you, not for me, as Tom likes to say, and we make sure every permit gets pulled on eligible driveway and paver work. If it’s not permitted, it’s not just a driveway. It’s a future insurance headache.
Our Driveway & Pavers Services in Highlands
We don’t dispatch anonymous labor to Highlands. The crews doing the work carry the Barrett & Sons name, they’re background-checked, and they’ll be the same faces you see from the estimate to the final wash-down. Here’s what we do most often in the 77562 area.
Paver Driveways
Interlocking concrete pavers hold up better than a monolithic slab on Highlands’s expansive clay because the joints let the surface flex without cracking. We install them on a properly compacted base with edge restraint rated for flood exposure. On a 1960s slab-on-grade home near the San Jacinto River off North Main, our crew replaced a cracked concrete driveway with interlocking pavers. We pulled the permit through Harris County Engineering, submitted the elevation certificate showing finished surface at 2 feet above Base Flood Elevation, and got the inspection sign-off before final draw.
Concrete Driveways & Concrete Work
Highlands homes from the 1950s through the 1970s commonly have original slabs poured without proper subgrade preparation. That’s why we see so much heaving and cracking here. A new concrete driveway in Highlands runs $4,500 to $12,000 depending on square footage, joint layout, and whether the existing slab needs full removal. We don’t pour over a failed slab without checking what’s under it first.
Asphalt Driveways & Resurfacing
Asphalt is the budget-friendly option, and on flat coastal prairie lots it can work well when the base is done right. Fresh asphalt paving in Highlands runs $3,500 to $9,000. Resurfacing costs less, but only makes sense if the existing base is still structurally sound. We’ll tell you honestly if resurfacing is smart money or a short-term bandage on a long-term problem.
Driveway Repair & Replacement
If your slab has shifted, cracked, or started ponding water after Harvey-era rain cycles, we’ll tell you whether repair or full replacement is the better call. Full driveway replacement in Highlands runs $5,000 to $14,000. A cracked slab might be a simple joint repair. A slab that’s heaved three inches at the garage approach because of expansive clay probably needs to come out. The difference is in the soil, not just the concrete.
What happens when you call
- 1
A real person answersNo phone trees - you reach a local pro.
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You get an upfront price rangeHonest numbers before anyone is dispatched.
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A background-checked tech heads outLicensed & insured, dispatched right away.
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You approve before work beginsNothing starts until you say go.
Trusted Brands We Service in Highlands
We install premium materials on driveway and paver work, the kind you can look up before you sign anything. Belgard and Techo-Bloc are the two hardscape brands we install most often in Highlands, because both carry product lines rated for flood exposure and high moisture soil conditions. We also use GAF products where a driveway project ties into site drainage or a garage roof interface. No mystery materials off the back of a van. Every brand goes on the written scope before the first shovel hits the ground.
Common Driveway & Pavers Problems We See in Highlands Homes
- Expansive clay heaving on original slabs. The 1950s-1970s homes that dominate Highlands were mostly built slab-on-grade without modern subgrade prep. The area’s wet-dry soil cycles push those slabs up and down seasonally, and the result is the long crack running from the garage to the street.
- Pavers shifting and washing out on flat lots. Highlands sits on flat coastal prairie. Without a proper compacted base and edge restraint, water from a hard rain or flood event gets under the pavers and the whole field shifts. We see this on DIY paver jobs and on work done by crews that skipped the base.
- Unpermitted driveway work caught in county audits. Harris County has been actively auditing permits since Harvey, including driveway and hardscape projects. Homeowners who used a contractor that skipped the permit now have unpermitted work, no elevation certificate, and a mess to clean up when they try to sell or file a claim.
- Poor drainage design around the driveway. On the flat terrain near the San Jacinto River, a driveway without proper pitch or drainage channels becomes a dam. Water pools against the garage door or runs toward the house, and the driveway becomes a drainage problem instead of just a parking surface.
