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 North Hills
A paver driveway in North Hills typically runs $7,000 to $18,000, and a full concrete driveway replacement lands between $5,000 and $14,000 depending on access, subgrade condition, and whether we’re pulling out a post-1994 patch job. Most repairs start with a free on-site inspection and a written line-item estimate before any work begins. Call (877) 610-1318 and Tom or one of his sons will walk the site with you.
North Hills sits less than two miles from the 1994 Northridge Earthquake epicenter, which means our Driveway & Pavers crews see a problem most contractors in other parts of Los Angeles never encounter: cosmetic patches hiding structural damage that was never corrected. That’s the thing about North Hills driveways. They look fine from the curb until a real load test or a summer heat cycle tells you otherwise. We know what to look for because we’ve opened up enough of these surfaces over 29 years to recognize the pattern within the first few minutes of walking a property.
Why Barrett & Sons Construction Is North Hills’s Preferred Driveway & Pavers Company
Tom Barrett founded this company in 1998 and put his name, his address, and his license number out in the open for anyone to verify. That’s how we operate in North Hills and every community we serve. You’ll see Tom or his sons on site most days, not a rotating cast of subcontracted strangers. When a North Hills homeowner calls, a live person answers the phone, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Not a voicemail box, not an out-of-state call center.
We carry Belgard and Techo-Bloc pavers, and we install them the way the manufacturers specify, with the right base depth and edge restraint for the San Fernando Valley’s expansive soils. Every scope, every allowance, every price change arrives as a written change order before anything moves. If it’s not written down, it hasn’t been approved. That’s not a slogan, it’s how we keep a job honest.
We also back every completed job with a written 90-Day Done Right Promise. If something isn’t right, one call brings Tom back to make it right. That’s the agreement, printed on every contract, not buried in fine print.
Our Driveway & Pavers Services in North Hills
Paver Driveways
Paver driveways are a strong fit for the 1940s through 1970s tract homes that fill North Hills. The individual paver format handles soil movement far better than a rigid monolithic slab, which matters in a neighborhood where post-quake soil displacement is still settling decades later. In North Hills, a paver driveway installation runs $7,000 to $18,000, and we use Techo-Bloc and Cambridge Pavers products with a compacted aggregate base built to LA seismic and drainage standards.
Concrete Driveways & Concrete Work
A new concrete driveway in North Hills runs $4,500 to $12,000 depending on square footage, demo of the old slab, and whether we need to stabilize the subgrade. Summer heat above 100°F is a real factor here. Concrete that cures too fast in Valley heat loses strength and spalls within the first year, so our crews cover and keep new pours moist through the curing window. We also install the required doweled connections where the slab meets the garage stem wall, because that’s exactly where we find post-Northridge failures.
Asphalt Driveways & Resurfacing
For North Hills homeowners on a tighter budget, asphalt remains a practical option at $3,500 to $9,000 on average. The catch is that asphalt resurfacing over an unstable base simply buys time. We inspect the existing substrate first. If the subgrade is still shifting, a new asphalt cap will crack through along the same lines within a couple of Valley heat cycles. Sometimes the honest answer is a full replacement rather than a surface fix.
Driveway Repair & Replacement
This is where our local experience in North Hills does the heavy lifting. Repair work here often starts with what looks like a simple crack and turns out to be something more. We’ve learned to probe 1990s-era patches for signs of the “earthquake cosmetic”: a surface fix over a cracked slab, a sheared anchor bolt, or displaced soil that was never structurally corrected. Replacement jobs run $5,000 to $14,000 and include full removal, base stabilization, and new placement to current code.
What happens when you call
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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 North Hills
We install pavers and hardscape materials from Techo-Bloc, Cambridge Pavers, and Oldcastle, along with Quikrete products for concrete work. These are brands you can look up and verify, not mystery material off a van. Because North Hills is within our regular service footprint, we can pull product quickly and schedule installs without the long lead times that plague out-of-area crews. Material availability is rarely the bottleneck on a North Hills job. Getting the subgrade right is usually where the time goes, and we don’t rush that part.
Common Driveway & Pavers Problems We See in North Hills Homes
- Post-1994 cosmetic patches failing again. A thin slurry or stucco skim over a cracked slab looks fine for a few years, then Valley heat expansion pushes the underlying crack right back through. We remove the patch, assess the actual slab condition, and write the fix in the change order.
- Cracking at the garage transition. The slab pulls away from the garage stem wall or settles at the threshold, especially on 1960s tract homes. This is often a sign the original slab wasn’t doweled or the subgrade shifted during the Northridge quake and was never recompacted.
