Interlocking Pavers Vancouver

Interlocking pavers Vancouver

Interlocking pavers are the most versatile hardscaping surface in the Lower Mainland. They're used for driveways, patios, walkways, pool decks, and commercial plazas — any paved surface where you want flexibility, durability, and the ability to repair individual sections years down the road without leaving visible patches.

The interlock market in Vancouver and across BC is dominated by a handful of large manufacturers — Unilock, Belgard, and Oaks Concrete Products are the most common. Each offers dozens of paver sizes, textures, and colours, and the installed product can range from a clean, modern grid pattern to a tumbled, cobblestone-style random pattern depending on what suits the property.

What distinguishes a quality interlocking paver install from a mediocre one is entirely below the surface. The paver units themselves are just the top layer. The sub-base — typically 8–10 inches of compacted crushed gravel for pedestrian applications and 12 inches or more for driveways — does all the structural work. An undersized or improperly compacted sub-base produces settled, uneven, and heaved paver surfaces within a couple of years. We excavate to the proper depth for the application and load, compact in lifts, and test compaction before the bedding sand goes down.

Joints between pavers are filled with polymeric sand — a sand-polymer blend that sets semi-hard when activated with water. Polymeric sand resists washout, discourages weed growth, and locks paver spacing so the surface behaves as a unified slab rather than a loose mosaic. It needs to be applied correctly and activated on a dry day, or it stays powdery and washes out with the first rain.

One of the most underappreciated benefits of interlocking pavers in Vancouver is maintainability. Driveways in the Lower Mainland often have utilities running underneath — gas, water, communications. If a utility needs access, individual pavers can be removed, the trench backfilled and compacted, and the pavers relaid with no visible seam. Concrete or asphalt would require cutting and patching, which always shows.

What's included

• Individual units repairable without visible patching
• Flexible with freeze-thaw cycles — doesn't crack like monolithic concrete
• Full range of patterns, textures, and colours to suit any property style
• Permeable paver options for stormwater management compliance
• Proper polymeric sand jointing prevents washout and weed intrusion

How we approach the project

1. 1Site survey and paver pattern design
2. 2Excavation to proper depth for application load
3. 3Geotextile fabric installation
4. 4Crushed gravel base placement and compaction in lifts
5. 5Concrete edge restraints installed at borders
6. 6Bedding sand screeding to precise grade
7. 7Paver laying in design pattern with proper spacing
8. 8Plate compaction, polymeric sand jointing, and final compact