We are southern Ontario’s driveway experts. Providing durability and beauty, interlocking driveways last 3 – 4 times longer than asphalt, saving money over the long-term. We will help you choose a style that will compliment your house’s colour and architecture, resulting in a long-lasting, good-looking entrance to your home.
Interlock Driveways
Interlocking driveways are built using interlocking pavers, interlocking bricks, natural stone tiles, cobblestones, or outdoor porcelain pavers. Commonly referred to as an interlocking brick driveway, these driveways are most often built using pre-cast pavers. There is an extensive selection of colours, textures, and laying patterns to choose from, making finding a suitable finish material for your interlocking driveway relatively easy.
Why Install an Interlocking Driveway?
Interlocking driveways, when properly constructed, will be a permanent, lifetime driveway for your home. That means no more crumbling, fading asphalt, cracking, weed-filled concrete, only a beautiful, luxurious-looking permanent stone driveway.
We consider an interlocking driveway a long-term investment. These driveways can easily replace 3-4 asphalt driveway installations and most definitely increase the curb appeal and resale value of your home.
How is an Interlocking Driveway Installed?
Beneath the surface is what’s most important when installing an interlocking driveway. What we in the industry call the base is the driveway’s foundation. Think of the foundation of your home or a tall building. You don’t see the foundation, but the size and structural quality will determine the size, structural integrity, and, therefore, the durability of the building. This same principle is true with all construction projects, including interlocking driveways.
Let’s walk through the installation process.
Site assessment
A walk through the site to determine a proper design approach and assess any grading or drainage issues.
Excavation
Using an excavation machine, we dig out the existing surface material and dispose of it properly. From there, we dig down to accommodate for 10-12 inches of base material (usually granular A gravel), ensuring we remove all organic from the sub-grade.
Sub-base Assessment and Amendment
An often-overlooked step in the construction process, assessing the sub-base material, could be the difference between a long-lasting driveway and one that doesn’t stand the test of time. A sub-base material should neither contain too much clay nor silt content. If it is determined that the sub-base is less than ideal, it should be reinforced with aggregate or lime-based cement to ensure structural integrity.
Geotextile fabric
A geotextile fabric is laid over the sub-base and under the gravel base material, keeping the fine material in the gravel from sinking into the sub-base. This ultimately limits the possibility of void spaces being created in the base material over time and helps spread the load even further across the sub-grade.
Base Installation
As mentioned above, Granular A gravel, or “road base,” is used to build the foundation base of the interlocking driveway. We lay 4-inch layers of gravel, compacting each layer. Within the layers, we install geogrid, an often-skipped step by other contractors, which adds an extra level of strength to the base. In our opinion, it’s well worth the extra time and effort to use geogrid.
Bedding layer
1 inch of bedding sand levels the base and snugs the pavers into the sand, causing an interlocking effect.
Laying the Interlocking Pavers
The interlocking driveway pavers are laid with what’s called the “click and drop” method and installed according to the pre-determined/ designed pattern. Edge restraints are installed around the perimeter, with 8-inch spikes driven into the ground to hold them in place.
Joint Sand
We typically use polymeric sand, which hardens when activated, to sweep in the interlock joints. The sand acts as a flexible grout, filling the joints, increasing the interlocking effect, and keeping weeds from growing in-between pavers.
Cleanup & Grass Repair
The site has a final clean-up, removing all debris and equipment. We also add topsoil and sod to the stone’s perimeter if necessary to fill in any gaps from excavation. Using sod rather than seed ensures an instant clean, finished look.
Interlocking Driveway Design
A design is not necessary for an interlocking driveway, but it’s always nice to have a visual on paper before construction begins. A design can be as basic as some paver samples, catalog photos & inspirational photos, or get more in-depth with a plan view or 3-dimensional design. If you are considering building a new front entrance and front flower bed simultaneously as your interlocking driveway install, a 3-dimensional design will go a long way in ensuring a proper layout and material selection.
Testimonials
10/10 Vik
“The team at Ariss are true professionals. Willing to lend a helping hand and they stand by the work they do. They are fast, efficient and true to their word.
The driveway and path look great. We have had many people walk by and comment on it. “
10/10 Vic and Lynn
“Well there is only one thing to say, this company is awesome. They took the front of our house disaster and made it a work of art. Carl, Mike and Rob thank-you and we look forward to our next landscape project with you. Professional company and not sure what you need they will give you a lot of help. Thanks again.”
10/10 Blayne
“Rob and his crew were very easy to work with. He has an obsessive attention to detail and is proud of his work. He installed natural stone steps which turned out great!”
Interlocking Driveway Accompanying Features
If your front entrance steps are dated, not functionally adequate, or compromised physically, you may want to consider having an entrance installed at the same time as your driveway. Having all construction completed simultaneously will save on overall expenses, as the contractor will already have their equipment on site. It will also be advantageous to have all construction happen before installing new pavers to avoid having heavy equipment drive on the new pavers.
Other features that can complement your interlocking driveway are landscape lighting, either bordering or inlaid in the pavers, and geometrical designs inlaid in the driveway with suitable matching pavers.
Interlocking Driveway Materials
The typical surface material used for interlocking driveways is concrete pavers. In recent years, larger pavers, called slabs, have become popular due to manufacturers building them strong enough to handle the vehicular weight. Another material gaining popularity in recent years, not only for driveways but also other landscape areas, is porcelain. Porcelain is now manufactured for outdoor and vehicular use. It is incredibly durable, will never scratch or fade, and has a high density, making it very stain resistant. Lastly, there is natural stone. If installing natural stone for the driveway, it is advised to follow the proper ratios of length, width, and thickness of stones to ensure no cracking under the pressure of vehicle weight and forces from driving.
Things to Consider when having a contractor install your driveway
- Proper base depth and compaction
- Geotextile fabric used
- Sub-base assessment and reinforcement
- Vehicular rated surface pavers
At Ariss Landscape Inc., we are determined to have your interlocking driveway the most beautiful driveway in your neighborhood and continue to be for a lifetime. We build our driveways to be permanent, never needing to be replaced again. We never cut corners, are educated and experienced using the proper industry-rated installation practices. In addition, we over-build everything we do, ensuring you get your money’s worth.
Ariss Landscape provides exterior garden landscaping for residential properties
We provide exterior renovations of residential properties with expertise in interlocking and concrete driveways, excavations, and grading.