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Unilock Construction in Los Altos, CA | Viceroy Construction
Unilock paver work in Los Altos comes down to one thing most contractors miss: the base. Pavers fail here because of what’s underneath them, not the stone itself. Viceroy Construction provides independent Unilock paver installation and repair across Los Altos zip codes 94022, 94023, and 94024, and we build every base to handle the clay soil, heritage trees, and wet winters this town throws at a driveway or patio. Call (877) 358-6557 for a free estimate on paver driveways, patios, or replacements.
Why Los Altos Residents Choose Us for Unilock Service
We’ve laid Unilock pavers across dozens of Los Altos ranch properties and rebuilds, so we know how their systems behave on shrink-swell clay and under Peninsula winter rain. Brussels Block, Beacon Hill, Sandon, Town Hall: each series has its own face texture and joint behavior, and that matters when you’re matching a repair to a patio that was installed twenty years ago. Neil Drummond, our owner, trained in the building trades program at West Valley College, where the coursework in structural work and concrete gave him the foundation he still uses when scoping a paver job. The details you don’t see are the ones that matter most, and on a Los Altos lot, the details are all in the base.
We’re an independent installer, not authorized, sponsored, or warranty-backed by Unilock. That independence works in your favor. We specify the paver and base that actually fit your lot, not a dealer’s quota. Los Altos homeowners call us because we’re local to the South Bay, we stock common Unilock series for fast turnaround, and we tell you straight when a failing patio is a base problem rather than a paver problem. For the full scope of what we do, see our Unilock sales & service page.
Styles & brands we work with
Common Unilock Construction Problems We Solve in Los Altos
- Efflorescence on smooth-face pavers after wet winters. Los Altos gets real rain from November through March, and when base drainage wasn’t sloped away from the house, moisture wicks up through the pavers and leaves that white, chalky bloom on Brussels Block and other smooth-face lines. We fix the drainage, not just the stain.
- Polymeric sand washout and joint erosion. On driveways and patios where a shallow base was laid over expansive clay without proper excavation or geotextile, the joints erode and weeds start coming through. Los Altos’ clay soil expands and contracts with moisture, and that movement breaks the sand bond fast. We re-excavate, lay geotextile, and compact aggregate in lifts.
- Edge restraint failure and paver creep at drive aprons. 1950s ranch lots in Los Altos often meet the sidewalk with very little room for a proper curb. Without edge restraint, pavers creep outward and the driveway loses its line. We install buried edge restraint that holds on the tightest setbacks.
- Differential settling over old utility trenches. Los Altos was built out by the 1960s, and buried gas, water, and sewer lines run under a lot of front yards. We’ve pulled up pavers that settled into ruts exactly where the old base crossed a trench. The fix is re-compaction at depth, not a cosmetic patch.
- Frost-heave and settling across wide front yards. Los Altos doesn’t get deep frost, but shallow pier-and-beam crawlspace vents and old utility lines under wide front yards create uneven compaction zones. Pavers bridge those soft spots and eventually dip or heave. We design the base to account for what’s underneath, before the first paver goes down.
Unilock Service in Los Altos: What Local Conditions Mean for Your Equipment
Los Altos’ 1950s ranch lots are wide and shallow, so a paver driveway or patio has to work around heritage street trees and shallow pier-and-beam venting right at the front setback. That’s a Los Altos-specific condition you won’t find in Sunnyvale or our Unilock service in Mountain View to the same degree. In those neighboring cities, lots were platted deeper, and the tree canopy sits further back. Here, roots from mature street trees can run under the driveway apron, and the crawlspace vents on those original pier-and-beam foundations need air flow. A paver base that blocks venting or traps moisture against the foundation creates problems that show up years later. Drainage and air flow have to be designed in before the base goes down, not added after. On a Brussels Block driveway replacement off a ranch street near downtown Los Altos, our crew pulled up pavers that had settled into ruts where the old base crossed a buried utility trench. We re-excavated to a proper depth, laid geotextile and compacted aggregate in lifts, reset the original Brussels Block, and sloped the apron so winter runoff now sheets to the street instead of the garage. The homeowner kept the paver look they liked and finally stopped puddling at the door.