- Surface spalling from uncontrolled curing. Summer pours in North Hills routinely hit 100°F-plus. Without proper covering and moisture control, the top layer of new concrete weakens and flakes off within the first year. We manage cure windows as a normal part of every summer pour.
- Soft-story building driveways hiding shear cracks. The dense 1960s and 1970s apartment corridor in North Hills includes many tuck-under parking “soft-story” structures. Their driveways aren’t just hardscape; they’re part of the structural diaphragm. Resurfacing without checking the load path can mask shear cracking that belongs in a retrofit scope, not a paving scope.
Pricing for Driveway & Pavers in North Hills, CA
Here’s what we typically see in North Hills. Every job gets a written line-item estimate before we start, so you know exactly where the money goes.
| Service | Typical North Hills Range |
|---|---|
| Paver Driveway Installation | $7,000 - $18,000 |
| Concrete Driveway Installation | $4,500 - $12,000 |
| Driveway Replacement (full demo + new slab) | $5,000 - $14,000 |
| Driveway Sealing | $250 - $700 |
What moves the number: the condition of the subgrade, how much of the old driveway has to come out, whether we need to stabilize the base with a geotextile separator, and access to the site. If we open something up and find a problem we didn’t see during the walk-through, you get a written change order before we touch it. Call (877) 610-1318 for a free estimate on your driveway or paver project.
We Also Serve Cities Near North Hills
Beyond North Hills, our crews regularly work in Northridge, Van Nuys, Valley Glen, and San Fernando. The soil, heat, and seismic history are familiar territory for us across the eastern San Fernando Valley. If you’re in one of those neighborhoods and looking at a failing driveway or planning a paver install, call the same number and talk to the same people.
Serving North Hills, CA - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the North Hills 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 North Hills
A cracked patch in North Hills usually means the original slab damage was never structurally corrected, so the crack simply re-emerges through the cosmetic layer. We remove the patch, inspect the slab and subgrade, and determine whether the fix is isolated repair or full replacement. In our experience, about a third of these turn out to need full slab removal because the underlying displacement is more than surface-deep. Call (877) 610-1318 and we’ll inspect it before you spend a dollar.
A straight like-for-like replacement that doesn’t change the footprint or add new structural elements often falls outside a permit trigger, but the honest answer depends on what we find underneath. In North Hills, because our work routinely uncovers hidden post-quake subgrade damage, the scope can expand into structural territory that does require a permit. We pull permits on every eligible job and the inspection is visible in your record. We’d rather the inspector sign off than leave you holding a nonconforming slab you’ll have to explain when you sell.
The 1960s tract homes in North Hills were built on slab foundations with driveway slabs poured directly against the garage stem wall, often without doweled connections. The 1994 Northridge quake shifted many of those junctures, and the cosmetic patches that followed didn’t address the movement. What you see today is a lip or a crack forming right at the threshold. We fix it by removing the failed section, checking the subgrade, and doweling the new slab to the existing structure per current LA seismic standards. Call (877) 610-1318 for an exact quote on this repair.
Sometimes, yes, but only if the old slab is structurally sound enough to serve as a base, and in North Hills that’s a big “if” after 1994. If the underlying concrete is cracked through the slab thickness, has displaced at the joints, or has pulled away from the garage, pavers over the top will hide the problem and fail within a few seasons. We’ll evaluate the slab honestly. When overlayment isn’t viable, we’ll give you a written replacement price range and let you decide. The estimate is free, so call (877) 610-1318.
Summer heat over 100°F in North Hills changes how we schedule and manage concrete pours. Concrete that dries too fast loses strength and can spall within a year, so we cover and keep new pours moist through the cure window. Pavers handle heat well, but the base preparation has to account for expansion and contraction cycles, which is why we over-excavate and compact to manufacturer spec. This is standard practice on every job we do here. Call (877) 610-1318 to schedule your free estimate.
Call Barrett & Sons Construction Today
If your driveway is cracking, settling, or showing signs of a botched patch job, talk to us before you pay anyone else. We’ll walk the site, tell you what’s actually going on under the surface, and give you a written line-item estimate. Free second opinion on any written estimate, no trip charge inside the county, $40 off any repair over $200, and a permanent 10% senior and veteran discount. Call (877) 610-1318 and speak to a live person.
Written by Tom Barrett, Owner at Barrett & Sons Construction, serving North Hills since 1998.