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Why San Bernardino Homeowners Choose Unilock Construction
Unilock paver driveways, patios, and walkways are some of the most durable hardscapes you can put on a San Bernardino property – when they’re built on a base that can handle our expansive clay soils and monsoon-season runoff. We’re an independent Unilock construction contractor serving San Bernardino, and we handle tear-outs, re-leveling, re-sanding, and full new installations on Unilock Brussels Block, Cambridge Pavingstones, Beacon Hill Flagstone, and Copthorne systems. If your Unilock pavers are shifting, washing out, or blooming white with efflorescence, call (855) 473-5620 – we’ll tell you whether you need a re-sand, a re-level, or a partial rebuild, and we’ll quote it straight.
Why Trust San Bernardino Contractors for Your Unilock Construction?
Ruben Castillo, owner of San Bernardino Contractors, grew up on the Westside of San Bernardino watching his uncle reroof houses and frame garages on a shoestring budget. That hands-on education stuck. He went on to complete construction technology training at San Bernardino Valley College, where he got serious about reading plans, understanding load paths, and not cutting corners on anything structural. That’s the standard we bring to every Unilock job we touch.
Unilock pavers are only as good as the base under them. We’ve pulled up enough failed San Bernardino driveways to know that most problems aren’t the pavers – they’re what’s underneath. Soft alluvial clay, under-built aggregate, missing edge restraints. Our crew diagnoses the base first, then the stones. We use genuine Unilock pavers and matching ArmorTec units on replacements so color and texture blends hold up, and we re-sand with quality polymeric joint sand, not cheap filler that washes out after the first hard rain. As an independent Unilock service provider, we’re not tied to a dealer’s sales agenda – we’ll tell you when a repair makes sense and when you’re throwing money at a base that needs to be rebuilt.
Styles & brands we work with
Common Unilock Construction Problems We Fix in San Bernardino
- Washed-out polymeric joint sand on Unilock Brussels Block driveways. San Bernardino’s summer monsoon downpours hit hard and fast. If joint sand wasn’t activated properly or the right polymer blend for our heat wasn’t used, water cuts channels through the joints and pavers start to shift and rut under vehicle loads. We see this constantly on driveways in the older flat-grid neighborhoods around downtown and the numbered streets.
- Efflorescence on Brussels Block and Cambridge Pavingstones with ArmorTec. That chalky white mineral bloom appears when moisture wicks up through the paver base and evaporates fast in our dry, 100°F-plus summers. It’s not a defect in the stone – it’s a moisture movement problem, and cleaning it without addressing where the water is coming from just means it returns after the next wet winter.
- Edge restraint failure and paver creep at driveway aprons. Older Unilock installations in San Bernardino often lack a proper concrete curb lock. Where the driveway meets the garage slab or the street apron, pavers spread outward under repeated vehicle loading. The edges flare, joints open up, and the outer rows start to look like they’re sliding toward the lawn.
- Settlement dips and ponding over patios. San Bernardino’s expansive clay soils swell when wet and shrink when dry. If the compacted aggregate base wasn’t built thick enough – or the native clay wasn’t properly excavated and replaced – you get low spots that hold water after rain. We’ve re-graded more than a few Unilock Beacon Hill patios where the center had sunk two inches below the surrounding deck.
- Heaving and uneven pavers near the street or along retaining walls. Street-side sections catch drainage from the road crown, and wall-adjacent sections trap runoff from a slope. Both saturate the clay, which expands and lifts the pavers. The stones themselves are fine – the subgrade wasn’t stabilized for water loading.
If it’s not built right the first time, you’re just paying for it twice. We’ve said that on job sites from Unilock in Fontana to the Inland Empire, and it applies double to hardscape base work that nobody sees once the pavers go down.
Unilock Parts & Our Repair-vs-Replace Approach
When we replace cracked or color-mismatched Unilock pavers, we use genuine Unilock units – sourcing Brussels Block, Cambridge with ArmorTec, Beacon Hill Flagstone, and Copthorne pavers from local San Bernardino suppliers so the replacement stones match the field in both texture and tone. ArmorTec is Unilock’s surface treatment that hardens the paver’s face against wear and UV fading, and it matters for color consistency here in our high-UV, semi-arid climate.
For joint sand and edge restraints, we stock quality polymeric sand blends and proven aluminum or plastic edge lock systems – not off-brand filler that breaks down after a season. Here’s our honest repair-vs-replace rule: if the pavers themselves are intact and the problem is sand washout or edge creep, we repair. If the base has settled, cratered, or failed under load, we re-level or partially rebuild that section. Patching new pavers over a bad foundation is how you end up paying for Unilock repair in Bloomington and beyond twice. Call (855) 473-5620 and we’ll tell you which one you actually need.
Our Unilock Service Process – Step by Step
- 1
Diagnosis. We walk the entire hardscape and check joint integrity, edge restraint condition, surface slope and drainage, and any visible settlement. We probe the base in problem areas to see what’s happening under the pavers – not just on top. On older San Bernardino installations, we’re specifically looking for clay pockets that never got excavated.
- 2
Repair or install plan. We mark out the affected area, determine whether we’re doing a re-sand, a targeted paver replacement, an edge-lock retrofit, or a partial base rebuild. If it’s a full new install, we spec the proper excavation depth, base rock gradation, and compaction lifts for our expansive soils.
