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CWS Driveway & Pavers: The San Antonio Owner’s Guide
Most CWS driveway and paver failures in San Antonio come down to two things: base washout from our clay-heavy soil shifting through freeze-thaw cycles, and surface wear from limestone gravel tracked across pavers for years. A full paver driveway replacement typically runs $7,000 to $18,000 installed, while a smaller paver patio repair or partial drive reset lands closer to $3,500 to $11,000 depending on square footage, base condition, and paver style. We stock CWS-compatible edging, joint sand, and replacement pavers, and we can usually have a crew out for a written estimate within a few days of your call.
Here’s what most San Antonio homeowners notice first: a sunken run along the tire path, paver edges lifting like loose teeth, or joint sand that keeps washing out onto the sidewalk after every hard rain. Those aren’t cosmetic problems. They’re your base telling you it’s failed, and CWS pavers sitting on a failed base will only get worse with every wet season.
Key Takeaways:
- Full CWS paver driveway replacement in San Antonio: $7,000 – $18,000 installed
- Partial repairs and resets: typically $3,500 – $11,000, depending on affected area
- We are an independent contractor, not a CWS dealer or affiliate
- Written price before any work starts, on every job
- Free return visit if any repair or installation fails within 365 days
Which CWS Models This Applies To
If you’ve got CWS pavers on your driveway, walkway, or patio, the part numbers you’ll find on your original paperwork will usually reference a series name like Sierra, Bordeaux, or Holland Stone, followed by a size code in millimeters. The compatibility gotcha most San Antonio owners don’t know: CWS used at least two different paver thickness standards over the years, 60mm and 80mm. You can’t swap a 60mm paver into an 80mm driveway without rebuilding the base to match the thinner profile, because the edge restraint and sand bed depth depend on that number. Pull one paver and measure the thickness before you order anything.
We carry OEM-spec CWS pavers where still available, and we also work with quality aftermarket equivalents from Techo-Bloc and Unilock that we’ve matched by profile and color calibration for older CWS lines. For most homeowners, aftermarket is the smarter buy when the original color lot no longer exists: you’ll get a tighter color match to your remaining pavers than a new CWS batch would give you anyway, because paver colors shift slightly between manufacturing runs regardless of brand. Edge restraints, geotextile fabric, and polymeric sand we stock on the truck, which means fewer supply runs and a faster install.
Styles & brands we work with
Signs Your CWS Driveway & Pavers Is Failing
- Sunken tire paths on the driveway. This is base failure, almost always from water getting under the pavers through washed-out joints. The pavers themselves are usually fine; the foundation underneath them is gone. We lift, re-base, and reset the affected section.
- Pavers rocking or shifting underfoot. This means the bedding sand has migrated out through open joints or the edge restraint has failed. Left alone, the edges start spalling, and the problem spreads outward fast.
- Joint sand washing out after every rain. San Antonio’s flash-flood downpours cut through loose joint sand like a knife. Polymeric sand, properly activated, locks the joints and stands up to our weather. Regular play sand does not.
- Edges lifting or spreading along the driveway border. The restraint system, plastic or concrete, has stopped doing its job. A driveway under daily vehicle load will peel itself apart from the outside in once the edge lets go.
- White efflorescence staining or crumbling paver faces. The efflorescence is cosmetic and cleanable, but crumbling faces mean moisture is getting trapped in weak pavers and freezing. That’s a material issue, and it usually shows up first on pavers made with lighter, more absorbent color blends.
See the difference
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AfterReplacement Cost & What’s Included
For a CWS paver driveway replacement in San Antonio, expect $7,000 to $18,000 installed. That range covers removing the old pavers and base, hauling debris, installing new crushed-stone base and bedding sand, compacting in lifts, laying the pavers, cutting border pieces, installing edge restraint, and sealing or joint-sanding at the end. The spread comes from three things: total square footage, whether we’re rebuilding the base from scratch or salvaging existing base material, and paver style (basic Holland Stone costs less than a tumbled or dimensional profile).
Smaller jobs like walkways or patios sit in the $3,500 to $11,000 range. Every quote breaks out materials and labor separately, and the written price you receive before work starts is the price you pay. We don’t do change orders unless you ask us to add scope. The work itself is covered for 365 days from completion under our Done Right Promise: if a paver shifts, an edge pulls away, or a base issue develops within that first year, we come back and fix it at no cost.
DIY or Call Us?
Some things you can check and fix yourself. You can refill joint sand, pull a wobbly paver to look at the base underneath, and clear drainage paths so water stops pooling against your edge restraint. Those are safe, useful steps. What gets homeowners in trouble is the temptation to patch a failed section by adding sand or re-leveling individual pavers, which almost always makes the problem worse by masking the base failure beneath it. Rebuilding a paver base in San Antonio soil means knowing how much to excavate, how to compact in lifts that won’t settle, and how to grade away from the foundation, which matters when our hard rains come through. If you’re seeing sunken areas or spreading edges, call us at (254) 269-5071 and we’ll give you a straight written answer on what needs to be done.
FAQs
A properly installed CWS paver driveway should last 25 to 30 years in San Antonio, with the base doing most of the work. What shortens that lifespan here is water: poor drainage, washed-out joints, and clay soil that expands and contracts with wet-dry cycles are the real killers. Call (254) 269-5071 if you want us to look at how your drainage is affecting your pavers.
Yes, partial repairs make sense when the damage is limited to one section, usually $3,500 to $11,000 for a San Antonio-size affected area. If the base has failed across most of the driveway, repairing piecemeal costs more over time than a one-time replacement. We’ll tell you which situation you have in the written estimate.
Most CWS paver driveway replacements in San Antonio take 3 to 7 working days from demolition to final compaction, depending on size, access, and how much base we have to rebuild. Weather can stretch that in our rainy months, and we build that into the schedule up front.
We stock CWS-compatible edge restraints, geotextile fabric, joint sand, and commonly used paver profiles on our trucks, and we can match older CWS colors through our distributor relationships. For anything we don’t have in stock, we order it in and coordinate the timing with your written estimate so you’re not left with a half-done driveway. Call (254) 269-5071 for specifics on your paver line.
Written by Isaac Pruett, Owner, Mason Remodeling Co San Antonio at Mason Remodeling Co San Antonio, serving San Antonio and nearby areas.
