The Homeowner’s Guide to

Paving Stones

Introduction.If you’re interested in beautifying your home with paving stones, curious about the benefits of pavers versus other paving materials or need help picking the right installer, this guide will help you get started. We’ve written this informational booklet to help you make the right decisions about your home improvement project. We aren’t trying to fill up pages with long-winded explanations and technical jargon you don’t need to know. We want to give you useful facts and tips that put you in control of your construction project and not at the mercy of the contractor.

As you read through these ten steps, some of the things you will learn are:

• What do you, the customer, actually need to know about installing paving stones?

• How to tell the difference between a company you can trust and one just looking to make a quick sale?

• Is the company an actual construction company or are they just a marketing company? Meaning: do they actually construct projects themselves or simply subcontract to other contractors after the sale is made?

• What free resources are available to learn about any construction company—not just the good, but the bad as well?

We hope this guide proves useful to you and that you get exactly what you’re looking for. As with anything else, the price you pay will determine the quality of work and materials that go into the job. Choosing an installer based on price alone is a sure-fire way to end up with problems and mistakes that end up costing you in the long run. It’s important to look at all the information and see what separates the expensive installers from the cheap guys, and what they offer that allows them to charge more.

1. Why Choose Paving Stones?Paving stones are compressed concrete bricks that are used for driveways, patios, walkways and more. What makes them unique is that instead of being cemented into the ground, they are laid down on a bed of sand, then additional sand is poured between the joints. This creates an interlocking system of stones that is not only very strong and secure, but also allows flexibility if needed. This means that paving stones won’t crack due to weather conditions or movement. They are even earthquake resistant, which makes them a great choice if you live in Southern California.

Paving stones are four times stronger than traditional poured concrete. Because of their strength and durability, paving stones are used in many industrial settings such as airports, shipping docks and factories. Commercial spaces like outdoor shopping malls and office buildings frequently use pavers to create an upscale environment for their customers. And of course, they are extremely popular for residential upgrades including new driveways, pool decks, patios and entryways.

One of the great things about paving stones is how easy they are to maintain. If grease, oil or paint gets on your pavers, you can easily replace them. It’s as simple as popping out the old one and inserting a new one.

2. Collect Examples for Your Designer!This is a very easy and fun step to do. Simply drive around your neighborhood and look at the different driveways. See who has a typical concrete or asphalt driveway and who has a paving stone driveway. What difference does it make to the property? What style is your favorite and why? This may involve getting out of the car and taking a closer look. Pay attention to colors, patterns, and textures—anything that makes it unique. This will give you a clear idea of what you’re looking for and narrow down your choices before you even meet with a contractor.

Besides driving around the neighborhood, you should also gather images of paving stone jobs you like from the Internet, magazines and books. You want to collect as many ideas as you can of the types of paving stone styles you like. This will be a big help to the contractor or designer, who will most likely know what kind of stone it is just by looking at the photo. He can show you the colors and sizes it’s available in, as well as similar stones you might also like.

You can do a Google Image Search to find many images you can use. Websites like Pinterest and Houzz are great resources to get you started. You can create an account and fill it with all your ideas, or just save the images to your computer.

Although paving stones come in hundreds of sizes and colors, there are a few main styles that you should be familiar with. Knowing about these will help you when you’re doing this step.

Tumbled Paving Stones

Tumbled stones are manufactured the same way as non-tumbled stones, but are then placed into a machine that tumbles them around. This process chips away at the edges and gives them a worn-out look.

Non-Tumbled Paving Stones

Non-Tumbled paving stones are compressed, cut and palletized with no further alterations. They have smooth, beveled edges and look brand new when they are first installed.

For tumbled stones, you can expect to pay about $1.00 per square foot more than you would for a non-tumbled stone of the same kind.

3-Piece Tumbled3-Piece Non-Tumbled

Square TumbledSquare

Rectangular TumbledRectangular

Tumbled Paving StonesNon-Tumbled Paving Stones

Paving Stone Sealer

Paving stone sealer is a protective coating (applied after installation) that offers two big benefits to your new paving area. First, it makes cleaning up stains and spills easy to do. Simply spraying the stones down with water is, in most cases, all that’s needed. Secondly, adding sealer stabilizes the joints and keeps the sand held in place, which prevents weeds from growing between the stones. Paver sealer is available in a wet or dry look. If you want the stones to remain natural looking, you would select a dry look. If you’d like to give the stones a rich shine, like they’ve been recently washed, you should go with the wet look.

3. What Do You Want to Create with Paving Stones?After collecting examples and seeing the different styles you can achieve, it’s time to decide what you want to create with paving stones. Perhaps you originally wanted only a driveway, but after collecting images you decided that your walkway should be paved as well. Or maybe you never thought about adding a fire pit to your patio, but after seeing an example you think it would be a great idea.

Whatever the case may be, it’s important to know all you can do with paving stones. We’ve listed the different outdoor settings you can enhance and add to. Knowing these and deciding what you want will help the designer know what types of paving stones to use and how to incorporate them into your design so the spaces blend together.