- 3
Execution. We pull the affected field, correct the base, reset Unilock pavers with matching units, install or replace edge restraints, and sweep in polymeric joint sand that’s activated to lock the pavers together. We keep a clean job site – neighbors notice, and most of our work comes from referrals on the same block.
- 4
Test and verify. We check slope and drainage, confirm joints are hard and locked, and walk the surface for movement. If we re-built a section, we verify water runs away from the house and the garage slab, not toward it.
- 5
Warranty and follow-up. We stand behind our base work and installation. If something moves after a storm season, we come back and make it right.
See the difference
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AfterUnilock Products We Service & Install in San Bernardino
We work on the full Unilock hardscape range you’ll find across San Bernardino yards and driveways: Brussels Block – the tumbled, antique-look workhorse that shows up on a lot of older 1950s – 70s tract homes in the flat grid; Cambridge Pavingstones with ArmorTec – a smooth, hardened-face paver popular for patios and walkways; Beacon Hill Flagstone – a larger, asymmetric flagstone-style unit often used for foot paths and pool surrounds; and Copthorne – available in both standard and permeable versions, and a go-to where drainage matters. We stock common replacement and color-blend stock locally for fast turnaround on repair work across 92401 through 92404.
We Also Service These Brands
Unilock isn’t the only product line we work with. As a full-scope San Bernardino general contractor, we also install KraftMaid cabinetry, Cambria and Silestone quartz countertops, and Kohler plumbing fixtures. If your Unilock patio project runs up against a kitchen remodel or an exterior door replacement, one crew can handle all of it – no subcontractor shuffle.
FAQs – Unilock Construction Service in San Bernardino
Yes. We source genuine Unilock units and match by product line, color, and age as closely as possible. Unilock pavers fade very little because of the manufacturing process and treatments like ArmorTec, so a new unit from the same color blend will usually blend within a season or two. For driveways where fading is more pronounced, we can selectively reset and re-sand sections to bring the whole field together. Call (855) 473-5620 and we’ll take a look at your specific color match.
That’s efflorescence – mineral salts dissolved in moisture wicking up through the paver base and drying on the surface. It’s common on Brussels Block and Cambridge pavers in San Bernardino because our clay soils hold water after winter rains and our dry heat pulls it up fast. Cleaning removes the film, but if you don’t fix where the water is entering the base, it comes back. We can assess your drainage and base condition before recommending a lasting fix. Call (855) 473-5620 for an evaluation.
A new Unilock paver driveway in San Bernardino typically runs $7,000 to $18,000 depending on square footage, access, and how much base preparation the site needs. A paver patio runs $3,500 to $11,000. Full driveway replacement – including tear-out, regrading, and new base work – typically falls between $5,000 and $14,000. Here’s the breakdown:
| Service | Typical San Bernardino Price Range |
|---|---|
| Paver Driveway Installation | $7,000 – $18,000 |
| Paver Patio Installation | $3,500 – $11,000 |
| Driveway Replacement | $5,000 – $14,000 |
Every site is different – soil conditions, drainage patterns, and access all affect the final number. Call (855) 473-5620 for an exact quote, and we’ll walk the property and give you a line-item estimate before any work starts.
Yes – if the base is built for San Bernardino’s conditions. The pavers themselves handle our 100°F-plus summers and UV exposure without cracking or fading. What fails is the system around them: under-built aggregate bases that settle on expansive clay, joint sand that wasn’t activated for our heat, and missing edge restraints that let pavers creep under vehicle loads. We’ve had a homeowner off the foothills in Unilock in Rialto and north San Bernardino with a Unilock Brussels Block driveway where the polymeric sand had washed out and two rows of pavers were rucking up against the garage apron. We pulled the affected field, found the base had settled into a soft clay pocket, re-compacted and re-graded that section, reset the Brussels Block with a fresh concrete edge lock, and re-sanded with polymeric joint sand. The driveway now drains away from the slab and the pavers lock tight without the ruts.
Usually repairable. Street-side heaving in San Bernardino almost always comes down to water saturating the clay subgrade – either from road runoff or from a failed base layer that let moisture in. We can pull the affected rows, excavate the soft soil, install a stable base, reset the pavers, and lock the edge. If the base has failed across the whole driveway, we’ll tell you straight and quote a partial rebuild. Call (855) 473-5620 – estimates are free.
No. Unilock’s product warranty covers manufacturing defects in the pavers themselves, not installation. Using an independent contractor for repair or replacement work does not void the manufacturer’s warranty, and we use genuine Unilock units on any replacement so your installation stays within spec. If you have warranty questions, we can help you understand what’s covered and what’s a base or drainage issue that falls outside it.
Book Your Unilock Service in San Bernardino, CA
We serve homeowners across San Bernardino and Unilock in Glen Avon, including 92401, 92402, 92403, and 92404. If your Unilock hardscape is shifting, washing out, or just doesn’t drain right, call (855) 473-5620 today. We’ll diagnose the real problem – base, sand, or edge – and quote you a fix that lasts.
Written by Ruben Castillo, Owner at San Bernardino Contractors, serving San Bernardino and the surrounding Inland Empire.