Pricing for Driveway & Pavers in Highlands, TX
Here are real numbers for the Highlands market. These are the same ranges we give over the phone, and the written estimate you’ll get will fall inside them unless your project has unusual site conditions.
| Service | Typical Highlands Price Range |
|---|---|
| Paver Driveway Installation | $7,000 - $18,000 |
| Concrete Driveway Installation | $4,500 - $12,000 |
| Asphalt Driveway Paving | $3,500 - $9,000 |
| Driveway Replacement | $5,000 - $14,000 |
| Driveway Sealing | $250 - $700 |
| Paver Patio Installation | $3,500 - $11,000 |
What moves your project within those ranges: square footage, whether we’re removing and hauling an old slab, what the county floodplain review requires, and the base depth we need for your soil conditions. Every scope, every allowance, every change comes as a written change order before the work happens. No surprises at the final invoice. Call (877) 610-1318 for a free estimate, and ask about the 10% Senior & Veteran discount if it applies to you.
We Also Serve Cities Near Highlands
If you live near Highlands, we serve the surrounding communities too: Highlands, Channelview, Baytown, Mont Belvieu, and Cloverleaf all get the same crew, the same written pricing, and the same county-permit discipline. Whether you’re right off North Main or a few miles out toward the river, the estimate is free and the phone is answered by a person.
Serving Highlands, TX - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Highlands area and know this community well. Use the map below to see our service coverage - if you’re nearby, we can almost certainly help.
FAQs - Driveway & Pavers in Highlands
Since Harvey, Harris County Engineering has been auditing every pulled permit in the floodplain, and that includes driveway and hardscape work. A new paver driveway in Highlands can trigger an elevation certificate submittal if the finished surface sits at or below the county’s freeboard requirement of 2 feet above Base Flood Elevation. We handle the certificate, the submittal, and the inspection coordination. Call (877) 610-1318 and we’ll check whether your property falls in the zone that requires it.
We excavate to a depth that lets us place a compacted aggregate base, typically 6 to 8 inches, depending on the soil and flood exposure, then add a bedding layer and mechanically compact in lifts before pavers go down. On Highlands’s Beaumont clay, skipping the base depth or compaction is exactly why paver driveways shift after the first hard wet-dry cycle. We also install edge restraint rated for the drainage conditions on your lot.
It can, but it depends on your home’s elevation rating and policy specifics. A driveway installed with a documented elevation certificate and county sign-off gives your insurer paperwork that proves the work matches current floodplain standards. That’s a stronger position than unpermitted work with no record. We don’t promise premium reductions, but we do promise documentation that an insurer can actually evaluate. Ask about it when you call (877) 610-1318.
We don’t recommend it, and here’s why. The old slab was likely poured directly on expansive clay without proper subgrade prep, and the cracking you’re covering up will telegraph through the new pour. A bonded overlay on a failed slab is a short-term fix. Full removal and a proper base is the way to keep a new concrete driveway from looking like the old one in three years. We’ll give you both prices in writing and let you decide.
A compliant quote from Barrett & Sons includes the Harris County permit, the elevation certificate submittal if required, the compacted base depth for expansive clay, edge restraint, drainage design, and the final inspection sign-off. A cheap bid usually skips the permit, skips the base depth, and has no answer when the county audit letter arrives. Everything we do goes on paper before the work starts. Call (877) 610-1318 for the full written scope.
Get Your Free Estimate in Highlands
If you’re ready to price a paver driveway, concrete replacement, or driveway repair in Highlands, call (877) 610-1318. We’ll schedule a site walk, give you a written line-item estimate, and answer every question about county permits and floodplain rules before you sign anything. Free estimates. Free second opinion on any written estimate you already have. No trip charge inside the county. And the 10% Senior & Veteran discount is permanent, not a promo.
Written by Tom Barrett, Owner at Barrett & Sons Construction, serving Highlands and surrounding Harris County communities.