Driveways Patios

Pool Decks Walkways

Fire Pits Fireplaces

Seating Walls Steps

4. Go to the Contractor’s Place of Business.Ask to set up an appointment at the contractor’s office. Just asking this question will give you a lot of information you can use to make your final decision. If he hems and haws and does not agree to a meeting, beware.

Many times, contractors will tell the homeowner that they use their own crews. But, after you press them to go to their office, it turns out that they’re working out of an apartment or office, own no equipment and have no yard. In that case, they don’t have their own crews!

At a minimum, you should put the contractor’s address into Google Maps. If it shows up as a PO Box or an apartment complex (or even an office building), this should be a red flag that you are not hiring a real construction company.

To check and see if you picked an installation company, use the Google Maps: Street View feature. First, find the address of the paving stone company. You can do this by visiting their website and finding the Contact Us page, or by typing in the company’s name followed by the word “address” into Google.

Go to www.google.com/maps and type in the address of the company.Then, click on the photo with the words, “Street View.”

This will give you an image of the building without having to drive over there. From this, you’ll be able to see if the building looks like it belongs to an installation company or not.

In the case of marketing companies, many times the location will be a simple office building, or in some even worse cases, a UPS store. You’ll want to make sure there is a real location available, should something go wrong and you need to speak to someone in the company.

Installation Company

Marketing Company

5. Using the Internet to Learn About Any Company.The Internet is an incredible tool for gathering information and resources about the company you plan to work with—both what they want you to see and what they hope you won’t stumble across. With a little bit of searching, you can find out all you need to about any company you’re thinking of doing business with. In fact, there are several websites with the sole purpose of helping you do just that! We’ll go through them one by one, giving you a basic overview and instructions on finding the company.

Google is the largest and most popular search tool on the Internet, and will be your biggest help in finding information. The best way to start is to simply type the name of the company into the search bar and go through the first couple pages of results. Any flagrancy or critical issue can usually be expected to appear here, without any further searching. If you don’t see anything suspicious, you can also try typing in the name of the company followed by the word “complaint” or “report.” This will narrow down the search results and bring up complaints or charges against the company, provided there are any.

For example, if you’re trying to find out about a company called AcePavers, you would type “Ace Pavers complaints” into the search bar and see if anything comes up.

Angie’s List is the most reliable website you can use for finding a builder you can trust. The reason for this is that they use a subscription-based service, so anyone who wants to see or post reviews must register with them and pay a small fee. This ensures the reviews are from homeowners who are serious about their project, not angry competitors. Additionally, Angie’s List has a Complaint Resolution Department to intervene if you’re unsatisfied with your project.

BBB is a nonprofit organization that serves to uphold business ethics and provide customers with recourse, should they come across a dishonest company or service provider. A lot of people think the BBB is a government entity, but it is in fact a nonprofit organization there to make sure you’re treated fairly.

Yelp is an online review website that has grown in popularity over the years, becoming one of the largest in the world. However, it is not always the most reliable source to get the true picture of a company. Many good reviews can end up getting filtered out. It’s free and very easy to make an account and begin posting reviews about companies. But because of this, some of the reviews you see may be from people who are either spiteful, can’t be pleased no matter what or are just looking for a place to complain. Yelp is also the only review site that uses computer software to filter reviews it thinks are fake or insincere. While it does do a very good job, sometimes honest, positive reviews get removed because the computer doesn’t think they’re genuine. So it’s best to look at other review sites as well, in order to get a full picture of the company.

Besides these, you can also look at the following sites to give you good information:

Ripoff Report: www.ripoffreport.com

City Search: www.citysearch.com

Complaints: www.complaints.com

6. What Kind of Company Is It?There are three basic types of companies that do pavers. The first is the landscaping or masonry company that might do one or two jobs a month. Their crews are most likely not trained in the proper installation of pavers, so beware.

The second and third types both specialize in paving stone installation, but one is really a marketing company that sells pavers. They have no yard, no trucks, no equipment and no tools. They are simply there to market their services and take your order. Then, once you sign, these companies will hire subcontractors to actually build and install the paving stone job. When this happens, the subcontractor subs to another and even another and the actual workers at your home have no worker’s compensation coverage at all. This may sound extreme, but the vast majority of workers that end up at your home with these marketing companies have no worker’s compensation coverage. In this case, if an injury were to occur to a crew member while working on your property, you could be liable.

The last type of company is made up of contractors and builders first and marketing and sales personnel second. This might not seem like a big deal, but there are some real benefits to having a company that sells and installs paving stones. For one, they can ensure their crews and contractors are fully-trained and deliver the best work. They will often have a much better warranty and maintenance program than companies who sub-contract. This is because they have the resources to take care of these types of problems. And most importantly, their crews will be fully insured.

7. What Do the Manufacturers Have to Say?First of all, any construction company that says they manufacture their own paving stones is lying to you. There are no builders who also manufacture their own pavers. There are five main paving stone manufacturers in Southern California and you can bet they get their stones from one or more of these companies.

