Driveway Turnaround Pad — Paver or Gravel Backing Pad Off the Drive
A long drive onto a county road, a truck you back out blind every morning, and a pad off the side of the drive that fixes it.
A driveway turnaround pad is a paver or gravel pad built off the side of the drive so you can back into it and pull out forward instead of backing onto the road. JMB Builders builds them across the Twin Cities metro and north to St. Cloud: topsoil out, class 5 compacted in lifts for vehicle loads, then pavers with edge restraint or a gravel surface with a border. Priced per project after a site measure.
- Priced per project after a site measure
- Pavers or gravel on a class 5 base built for vehicles
- Sized to your longest vehicle so it turns in one move
- Quote from photos, reply within one business day
- Licensed MN contractor BC809005
Send photos and hear back within one business day — or book a free in-home estimate.
On a long drive, or any drive onto a busy road, backing out is the worst part of the day. A turnaround pad is a short leg off the side of the drive, usually near the garage, that you back into so you can pull out facing the street. It is also the spot where the second car parks, where the trailer sits, and where the plow pushes the pile. It is a small job compared to a driveway, and it is the one most people wish they had done years earlier.
The pad carries a vehicle, so it gets a driveway base. The topsoil comes out to firm ground, class 5 goes in and is compacted in thin lifts, and the surface goes on top: pavers set in a locking pattern with rigid edge restraint spiked around the whole pad, or compacted gravel with a paver, steel or timber border so the gravel does not walk into the lawn. The pad is pitched to drain the same way the drive does, so meltwater does not sit against the garage.
Size is set by the vehicle. We back your longest vehicle up in the driveway, mark where the rear bumper ends with the wheels cranked, and add room so you are not nosing into the lawn. A pad that is a few feet too short gets driven across the grass at the corner and the corner is mud by spring.
What you supply
- The longest vehicle that will use it, in the driveway for the site measure so the pad is sized to it
- The surface: pavers to match or contrast the drive, or gravel with a border
- The paver style if pavers, picked at a supply yard or from our samples; we order and deliver them
- A decision on which side of the drive and how close to the garage
What JMB supplies
- A site measure with your vehicle, the layout staked, and the utility locate before we dig
- Excavation of topsoil to firm ground and haul-off
- Class 5 compacted in thin lifts to a depth built for vehicles, geotextile fabric where the soil calls for it
- Pavers set in a locking pattern on screeded sand with rigid edge restraint spiked around the pad, or compacted gravel with a border
- Polymeric sand on a paver pad; a top layer of smaller crushed rock on a gravel pad so it packs tight
- The joint to the existing drive cut clean, with the pad tight to the asphalt or concrete edge
- Grading so the pad drains with the drive, sod repair at the edges, and photos in your job folder
How it is priced: per project
Quoted in writing from your photos, with a reply within one business day. What moves the number:
- Size of the pad, set by the longest vehicle that uses it
- Pavers vs. gravel; a paver pad is more work and plows cleaner, gravel is quicker
- Soil: clay and old fill cost more to dig and haul than sand
- Grade: a pad on the uphill side of the drive needs a low edge or a short wall on the high side
- Cutting the edge of the existing drive straight so the pad meets it cleanly
- A border on a gravel pad: pavers, steel edging or timber
- Trees or stumps in the way of the pad
Send a photo from the garage toward the road and one from the road back, and tell us what you drive. The quote follows a site measure with the vehicle.
How long it takes
A gravel turnaround pad: one to two days. A paver turnaround pad: two to three days, pavers ordered after the measure.
How your project works
- 1
Send photos, get a written quote
Send three photos of the space and a sentence about what you want. You get a clear, itemized reply within one business day. Prefer a look in person? A free in-home estimate is always an option.
- 2
Pick materials, or bring your own
We help you choose profiles and materials that fit the house and the budget, or match your existing millwork exactly — or you buy the door or trim yourself and we install it. Everything is confirmed before the crew is scheduled.
- 3
Clean, precise installation
The crew shows up on time, protects floors and furniture, and installs with tight joints and consistent reveals. Photos of the finished work go in your job folder.
- 4
Walkthrough and invoice
We walk the finished work with you. If anything is not right, we fix it before we call the job done. Then one invoice, paid by check or direct deposit — no card fees, no payment links.
Situations and options
Paver turnaround beside the garage
A paver pad off the drive near the garage, in a paver that matches or contrasts the drive, with edge restraint around it. Doubles as the second car's parking spot and plows clean.
Gravel backing pad on a long drive
A compacted gravel pad with a border on a rural or long drive, built to the same base as the drive. The cheapest turnaround, and it takes a plow and a trailer.
T turnaround on a narrow lot
A short pad straight out from the side of the drive, so a car backs into it square and pulls out forward. Takes less lawn than a curved turnaround and fits a city lot.
Turnaround that is also a trailer spot
The pad made a few feet longer and wider so the boat or camper parks there between trips, with the grade set so the tongue jack sits level.
Driveway Turnaround Pad — Paver or Gravel Backing Pad Off the Drive: questions, answered
How big does a driveway turnaround need to be?
Big enough for your longest vehicle to back in square and pull out forward in one move, with a bit of room past the rear bumper so you are not nosing into the lawn. We size it by backing your vehicle up in the drive at the site measure and marking where it ends with the wheels cranked. A pickup needs more than a sedan, and a pad sized to the sedan gets a muddy corner from the pickup.
Pavers or gravel for a turnaround pad?
Gravel is the quicker, cheaper pad and fine on a rural or long drive, as long as it has a base under it and a border so it does not spread. Pavers cost more, plow cleaner, and look like part of the drive. On a paver or concrete drive in town, a paver pad is the one that does not look like an afterthought.
Does a turnaround pad need the same base as a driveway?
Yes. It carries a vehicle every day, often while turning, which is harder on a surface than driving straight. The topsoil comes out to firm ground and class 5 is compacted in thin lifts to a vehicle depth; then the pavers or gravel go on. A pad set on a few inches of gravel over sod ruts in the first spring.
Can you add a turnaround to an existing asphalt driveway?
Yes. The edge of the asphalt is cut straight where the pad meets it, the pad is built on its own base tight to that edge, and the joint is level so a tire crosses it without a bump. A paver pad against asphalt is held by edge restraint on the three open sides and by the asphalt on the fourth.
Will the plow damage a paver turnaround?
Not if it is built right and plowed with the blade raised a touch, the same as any paver drive. The pavers are set in a locking pattern with polymeric sand in the joints and rigid edge restraint around the pad, so a plow blade cannot catch a loose edge. Tell your plow driver it is pavers and to put shoes on the blade.
Do I need a permit for a turnaround pad?
On your lot and off your own drive, usually not. Some cities count the pad as hard surface toward an impervious limit, which matters on a lake lot, and a pad that reaches the boulevard would need the city's right-of-way permit. Most turnarounds sit well inside the lot by the garage and need neither.
Recent JMB work, from our job log
59 installs recorded across 30 Twin Cities communities since Dec 2025. Window and door installs for homeowners, builders and dealers. Counts come straight from our job log; no customer names.
Get a written quote for this job
Three photos and a sentence is enough: a reply within one business day, or ask for a free in-home estimate. Or text the photos to 763-204-2099.
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Read morePage reviewed October 1, 2026 · JMB Builders LLC, MN license BC809005 · All pavers pages
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