Free written scope consultation - allowances, timeline, and change-order rules on paper before a single trade is scheduled
IKO Driveway & Pavers: The Los Angeles Owner’s Guide
We install and repair IKO-compatible driveway pavers across Los Angeles, and a typical paver driveway installation in this market runs $8,260 – $21,240 depending on square footage, base depth, and whether we’re tearing out an old slab first. Most owners discover their IKO pavers have failed when they notice a low spot pooling water after rain, a paver that rocks underfoot, or sand washing out between joints faster than it used to. Homeowners in San Pedro, Encino, and the Crenshaw area call us about the same three things: sinking edges, cracked units near the driveway apron, and weeds pushing up through joints that used to hold tight.
Trevor Nash has been looking at failed paver jobs across Los Angeles for over two decades, and the pattern is almost always underneath the pavers, not the pavers themselves. We stock replacement IKO paver units and the edge restraints, joint sand, and base materials that make the fix last past the next rainy season.
Which IKO Models This Applies To
IKO makes a range of concrete paver products under their driveway and hardscape line, and the compatibility details matter more than most homeowners expect. The interlock pattern on IKO driveway pavers is dimension-specific, meaning a paver from their 60mm residential line will not seat correctly against one from the 80mm commercial line, even if the top dimensions look close. If you have the original paver box or invoice, the product code printed on it is the fastest way to match a replacement. If you don’t, we measure the paver thickness and the spacer nubs on the side, which are cast into the unit and tell us the exact series.
For IKO specifically, we recommend OEM pavers when the existing installation is less than five years old, because color runs differ and a mismatched aftermarket unit will be visible from the street. For older IKO jobs where that color run is long gone from the manufacturer, a quality aftermarket concrete paver with the same dimensions and a close color match is the practical choice. We’ll show you samples side by side before we order a single unit.
Penhallow Remodeling Los Angeles is an independent service provider. We are not affiliated with IKO, but we work with their driveway paver product lines regularly, and we also stock parts for KraftMaid, Cambria, and Silestone on the remodeling side of the house.
Styles & brands we work with
Signs Your IKO Driveway & Pavers Is Failing
- Water pooling in the same spot after every rain. This usually means the base under that section has settled or washed out. In Los Angeles, the freeze-thaw cycle isn’t the culprit; it’s typically a compacted base that was too thin from day one or a downspout dumping water at the paver edge and eroding the sub-base over time.
- A paver that rocks or clicks when you step on it. That’s a bedding sand failure under that specific unit, often from ants or gophers tunneling through the setting bed. If left alone, the rocking cracks the paver corners and the problem spreads outward.
- Joint sand disappearing within weeks of sweeping it in. On IKO driveways, the sand locks the pavers together. When it washes out repeatedly, water is moving through the joints faster than the sand can hold, which points to a slope or drainage issue rather than the sand itself.
- Cracks running across multiple pavers in a line. A crack that travels from paver to paver indicates the base cracked underneath, not just a single bad unit. That happens when a section of the driveway was built over uncompacted fill or a utility trench that settled.
- Edge pavers shifting outward near the lawn or curb. The edge restraint has failed or was never installed. IKO pavers are designed to lock together, but only if the perimeter is held. Without a solid edge, the whole field drifts with every car that turns in.
See the difference
Before
After
Before
After
Before
AfterReplacement Cost & What’s Included
In Los Angeles, a paver driveway installation from Penhallow runs $8,260 – $21,240. A partial repair, where we pull up a settled section, re-compact the base, and re-lay the same IKO pavers, typically lands between $2,500 and $6,500 depending on how much base has to be rebuilt. What drives the number up: total square footage, whether the old concrete slab underneath has to be demolished and hauled off, the depth of compacted base we need to bring in, and whether you’re matching an existing IKO color run or starting fresh with new pavers.
Every quote is a written line-item price before we bring a single paver to your property. You’ll see the paver cost, the base material cost, the labor, and the haul-away separate, so nothing is buried. The work carries our 365-Day Done Right Promise in writing: if a section settles or a joint fails inside the guarantee period, we come back and fix it at no charge, no service call, no re-inspection fee. The number on day one is the number on the invoice.
DIY or Call Us?
There are things you can check yourself, and there are things you shouldn’t touch. You can safely note where water pools, mark which pavers rock, and take photos of cracked units so a contractor knows what he’s walking into before he arrives. You can sweep new joint sand into a modest gap if the base is still solid.
What goes wrong with DIY on IKO driveway pavers is the base work. Pulling up pavers is easy; re-compacting a failed sub-base and re-setting the grade so water drains off the driveway is not. Most DIY repairs in Los Angeles look fine for one dry season and then settle again in the first winter rain, because the base under the base was never fixed. If your edge restraint is failing or multiple pavers are cracked in a line, that’s a base problem, and base problems need a plate compactor, a level, and someone who knows what compaction means in Los Angeles soil, which is mostly sandy loam in the Valley and hard clay near the foothills. Give us a call at (213) 277-6578 and we’ll tell you honestly whether it’s a sweep-some-sand project or a real repair. Give you a number first, then pick up the tools.
FAQs
IKO driveway pavers typically last 25 – 40 years in the Los Angeles climate if the base was built correctly, but the base material under them has a shorter realistic life of 15 – 25 years before some settling is likely. The paver units themselves rarely fail from wear; what fails in LA is the sub-base, usually from water erosion or initial under-compaction. Call (213) 277-6578 and we can tell you whether your issue is the paver or what’s under it, with a free estimate either way.
An individual cracked IKO paver can usually be swapped for a matching unit without redoing the whole driveway, as long as the base under it is still sound and we can source that color run. If the crack runs across multiple pavers, the base has failed and a paver swap alone won’t hold. We’ll tell you which situation you have before we quote anything, and the estimate is free.
A partial repair, pulling up a settled section and re-laying the same IKO pavers, typically takes one to two days including re-compaction of the base. A full driveway replacement usually runs three to five working days, depending on access and whether old concrete has to come out first. You’ll get a written schedule with your written price, and we show up in the window we gave you.
We keep common IKO paver sizes and colors on hand for the models we service most in Los Angeles, but exact color-run matching for older driveways often requires a manufacturer order. We’ll check our stock first, show you what we have, and give you a straight answer on lead time before any money changes hands. Call (213) 277-6578 for a free estimate and we’ll source what you need.
Written by Trevor Nash, Owner, Penhallow Remodeling Los Angeles at Penhallow Remodeling Los Angeles, serving Los Angeles and nearby areas.