The five paving stone manufacturers are:

Angelus (951) 328-9115

Belgard (877) 235-4273

Olsen (949) 728-0415

Acker-Stone (951) 674-0047

Orco (951) 685-8498

You can call any of these manufacturers and ask them if they do business with the company you’re looking into, and if they do, what their experience is with them. They’ll be happy to tell you about them and can give you a lot of valuable information. Also, sometimes when a contractor or construction company doesn’t do a good job, the homeowners will go straight to the manufacturers to complain. So this is another good way to learn about what customers are saying about the contractor.

As a final note, most companies will have two or three manufacturers that they primarily use; few use all five. So if you call a manufacturer asking about Ace Pavers and they’ve never heard of them, don’t immediately take it as a bad sign. Just try calling the next manufacturer and see if they do business with them.

8. Do They Have Referrals?In addition to the reviews you find on the Internet, you should ask the company to show you referrals. Any company that’s been in business for several years should have a minimum of 100 referrals.

This list should include the customer’s name, address and phone number. You should ask to see the full list, not just a handful. Anyone can put together a list of three or four previous customers.

Even better is to get a list of jobs they have done in your immediate area. Maybe one of the names on the list is your neighbor or someone you know.

Some companies might even provide something like this:

9. Prepare for the Meeting.When you’ve found a company that seems honest, professional and right for your project, it’s time to set up an appointment. Many companies will offer free consultations and estimates; if they don’t, you should skip that company right from the start. You shouldn’t have to pay anything just to know what your driveway will cost to build.

Before the designer or salesman comes to your house to inspect the property and go over your project with you, make sure you have everything you need ready. This includes the examples you’ve collected from step two and a list of the questions you have for him.

Make sure that you have enough time set aside to complete the meeting. There will be a lot of information to go over, as well as the questions you have, so it’s best to have two hours free to get it all done. Also, if there are two people who will be making the decision (such as a husband and wife), they should both be at the meeting. Otherwise, the missing partner will inevitably ask the other party questions he or she cannot answer.

DO NOT choose a designer or company if they…

1. Are more interested in selling than educating.

A designer is there to facilitate you in making a decision. He does that through education, not sales. Evaluate the contractor and decide if he’s genuinely interested in educating you about his products and services, or if he’s just using sales gimmicks to get a quick sale out of you.

2. Can’t listen.

This is extremely important to remember, as it can mean the difference between a pleasant and a horrible experience. From the initial meeting, make very sure your designer or contractor is really listening to you and understands what you want. If you don’t get the idea that he understands you or you feel like he isn’t listening to what you want, don’t pick him! Even if he shows you a few great examples or speaks in big words, even if he tells you not to worry because he’ll take care of everything, if he can’t listen you shouldn’t hire him.

3. Have a deal that ends today or drop the price on the first “Let me think about it.”

A designer shouldn’t be there to pitch his specials to you; he should be educating you and answering your questions. Beware of a salesman who steps foot in your door and immediately goes into the deal of the day, like a 20% discount if you sign today. These people are usually making up for poor knowledge, inferior products or both.

Additionally, when you receive a quote or estimate, take ten seconds to think it over. If the designer changes his mind in this time and drops the price “just for you,” this isn’t a good sign. You want the company that gives you a fair price for the quality of work performed, not the company that will do whatever it takes to make the sale. Remember, you aren’t looking for the cheapest price. You’re looking for the best deal. These two are rarely one and the same. Higher-priced companies cost more because they use materials and workmanship that the lower-priced ones don’t and can back up their warranties when promised.

“An expensive installation done right is still cheaper than a poor installation done twice.“

10. Signing the Contract.When you are confident you’ve found the right builder and are ready to get started, it’s time to sign the contract. But before you do, look it over carefully and make sure you are getting exactly what was discussed. Here are a few points to remember to check before you sign any construction contract.

1. Did you receive a plan or drawing?

Make sure you receive a drawing or a plan with your contract so you can see what everything will look like after it’s completed. This is normally called a site layout and will show the dimensions of the space and what area will be paved. Some companies will create one and let you see it, but won’t let you keep a copy of it. You should make sure anyone you hire will give you your own copy of the site layout. It’s good to have one and you may also catch mistakes or discrepancies before the construction has begun.

2. Did you receive an itemized estimate?

Any contract you sign has to include an itemized estimate of all work being performed. Otherwise, the company can later add charges for work you thought was already included in the original contract. This way, you know exactly what you’re paying for and can make sure that all materials, brands, stone types and colors (and any additional items promised to you) are included in the contract. If it’s not included, they can go back on their word and there isn’t anything you can do about it. Get it all written out clearly in the contract before you sign.

3. Do you know what isn’t included?

Besides knowing exactly what you’re getting, make sure you know what isn’t included in your contract. There may be things like paving stone sealer, maintenance and repair that may or may not be part of your contract. You should also see if any kind of warranty is included in your contract.

4. What kind of payment schedule do you have?

Make sure whichever type of payment agreement was worked out is clearly stated in the contract. By law, the contractor can only collect 10% of the project or $1,000 (whichever is lower) for a deposit. The next payment should only be due after the demolition is complete and the pavers have arrived at your home. If the contractor asks to get 50% of the job “for materials,” don’t fall for it. Any reliable contractor should have accounts with the manufacturers and shouldn’t need the money upfront for it.