Pavers · Greater Orlando & Sarasota

Paver Driveways, Patios, Pool Decks and Walls Built on One Compacted Base

Opera lays paver driveways, patios and walkways, pool deck pavers, retaining walls and paver sealing, plus artificial turf set between paver fields. As of October 2026, Florida market data puts installed pavers at $10 to $30 per sq ft depending on material; every paver surface starts with a compacted aggregate base, never bare sand, across Greater Orlando and Sarasota–Manatee.

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Five paver services, one base system

Every paver job on this site is built the same way, from the ground up: a compacted aggregate base, a screeded layer of bedding sand, individual units set and compacted together, and edge restraint locking the field at every border. What changes between services is the load the base has to carry and the material on top. Paver driveways get the deepest base, since a car is the heaviest thing most residential paving ever carries. Paver patios and walkways carry foot traffic and furniture on a thinner base. Pool deck pavers add the coping detail and lean toward travertine or lighter-colored units. Paver sealing and restoration isn't a new install at all, it's cleaning, re-sanding, sealing and releveling units that have already been down for a while. And retaining walls share the idea of a compacted base but carry soil pressure instead of foot or vehicle traffic, which changes the detail behind the wall more than the detail under it. Artificial turf fits into this family too, wherever it runs as an accent strip inside a paver field rather than across an open lawn.

How do you choose among them?

The table below maps the common starting points to the service that covers them.

Picking the right paver service
If you need...	Start here	Why
A new or replacement driveway	paver driveways	60 mm pavers standard, 80 mm for RVs, boats or work trucks, over a 6-in. base
A back patio, walkway or fire-pit area	paver patios and walkways	60 mm pavers over a 4-in. base; lighter foot-traffic load
The surface around a pool	pool deck pavers	Travertine or concrete pavers set to the coping; cooler underfoot than dark concrete
A sunken, stained or shifted paver surface	paver sealing and restoration	Cleaning, re-sanding, sealing and releveling, not a new install
A retaining wall, raised planter or seat wall	retaining walls	Segmental block with drainage behind the wall, not just under it
A turf accent inside a paver field	artificial turf	Same washed-rock base as a full lawn, tied into the paver's edge restraint

Materials: concrete, travertine, clay brick and porcelain

The unit itself moves the price more than the base work underneath it does. Concrete pavers sit at the lower end of the Florida range; brick, porcelain and natural stone climb from there mostly on material cost.

Paver materials compared, installed cost per sq ft
Material	Range	Note
Concrete pavers	$10 to $18	Widest color and pattern selection; easiest to spot-repair one unit at a time
Clay brick	$12 to $22	A fixed, fired-in color that doesn't fade the way a pigmented concrete unit can
Porcelain	$15 to $30	A dense, low-absorption surface that needs a flat, well-compacted base
Travertine	$13 to $45	Natural stone; the material most homeowners pick for a pool deck for how it feels underfoot

Angi, paver driveways; HomeGuide, travertine.

Travertine and porcelain need sealing more routinely than concrete pavers do, since they're more porous or show staining more easily; concrete pavers can go years without a sealer and still hold up structurally.

The base system every paver surface shares

ICPI's Tech Spec 2, the industry construction standard for interlocking concrete pavements, sets the base depth by use: residential driveways need at least 6 in. of compacted aggregate on soil that drains well, with 2 to 4 in. more where it doesn't; patios and walkways need roughly 4 in. on the same well-drained soil (ICPI Tech Spec 2). Bedding sand screeds to an uncompacted 1 in. everywhere, laid last and never compacted before the pavers go down. Joint width stays at an eighth of an inch or less, filled with dry or polymeric sand once the field is set. Edge restraint runs the full perimeter of every paver surface, and anywhere the material changes, since nothing else stops the field from creeping sideways under load; landscape edging sold for flower beds doesn't count (ICPI Tech Spec 3).

