Widen Driveway With Pavers — Extra Parking Beside the Drive
Two cars, a truck and a teenager's car do not fit on the driveway you have, and someone is always parking on the grass.
JMB Builders will widen a driveway with pavers across the Twin Cities metro and north to St. Cloud. We dig out beside the asphalt or concrete, build a deep compacted base with geogrid for vehicle weight, lay driveway-rated pavers flush with the drive, and set a clean joint where the pavers meet the old surface. We check your city's width and setback rules first. Priced per project.
- Priced per project after a site measure
- Vehicle-rated base with geogrid
- Driveway-rated pavers set flush
- City width and setback rules checked
- Licensed MN contractor BC809005
Widening a driveway with pavers adds a parking spot without tearing out the drive you have. It is not a border or an apron; it is a full-depth parking surface that has to carry a car or a truck, every day, through freeze and thaw. The strip beside the drive is usually lawn on soft topsoil, so the whole thing is built from the base up.
We cut the sod, dig out to driveway depth, lay geogrid on the subgrade to spread the load, and compact class 5 in lifts. Driveway-rated pavers go on a screeded sand bed, set flush with the existing drive so tires roll across without a bump. The outer edge gets a concrete or spiked edge restraint that will not creep when a tire runs along it.
The seam is the tricky part. Asphalt edges crumble, so we saw-cut a straight line and set the pavers against the clean cut. Against concrete, the pavers butt the slab edge. The new strip is sloped the same way as the drive, or away from it, so water does not sit in the joint and freeze. Cities limit driveway width and how close it can come to the lot line, and some need a permit; we check yours before quoting.
What you supply
- The paver style and color; we order and deliver
- Photos of the driveway from the street and the garage, and of the lawn beside it
- How wide and how long a strip you want, and what will park there
- Where the lot line is, from a survey or plat if you have one
What JMB supplies
- Site measure and a check of city width, setback and permit rules
- Gopher State One Call locate
- Sod cut and soil dug out to driveway depth, spoils hauled
- Geogrid on the subgrade and class 5 compacted in lifts
- Saw-cut edge on asphalt, or a clean butt joint on concrete
- Driveway-rated pavers on a screeded sand bed, set flush with the drive
- Edge restraint on the outer edge, polymeric sand in the joints
- Lawn edge graded and patched, and photos in your job folder
How it is priced: per project
Quoted in writing from your photos within one business day. What moves the number:
- Width and length of the added strip
- Soil under the lawn: sand vs. clay that needs a deeper base
- Paver choice and pattern
- Seam against asphalt (saw-cut) vs. concrete
- Moving a mailbox, sprinkler heads or landscaping in the way
- City permit, if yours requires one
Send a photo from the street and one from the garage, and say how many feet wider you want it. A site measure confirms the base and the city rules.
How long it takes
A single-car-width strip along a typical driveway: three to four days.
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 quote within one business day. We only come out to measure first when the job needs a tape measure — no pressure, no games.
- 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
Full-length strip
A paver lane from the street to the garage beside the existing drive, for a third car or a boat trailer.
Parking pad at the top
A wider paver area near the garage for turning around or parking beside the garage door.
Both sides
Narrower strips on each side to widen a tight single drive so doors open without stepping on grass.
Widen at the street
A flared paver section at the street end to make backing out easier. The right-of-way piece may need city approval.
Widen Driveway With Pavers — Extra Parking Beside the Drive: questions, answered
Can you widen an asphalt driveway with pavers?
Yes. We saw-cut a straight edge on the asphalt, dig out beside it, build a deep compacted base with geogrid, and lay driveway-rated pavers flush with the drive. The clean cut keeps the asphalt from crumbling into the joint.
Do I need a permit to widen my driveway in Minnesota?
Many cities require one, and most limit driveway width, the share of the lot that can be paved, and how close the drive comes to the lot line. The rules vary by city. We check yours before quoting and build to what it allows.
Will pavers next to my driveway sink?
Not when the base is built for vehicles. The lawn beside a drive sits on soft topsoil, so it all comes out, and a compacted class 5 base with geogrid goes in. A patio base under a parking spot is what sinks.
Can pavers match my concrete driveway?
Pavers will not look like poured concrete, but a paver in a similar gray reads as a clean border. Many people pick a contrasting paver on purpose so the strip looks planned, and add a matching band at the apron.
Why pavers instead of more asphalt or concrete?
A paver strip is built in a few days with no cure time and no patch seam that cracks. Pavers flex with frost and can be lifted and reset if one settles. A new asphalt strip beside an old drive often shows a cold joint that opens up.
Can you plow a paver driveway extension?
Yes. The pavers are set flush with the drive so a blade has no lip to catch, and polymeric sand holds the joints. Set the plow shoes so the blade rides on the surface.
Recent JMB work, from our job log
59 installs recorded across 30 Twin Cities communities since Dec 2025. Window and door installs for homeowners and for the builders and dealers we sub for. Counts come straight from our job log; no customer names.
Get a written quote for this job
Three photos and a sentence is enough. You hear back within one business day. Or text the photos to 763-204-2099.
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Read morePage reviewed September 26, 2026 · JMB Builders LLC, MN license BC809005 · All pavers pages
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