Paver driveways built for Ohio winters
Driveway Pavers in Columbus, OH
A driveway people notice from the street, on a base made to carry your cars. Ask for a free quote.
Serving Columbus and 31 towns, from Powell to Lithopolis and Hilliard to Pataskala
Get a Free Paver Driveway Quote
Tell us what you have now and what you picture: a new paver driveway, a conversion, a border, steps or a repair. You will hear back by phone about the details and a time to see the driveway in person.
- Free on-site quotes
- Herringbone built for cars
- Concrete tear-out handled
- Columbus and 31 towns
A few details now make the call back quicker. 👇
The first thing anyone sees of your house
Pull up to almost any Columbus house and the driveway fills more of the front view than the door, the windows or the lawn. Poured concrete reads as a flat gray strip. Pavers give that same strip a pattern, a border and a color picked to sit well with the brick, siding or stone. Columbus Driveway Pavers designs new paver driveways, converts worn concrete driveways to pavers, adds paver borders and aprons, lays matching front walks and entry steps, and lifts and relays pavers that have sunk. Every one of those jobs starts at the curb.
The look only lasts if the ground under it stays put. A driveway takes a few tons every time a car rolls in and turns its wheels, so it gets a deeper base than any patio. Soft Central Ohio clay is dug out, crushed stone goes back in thin lifts, and each lift is compacted before the next arrives. On top go about an inch of screeded bedding sand, the pavers, a restraint along every open edge so the field cannot creep sideways, and polymeric sand in the joints. Skimp on any layer and the first sign is a dip where your tires run.
Winter is where pavers earn their place here. Central Ohio freezes and thaws many times between December and March, and a poured slab answers that with cracks. A paver driveway is thousands of small, dense units with joints between them, so the surface moves a hair and settles back instead of splitting. If one unit ever cracks or takes an oil stain, that single paver comes out and a new one goes in, with no patch line to show for it. We serve Columbus and the suburbs and villages around it, from Powell and New Albany down to Commercial Point and Lithopolis.
Know-how
Design notes that hold up under tires
- 01
Herringbone for the driving lanes
Laid at 45 or 90 degrees, herringbone locks every paver against its neighbors in both directions, so turning tires cannot shove rows out of line. Running bond and stacked layouts look clean but belong on walks and borders.
- 02
Choose a thicker, squarer unit
Driveway pavers are typically about 80 millimeters thick, compared with roughly 60 for a patio, and they are not much longer than they are wide. Long, slim plank shapes photograph beautifully but tend to rock and snap when wheels turn on them.
- 03
Frame it with a border
A soldier course along the edges, often a shade darker than the field, hides the herringbone cuts and makes the whole driveway look finished from the road. It also gives the edge restraint a straight line to hold.
- 04
Match the house, not the sample board
Hold paver blends up against your brick, roof and trim in daylight before deciding. A blend of two or three tones hides tire marks and the occasional replaced unit far better than one flat color.
Driveway paver services
Six ways to put pavers in front of your house
Start from bare ground, convert what you have, or dress up the concrete you plan to keep.
Paver Driveways
A new paver driveway designed around the front of your house and built on a base deep enough for daily cars.
More on paver driveways
Concrete to Paver Conversion
Your worn concrete driveway broken out and hauled away, then rebuilt in pavers on a brand new base.
More on concrete to paver conversion
Paver Borders & Aprons
Paver ribbons along the sides or a paver apron at the entrance to dress up a concrete driveway you keep.
More on paver borders & aprons
Front Walks & Paver Walkways
Front walks and side paths in pavers that match the driveway and lead guests straight to the door.
More on front walks & paver walkways
Paver Entry Steps
Entry steps of block risers and paver treads that carry the front walk up to the door in matching materials.
More on paver entry steps
Paver Driveway Repair
Sunken areas, spreading edges and broken pavers lifted, rebuilt on a firm base and relaid with your own pavers.
More on paver driveway repair
Questions
Paver driveway questions, answered plainly
How do pavers hold up to Ohio winters and road salt?
Better than a poured driveway, provided the base drains. Each paver is a dense, factory-made unit, and the joints let the surface move a little through freeze and thaw instead of cracking. Salt tracked in on tires does not eat at a good paver the way it scales young concrete, and any unit that ever chips can be swapped.
Do I need a permit for a paver driveway or a new apron?
Usually for the apron, sometimes for the rest. The stretch where your driveway meets the street sits in the public right-of-way, and Columbus and each suburb have their own engineering office that sets the rules there, including what material may go in. HOAs often want to see pattern and color first, and the 811 locate comes before any digging.
What decides the cost of a paver driveway?
Size comes first, then how much has to come out, since tearing out an old concrete driveway adds work a bare yard does not. Base depth on soft clay, the paver and pattern you pick, borders, curves and how easily equipment can reach the spot all move the number. A free quote at your house puts real figures on it.
Which towns do you serve?
Columbus and the ring of towns around it. That runs north to Worthington, Westerville and Powell, northwest to Dublin, Hilliard and Upper Arlington, east through Bexley, Gahanna, New Albany, Reynoldsburg and Pataskala, and south to Grove City, Groveport, Canal Winchester and Lithopolis, plus the small villages tucked between them.
How long does a paver driveway take, and when can I park on it?
A typical two-car driveway takes several days to about a week once work starts, longer if old concrete has to be broken out or the weather turns wet. There is no curing wait like poured concrete; once the joint sand has had a dry day to set, you can drive on it. Paver season here runs through most months; only frozen or waterlogged ground stops it.
Can you put pavers over my existing concrete driveway?
Not for a full driveway. Cracked slabs keep moving, and pavers set on top of one follow every crack and heave. The concrete comes out, a proper base goes in, and the pavers sit on that. If the slab is sound and you only want a fresh look, a paver border or apron is the lighter option.
Will the pavers sink where the tires go?
Not on a properly built base. Ruts come from a base that was too thin, poorly compacted or sitting on wet clay with nowhere to drain, and they show up first in the two tire paths. Compacting the base in lifts, laying fabric over soft soil and fixing a firm edge restraint keep the surface flat.
Examples
Paver driveways, borders and front walks
Example photos of the type of work.
How it works
From the curb view to the compacted base
- 1
Look from the street
We stand where your guests park, walk the driveway with you and talk about pattern, color and border against the house you actually have. We also ask what parks there and how often.
- 2
Mark it and get a locate
The new edges are painted on the ground so you can judge the shape from the sidewalk. A utility locate through OUPS gets buried lines flagged before any machine digs.
- 3
Dig deep, build the base
The old surface and soft soil come out, crushed stone goes in compacted lifts, and the grade is set so water heads for the street or the yard, never the garage door.
- 4
Lay, edge and lock
Pavers go down in the pattern you chose, edge cuts are made clean, the restraint is fixed and joint sand is swept, vibrated in and set with water.
Service area
Paver driveways across Columbus and its suburbs
We quote driveway paver work in Columbus and 31 towns around it, from the Olentangy and Scioto valleys out past I-270. Find your town below.
Franklin County
Pickaway County
Fairfield County
Delaware County
Licking County
See your driveway the way the street will
Tell us about the house and the driveway, and we will set up a free quote at the curb.