Paver base spec by use
Layer	Driveways	Patios and walkways
Compacted aggregate base	6 in. minimum, well-drained soil	4 in. minimum, well-drained soil
Subgrade compaction	98% standard Proctor	98% standard Proctor
Paver thickness	60 mm (80 mm for RVs, boats, trucks)	60 mm
Bedding sand	1 in. screeded, uncompacted before laying	1 in. screeded, uncompacted before laying

Sealing: optional, and on no fixed schedule

ICPI Tech Spec 5, the industry's own guidance on paver care, doesn't set a required resealing interval; an acrylic coat typically holds up a few years before it's worth recoating, which varies by traffic, climate and product. What isn't optional is topping off joint sand as it thins from rain and foot traffic, since a loose joint is what lets a field spread or shift. New pavers can also show a whitish efflorescence bloom within about 60 days; it's cosmetic and fades on its own, not something a sealer has to fix. Our paver sealing service covers cleaning, re-sanding, sealing and releveling, and the post on efflorescence explains the white haze in more detail.

Paver services

Every service below shares the base system above, built to the depth and load the surface needs.

Paver Driveways
Market range $10–$30 per sq ft installed · cost guide
Paver Patios & Walkways
Market range $10–$17 per sq ft installed · cost guide
Pool Deck Pavers
Market range $12–$30 per sq ft installed · cost guide
Paver Sealing & Restoration
Market range $1.50–$3.25 per sq ft (clean, re-sand, seal) · cost guide
Retaining Walls
Market range $15–$40 per sq ft of wall face · cost guide

What paver work costs in Florida

As of October 2026, Florida market data puts an installed paver driveway at $10–$30 per sq ft and a paver patio at $10–$17, both well above plain concrete, since the per-unit material and the labor to set and compact each piece cost more than one continuous pour. These are market ranges compiled from published Florida and national cost-guide data, not a quote for a specific yard; a written price follows a site visit. Full breakdowns by size and material: driveways, patios, pool decks, sealing and retaining walls.

Frequently asked questions

What's the difference between a paver patio and pool deck pavers?

The units and base principles are the same; what changes is the edge. Pool deck pavers meet the coping with a continuous edge restraint and a layout planned around drains, skimmers and the pool's isolation joint, while a patio's restraint only has to hold the field together at the perimeter. Material choice leans toward travertine or a lighter concrete paver around a pool more often than on a patio, mainly for how it feels underfoot in full sun.

Which paver material costs the least installed?

Concrete pavers, typically $10 to $18 per sq ft installed in current Florida market data, run below clay brick, porcelain and travertine. The gap is almost entirely in material cost, not labor; the base, bedding sand and edge restraint are priced about the same no matter which unit goes on top. Concrete pavers also carry the widest color and pattern selection, part of why they're the most common driveway material in both service areas.

Can artificial turf be set as a strip or border between pavers?

Yes. A turf accent inside a driveway, along a walkway edge or framing a fire pit uses the same washed-rock subgrade Florida's turf rule requires everywhere else, but it ties into the paver field's existing edge restraint instead of standing on its own perimeter. That's a different detail than laying turf over the top of an existing paver surface, which uses a drainage layer rather than an excavated base.

Does a retaining wall need the same base as a paver patio?

No. A retaining wall carries soil pressure behind it, so its base is a compacted leveling pad of crushed stone under the first course, plus drainage, gravel backfill and a perforated pipe behind the wall to relieve water pressure. A paver patio's base carries foot traffic on top, not soil pressure from behind, so the two share the idea of a compacted aggregate base but not the same depth or drainage detail.

Is a paver pool deck more work to maintain than a paver patio?

Not structurally, but it sees more exposure. Pool chemicals, sunscreen residue and more frequent water contact mean a pool deck's joints and sealer, where sealed, wear faster near the coping than a patio's do across the rest of the yard. The base, bedding sand and edge restraint underneath don't need anything different; it's the surface care, rinsing and resealing on whatever schedule the product needs, that runs on a shorter clock near the water.

Sources

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