Pavers in Plymouth, MN

Pavers in Plymouth are often already there. The city grew steadily through the second half of the last century, with population gains of 94.5%, 64.7%, 88.8% and 74.9% in the four decades from 1940 to 1980, and housing kept climbing from 25,258 units in 2000 to 33,208 in 2020. Some of those homes came with a paver walk or small patio, and after enough winters a walk like that can sink by the front step, tilt toward the lawn or rock underfoot. Repair and releveling is a natural fit for those yards, along with building new walkways.

Reading the symptoms

A single low spot by a downspout usually means water has washed out the bedding sand. A long dip along one edge points to a missing or broken edge restraint, letting the field creep outward. Pavers that heave every winter and settle every spring suggest the base was too thin or the soil underneath holds water. Each has a different fix, so we lift a few units and look before quoting the whole area.

How releveling works

We pull up the affected pavers and set them aside in order, scrape out the old bedding, then add and compact base material where it has thinned. Fresh bedding goes down, the original pavers return to their spots, the edge restraint is reset or replaced, and the area is compacted and sanded so the joints lock. When the units are in good shape, you end up with your existing pavers on a corrected base, not a patched look.

When a walk needs to be rebuilt

Sometimes the base was never adequate. For a pedestrian walkway, Unilock's guidance is 4 to 6 inches of compacted base, more on clay, with a 1% to 2% slope for drainage. If a walk was laid on a couple of inches of sand over topsoil, releveling only buys time. In that case we recommend rebuilding the section from the base up and can often reuse the pavers.

New walkways we build

• Front walks from the driveway to the door, with a landing at the step
• Side-yard paths to a back gate or garage service door
• Stepping paths through planting beds
• Wider entries that replace a narrow builder walk
• Borders that tie a new walk to an existing patio

Cul-de-sac lots and odd shapes

Plymouth maintains about 300 miles of streets and 863 cul-de-sacs. Lots at the end of a bulb tend to be pie-shaped, with narrow frontage and a wide back yard, which means walks often curve and paths to the back are long. Curves need cut pavers along the edges and a firm restraint to hold them; we lay out the shape on the ground with you before cutting anything.

Lakes in the story

The town's first settlement was on the northwest shore of Parkers Lake in 1855, and Medicine Lake, named from a Dakota word meaning Lake of the Spirit, drew hotels and visitors by the 1860s. Homes near the lakes and the low ground around them can see wetter soils. Where we find that, we add base depth and make sure the walk sheds water away from the house.

Permits and digging

Under the Minnesota building code, sidewalks and driveways that are not part of an accessible route are generally exempt from a building permit, so a typical front walk does not need one. Any dig still starts with a Gopher State One Call locate request (811) so buried lines are marked.

Ask for a look

Call (952) 800-9409 or

Get a Free Estimate

. Send a photo of the problem area if you like; we follow up with an on-site check and a written quote that says whether releveling or a rebuild is the right call.