Unilock Models & Products We Service in Los Altos
We service and install the Unilock series most common on Los Altos properties: Brussels Block, Beacon Hill, Sandon, and Town Hall. For repairs, we match the original series and color so the fix blends instead of reading as a patch. We use genuine Unilock pavers for replacements, matched to what’s already on your lot. But the parts debate is the wrong debate: we build the base ourselves rather than trusting whatever aggregate is under the old install. If the pavers are still sound and the base is the problem, relaying is often cheaper than replacing stone, and we’ll tell you that plainly. We keep common Unilock series and matching polymeric sand stocked locally so Los Altos turnarounds don’t drag on while materials ship from out of state.
See the difference
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AfterUnilock Service Pricing in Los Altos
What drives the cost on a Los Altos paver job is base depth, excavation, and access. A driveway on a wide, shallow lot with heritage trees costs more to prep than a flat patio in a cleared rear yard. Here are the ranges we quote from, based on Saratoga market calibration and consistent across our service area:
| Service | Price Range |
|---|---|
| Paver Driveway Installation | $7,000 – $18,000 |
| Paver Patio Installation | $3,500 – $11,000 |
| Driveway Replacement | $5,000 – $14,000 |
| Driveway Sealing | $250 – $700 |
| Concrete Driveway Installation | $4,500 – $12,000 |
Every free estimate includes a written, line-item quote so you can see exactly where the money goes: excavation, base material, geotextile, edge restraint, pavers, and labor. No allowances that balloon later. Call (877) 358-6557 and we’ll come out, look at your lot, and give you a number that means something.
Serving Los Altos, CA — Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Los Altos 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 – Unilock Construction in Los Altos
Yes, in most cases. We source genuine Unilock pavers matched to the original series and color, and we use them for repairs and additions so the new work blends with the old. Matching gets harder if the original line has been discontinued or the color has weathered unevenly, but we’ll tell you that before any work starts. Call (877) 358-6557 and we’ll take a look at what’s on your lot.
That’s almost always a base drainage problem, not a paver problem. Los Altos’ wet winters push water through the pavers, and if the base wasn’t sloped away from the house or the aggregate is too shallow, the moisture wicks back up and leaves mineral deposits on the surface. We fix the slope and the base, and the puddling and efflorescence stop. Call (877) 358-6557 for a drainage assessment.
Driveway replacements and permeable paver patios often trigger Los Altos’ design review and lot coverage rules, especially on those wide, shallow ranch lots where a second-story addition already pushed the setback to its limit. We check your specific property’s zoning and heritage tree status before we quote, and we pull permits when they’re required. Call (877) 358-6557 and we’ll sort out the paperwork for you.
For most ranch properties here, yes. Pavers handle the clay soil movement better than a poured slab because they flex at the joints instead of cracking. They also let water drain through, which matters when you’re working around heritage tree roots and crawlspace vents. Concrete is cheaper upfront, but on Los Altos’ expansive clay, a slab will crack. Call (877) 358-6557 and we’ll walk you through the trade-offs for your specific lot.
We slope the paver surface to sheet water toward the street, and we design the base with drainage channels where the lot’s natural grade fights us. Los Altos’ shallow front setbacks leave little room for a conventional curb, so we build edge restraint that holds the pavers while letting water through at the right points. Call (877) 358-6557 for an exact plan for your front yard.
Service Areas Near Los Altos
We serve Los Altos, Los Altos service area, and the surrounding South Bay communities. You’ll find us working paver jobs in Saratoga, Monte Sereno, Los Gatos, Cupertino, and Campbell. For Unilock work specifically in the hills, see our Unilock service in Los Altos Hills page. We also cover the Unilock service in Seven Trees area of San Jose.
Book Your Unilock Service in Los Altos Today
If your Los Altos driveway or patio is puddling, creeping, or blooming with efflorescence, we’ll come out, diagnose the base, and give you a written quote. Call (877) 358-6557 to schedule your free estimate. We work across Los Altos, from the ranch streets near downtown to the hillside properties on the fringe, and we also provide Loyola Unilock service in neighboring areas.
Written by Neil Drummond, Owner at Viceroy Construction, serving Los Altos and the South Bay.