It sinks
Base too shallow, or compacted as one deep layer so the bottom stayed loose.
Prevented by: 300 mm of Granular A placed in 75–100 mm lifts, compacted between each.
How we build.
Every sunken driveway in Ontario has the same cause: not enough base, or base that was never properly compacted. Pavers don't sink — the ground under them does. This is the section FOUR40 builds to, published in full, so you can hold any quote against it.
The section
Driveway, top to bottom.
Walkways and patios use the same method at 150 mm of base rather than 300. Everything else is identical.
- 80 mmDriveway-grade pavers80 mm units under vehicles, 60 mm on walkways and patios. Using 60 mm on a driveway is the most common shortcut in the trade.
- 25 mmHPB bedding courseScreeded high-performance bedding, kept to one inch. A thick sand bed is a rutting problem waiting to happen.
- 300 mmGranular A base, compacted in lifts12 inches under a driveway, 150 mm under walkways and patios — placed in 75–100 mm lifts and plate-compacted between each one. One deep dump of gravel compacts on the surface and stays loose underneath.
- FabricNon-woven geotextileSeparates base from subgrade so your clear stone doesn't slowly migrate into the clay. Cheap on install day, impossible to add later.
- EdgesRestraint spiked at 250–300 mmPolymeric sand swept and set into the joints. Edges are where interlock starts to walk apart.
Ask any quote you're comparing one question: how deep is the base, and how many lifts is it compacted in? If the answer is vague, or the number is under eight inches for a driveway, you now know what you're buying.
Why it matters
Four ways a driveway fails, and what prevents each one.
It heaves
Water trapped under the surface freezes and lifts it, then leaves a void behind when it thaws.
Prevented by: free-draining base, 2% minimum slope, and drainage corrected before paving.
It ruts
A thick sand bedding layer, or 60 mm pavers under vehicle load.
Prevented by: 25 mm screeded HPB and 80 mm driveway-grade units.
The edges walk
Without restraint, the outermost pavers creep outward and the joints open up across the whole field.
Prevented by: edge restraint spiked at 250–300 mm and polymeric sand set into the joints.
The base disappears
Over years, clean stone migrates down into clay and clay migrates up. Depth is lost invisibly.
Prevented by: non-woven geotextile between subgrade and base.
It was never located
Digging without utility locates is the fastest way to turn a driveway job into a serious incident.
Prevented by: Ontario One Call booked on every excavation. Free, and legally required.
The stages
What it looks like on the way there.
Nobody photographs the middle of a hardscape job, which is exactly why it is worth showing. These are our own sites, at the stages that decide whether the surface is still flat in five years.
BeforeAfterDrag the handle — or use the arrow keys
Two of these sequences stop before the finished surface — those jobs were photographed to the base and no further. We are rebuilding the photo set as jobs run rather than filling the gap with someone else's work.
Working with us
Five steps, no surprises.
01
Site visit
We measure, check drainage and grade, and talk through what you actually want. Free, and no pressure to sign anything.
02
Written quote
Scope, materials, base depth and price in writing. You'll know exactly what's included before a shovel moves.
03
Schedule & locates
Ontario One Call locates booked, materials ordered, start date confirmed. A realistic window, not an optimistic one.
04
Build
Excavation, base, compaction, install. Site cleaned at the end of each day — you still have to live there.
05
Walkthrough
We walk it together before final payment. Anything on your list gets fixed, then we're back if settling shows up.
Questions
The build spec, answered.
Why does base depth matter so much in Ontario?
Freeze-thaw. Water held in or under the base expands when it freezes and lifts whatever sits on top of it. A deep, properly compacted, well-drained granular base gives that water somewhere to go and gives the surface a stable platform that doesn't move with the seasons.
What is Granular A, and why not just use sand or stone dust?
Granular A is a specified aggregate with a graded mix of particle sizes, so the small particles lock the large ones together under compaction. Sand and stone dust don't interlock the same way — they shift under load. A thick sand bed under pavers is one of the most common causes of rutting.
What does 'compacted in lifts' actually mean?
Instead of dumping the full base depth and running a compactor over the top, the material goes down in 75–100 mm layers and each layer is compacted before the next one is placed. A plate compactor only influences the top few inches. Skipping lifts gives you a hard crust over loose gravel — it passes a walk-over inspection and fails in year three.
What does the geotextile do?
It separates the clean granular base from the soil beneath. Without it, over years of loading, the base slowly works its way into the subgrade and the subgrade works its way up. You lose effective base depth without anything visible happening at the surface. It costs very little on install day and cannot be added afterwards.
Why 2% slope?
Roughly a quarter-inch per foot, falling away from the house. It's the minimum that reliably moves surface water off the paving and away from your foundation. Flat looks fine on the day and ponds for the next twenty years.
What should I ask a contractor before I sign anything?
Four questions. How deep is the base and in how many lifts is it compacted? Is there geotextile between base and subgrade? What thickness are the pavers — 60 mm or 80 mm? And what's the slope away from the house? Vague answers to any of those tell you what you're actually buying.
Related
Other things we build.
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