Paver driveway question (Unilock Townhall)

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Apr 14th, 2021 6:38 am

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Apr 9th, 2021 9:26 am

golden [OP]: Deal Fanatic; Jan 15, 2004; 7169 posts; 1650 upvotes

Apr 9th, 2021 9:26 am

Paver driveway question (Unilock Townhall)

I'm now trying to decide on my new driveway, front walkway design. We want something different than the typical paver used by 9/10 houses on the street. Our house is a traditional style home. Kind of set our eyes on the Unilock Townhall paver which resemble historical clay brick. It's very expensive at almost $14/sq ft (compared to the typical ones under $5/sq ft). I understand it's a premium top of the line paver by Unilock which has a seal/coating on the top. It's also much stronger (like 4x) and permeable. However, since we do not plan to replace the entire foundation of the driveway (add another significant cost) for the permeable function. I wonder if this will be a problem. Anyone has experience with these high end Unilock paver? Does the color really stay for the longer term vs the cheap paver losing their color quickly? We likely will go for the dark grey/blackish color. Any feedback is greatly appreciated.

8 replies

Apr 11th, 2021 11:08 am

Stravic: Newbie; Sep 29, 2014; 47 posts; 16 upvotes; Toronto, ON

Apr 11th, 2021 11:08 am

Unilock is worth it. I have copthorne (smaller version of town hall essentially) and looks great. Quality of the install will be a big factor in the longevity and drainage (proper slope and base)

Apr 11th, 2021 12:42 pm

golden [OP]: Deal Fanatic; Jan 15, 2004; 7169 posts; 1650 upvotes

Apr 11th, 2021 12:42 pm

I plan to have copthorne for the walkway and townhall for the driveway. Copthorne is 60mm and not rated for driveway and Townhall is 70mm is rated for driveway. I heard the coating is worth it as the color doesn't fade like other uncoated bricks.

Apr 11th, 2021 7:05 pm

Nomad2006: Newbie; Sep 8, 2014; 60 posts; 52 upvotes; Oakville, ON

Apr 11th, 2021 7:05 pm

You said you aren't planning on replacing the foundation - do you have interlock there curently or asphalt? I'd want to be really certain about the base quality before laying down a small and expensive stone like that.

Also, Copthorne is rated for residential vehicular, although not commercial.

Apr 12th, 2021 7:59 pm

GSD: Deal Addict; Jul 5, 2005; 3686 posts; 1511 upvotes; Toronto

Apr 12th, 2021 7:59 pm

I am thinking of the same idea as the OP except (remove asphalt and new pavers on same gravel base + HPB screening) using Triple H Covington pavers, If I am using pavers like for like on asphalt is there a need to dig anywhere?

Apr 12th, 2021 8:37 pm

Squirrel99: Deal Addict; Dec 27, 2007; 4850 posts; 2360 upvotes

Apr 12th, 2021 8:37 pm

I think if you can find the installation information for pavers on the manufacturer's website, it should say what type of base is required/recommended (depth, material etc...)

Apr 13th, 2021 2:19 pm

golden [OP]: Deal Fanatic; Jan 15, 2004; 7169 posts; 1650 upvotes

Apr 13th, 2021 2:19 pm

Nomad2006 wrote: ↑ You said you aren't planning on replacing the foundation - do you have interlock there curently or asphalt? I'd want to be really certain about the base quality before laying down a small and expensive stone like that.

Also, Copthorne is rated for residential vehicular, although not commercial.

I currently have asphalt. The contractor said they will just remove the asphalt and able to use the existing base. We have used them for our backyard as well 2 years ago. Anyway, I was told if I want to remove the existing base and replace it with a water permeable base, it would be quite a bit more expensive (like $7k-10k more but I didn't ask the specific price). Any issue I will have if they use the existing base? Of course, I cannot tell if it's fine or not but the driveway has been around for many years (I owned the house for the last 5 years and the previous owner had it for quite some time), other than some cracking in the asphalt, the level seems to be fine overall.

Apr 13th, 2021 11:26 pm

Holystone: Deal Addict; Oct 24, 2016; 1337 posts; 1332 upvotes; ON

Apr 13th, 2021 11:26 pm

Last April my immediate neighbour had the driveway asphalt removed and replaced with pavers on the same base. Two months later his neighbour had the same thing done with the same contractor using existing base. Neighbourhood is several years old so the base should have settled by now. One of the driveway’s has developed several dips but the other one is perfectly fine. Not sure why unless the base below the two asphalt driveways to begin with was different.

”If you buy things you don’t need, soon you will have to sell things you need.”

Apr 14th, 2021 6:38 am

Nomad2006: Newbie; Sep 8, 2014; 60 posts; 52 upvotes; Oakville, ON

Apr 14th, 2021 6:38 am

golden wrote: ↑ I currently have asphalt. The contractor said they will just remove the asphalt and able to use the existing base. We have used them for our backyard as well 2 years ago. Anyway, I was told if I want to remove the existing base and replace it with a water permeable base, it would be quite a bit more expensive (like $7k-10k more but I didn't ask the specific price). Any issue I will have if they use the existing base? Of course, I cannot tell if it's fine or not but the driveway has been around for many years (I owned the house for the last 5 years and the previous owner had it for quite some time), other than some cracking in the asphalt, the level seems to be fine overall.

Around me most of the interlock driveways I see that are more than a couple years old have wheel tracks where it's sunk under the weight of car, which looks terrible. I assume they were built on the existing base. I've just had an interlock inlay put in my driveway and even for that the contractor dug out and replaced the base with 3/4 clear and HBP bedding (it wasn't a permeable install but he uses permeable base for everything). For me it's just not worth spending a chunk of money and not knowing if it will look good a few years down the line - I'd rather spend more upfront but only do the work once.

But maybe the asphalt bases in your area are better, I don't know. I would certainly get the opinion of a few different reputable contractors before going ahead (you can find unilock authorised contractors here https://unilock.com/find-contractor/ ).

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