Paver Driveway Installation — Built on a Base Made for Vehicles
An asphalt driveway cracked and sinking at the garage, or a new house on a gravel drive — replaced with pavers on a base that carries a truck through twenty winters and lifts out for repairs instead of cracking.
JMB Builders does full paver driveway installation across the Twin Cities metro and north to St. Cloud. The old asphalt or concrete is broken out and hauled, the subgrade is cut deeper than a patio because tires and Minnesota frost both push harder than feet, class 5 is compacted in lifts over fabric, and driveway-rated pavers go on bedding sand in a herringbone pattern with a concrete or spiked edge restraint. Priced per project after a site measure.
- Priced per project after a site measure
- Deeper base than a patio, compacted in lifts
- Driveway-rated pavers, herringbone, edge restraint
- Plowable; salt-tolerant pavers and joints
- Licensed MN contractor BC809005
A paver driveway is a base job with pavers on top, and the base is most of the work. A patio carries people; a driveway carries a pickup turning its wheels at the garage door, a delivery truck backing in, and a plow. On top of that, Minnesota frost lifts anything sitting on wet soil. So a driveway base goes deeper than a patio base, on a subgrade cut to a firm layer and covered with geotextile fabric so the class 5 does not pump down into the soil. The class 5 goes in lifts, each one compacted with a plate or roller compactor before the next, until the whole bed is dense and pitched away from the garage. How deep depends on the soil under your driveway, which is why we set it at the site measure and not from a photo.
The pavers are driveway-rated units, thicker than patio pavers, set on a screeded bed of coarse sand. Pattern matters more than it does on a patio: a herringbone pattern locks each paver against its neighbors in two directions, so a tire turning on the surface cannot walk a row out of line. A running bond or stacked pattern looks fine and rolls apart under wheels. The edges are held by a concrete edge restraint or a spiked plastic edge set on the compacted base, a soldier course frames the field, the joints are filled with polymeric sand and the whole thing is compacted again so the pavers seat into the bed.
Snow and salt are the two Minnesota questions. A paver driveway plows and snow-blows the same as concrete; the plow rides on the surface and the joints are below the blade. Standard rock salt is hard on any concrete product over time, and pavers are concrete; a good sealer and a salt-tolerant deicer help, and pavers that do get damaged are lifted and swapped one at a time rather than the slab being replaced. A paver driveway is more to build than asphalt and about the same as or more than poured concrete, but it does not crack, it lifts for repairs, and a section that settles is relaid instead of being torn out. The apron at the street is in the city right-of-way and usually needs a permit; we pull it.
What you supply
- The paver style, color and pattern, picked at a supply yard or from samples; we order and have them delivered
- Where the driveway goes and any change from the old footprint: wider at the garage, a turnaround, a parking pad
- A place on the lot to stage pallets of pavers, the class 5 pile and the dumpster or truck for the old surface
- Somewhere to park your vehicles for the length of the job
- Any downspouts, sump lines or irrigation that run under the old driveway, if you know where they are
What JMB supplies
- Site measure with grade shots and a look at the soil, and the utility locate before any digging
- Breaking out and hauling the old asphalt, concrete or gravel drive
- Excavation to a firm subgrade with a skid loader or mini excavator, and geotextile fabric over it
- Class 5 base placed and compacted in lifts, pitched away from the garage and toward the street or a drain
- Coarse bedding sand screeded flat, driveway-rated pavers laid in herringbone with a soldier course
- Cuts along the garage slab, the sidewalk, curves and the street apron
- Concrete or spiked edge restraint on the compacted base along every open edge
- Polymeric sand in the joints and a final pass with the plate compactor
- The right-of-way permit for the apron at the street, and a trench drain or catch basin where the grade needs one
- Photos of the finished driveway in your job folder
How it is priced: per project
Quoted in writing from your photos within one business day. What moves the number:
- Square footage: a two-car driveway to the street is the usual job; a long rural drive or a turnaround adds fast
- Removing the old surface: asphalt is quick, thick concrete with rebar is slower and heavier to haul
- Soil under the drive: sand needs the minimum base, clay or organic soil needs a deeper cut and more class 5
- Paver choice: a standard driveway paver vs. a large-format or textured unit that costs more and cuts slower
- Pattern and borders: herringbone with a soldier course is standard; a contrasting band, inlay or circle adds cuts
- Slope and drainage: a driveway that falls toward the garage needs a trench drain or catch basin
- Edges: a straight run against a curb vs. curves and a flared apron
- Sealing the finished driveway, quoted as its own line, and a snow-melt system if you want one (electrician brought in)
Send a photo from the street toward the garage, one from the garage toward the street, and one of the worst spot. We schedule the site measure from that; a driveway is always measured before it is quoted.
How long it takes
Our estimate: a two-car driveway runs about one to two weeks from tear-out to sanded, weather allowing; you can drive on it the day the joints are sanded. Sealing, if wanted, waits a few weeks for the pavers to dry.
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
Replace an asphalt driveway with pavers
The asphalt is broken up and hauled, the old gravel under it checked and usually deepened, and the paver driveway built on a fresh compacted base. Sunken spots at the garage and the apron are fixed in the base, not hidden.
New paver driveway on a new build or a gravel drive
A gravel drive already has some base under it; we test it, cut to firm soil where it is soft, bring the class 5 up in compacted lifts and build the paver surface on top. The final grade is set to the garage slab and the street.
Paver parking pad or turnaround
An extra bay beside the drive, a third stall, or a turnaround so nobody backs out onto a busy road. Built to the same driveway base spec and tied into the existing drive with a soldier course.
Heated paver driveway
Electric snow-melt cable or hydronic tubing laid in the bedding layer under the pavers so snow melts as it falls. The pavers, base and layout are ours; the electrical or boiler connection is done by a licensed electrician or plumber.
Concrete driveway with a paver band or apron
Not ready for a full paver drive? A paver border along a poured or asphalt driveway, or a paver apron at the garage, gives the look on a smaller budget. See the paver driveway apron page.
Paver Driveway Installation — Built on a Base Made for Vehicles: questions, answered
How deep does the base need to be under a paver driveway?
Deeper than under a patio, and it depends on the soil, so we do not give one number. The subgrade is cut down to firm soil and covered with geotextile fabric, then class 5 is built up in lifts, each compacted before the next, until the bed is dense enough to carry a truck and deep enough that frost under it does not lift the surface. Sandy soil needs the least; clay and soft ground need a deeper cut and more stone. We set the depth at the site measure by probing the soil.
Can I plow or snowblow a paver driveway?
Yes. A paver driveway is plowed the same way as concrete or asphalt: the blade rides on the surface and the joints are below it. The edge restraint keeps the field locked so the plow cannot push the outside rows out. Plow operators should use a rubber or polyurethane blade edge or shoes, and a snowblower with steel skid shoes should be set to ride on the surface. If a paver ever chips, it is lifted and swapped; nothing else moves.
Does salt damage a paver driveway?
Rock salt is hard on any concrete product over time, and pavers are concrete, but driveway-rated pavers are dense and hold up better than a poured slab. A sealer applied after the driveway has dried out slows salt and stains, and a salt-tolerant deicer or plain sand is easier on the surface than straight rock salt. The advantage of pavers is that a unit that does get damaged is lifted out and replaced, instead of the whole slab spalling.
Why herringbone for a paver driveway?
A herringbone pattern sets each paver at a right angle to its neighbors, so the field is locked in two directions and a tire turning on it cannot creep a row sideways. Running bond and stacked patterns have long continuous joints that let pavers walk under turning wheels. Herringbone at forty-five or ninety degrees, framed by a soldier course border, is the standard driveway layout for that reason; the border and the edge restraint hold the outside.
Paver driveway or concrete driveway in Minnesota?
Poured concrete is one slab, and frost and salt eventually crack and spall it; the fix is to tear it out. A paver driveway is thousands of units on a flexible base, so it moves slightly with the frost and settles back, and a spot that sinks or a paver that stains is relaid or swapped without touching the rest. Pavers cost more to build than asphalt and about the same as or more than concrete, depending on the paver. Asphalt is the least to build and the shortest-lived of the three here.
Do I need a permit for a paver driveway?
The apron, the part between the sidewalk or curb and your property line, is in the city right-of-way and most metro cities require a permit for any work on it, sometimes with rules about the material and the width. The driveway on your own lot usually does not need a permit, but cities do have limits on how wide a driveway can be and how much of a lot can be paved. We check both with your city and pull the right-of-way permit as part of the job.
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.
Related jobs we do
Paver Driveway Apron — Paver Border and Edge on a Driveway
The concrete apron at the garage is cracked, the asphalt edge is crumbling into the lawn, or you want a band of pavers to dress up a plain driveway — cut out, based and set to carry a vehicle.
Read morePermeable Paver Driveway — Pavers That Drain Rain Through the Base
A lot that is at its impervious-surface limit, a driveway that sends every storm into the garage or the neighbor's yard, or a lake lot with runoff rules — a driveway that drinks the rain instead of shedding it.
Read morePaver Patio Installation — Built on a Base for Minnesota Frost
A backyard paver patio that is still flat after the fifth winter: the base does that, and the base is where we spend the time.
Read morePaver Sealing and Polymeric Sand — Patio Cleaned, Re-Sanded and Sealed
The patio is still flat but the joints are empty, the weeds are winning and the color has gone dull — a clean, new joint sand and a coat of sealer bring it back without lifting a paver.
Read morePaver Edge Restraint Repair — Spreading Edges and Sunken Borders
The middle of the patio is fine; the outside row has walked into the lawn, the joints have opened, and the border is an inch low — the edge is the part that holds everything else, and it can be fixed by the foot.
Read moreBlock Steps Installation — Paver and Retaining Wall Block Stairs
Timber steps rotting into the hill, a front walk that ends in a scramble up the grade, or a retaining wall you need to get through — steps built in block that stay level and even.
Read morePage reviewed September 27, 2026 · JMB Builders LLC, MN license BC809005 · All pavers pages
Where we work
Pavers near you
Based in Zimmerman, scheduling across the Twin Cities metro. Closest first: