A paver patio is one of the few parts of a property you will use every week from May to October for decades, and it is built almost entirely by one crew over a few days. The paver you pick matters. The contractor you pick matters more, because two companies can install the same product and hand you two very different patios.
If you are collecting bids for next season, here is how to tell the paver patio contractors worth hiring from the ones who are simply available.
What separates a paver patio contractor from a general landscaper?
Plenty of landscape companies will lay pavers. Fewer treat hardscape as a core trade with its own crews, equipment and standards. The difference shows up in the parts you never see: excavation depth, base material, compaction in lifts, edge restraint and drainage.
A contractor who specializes in hardscape can explain those steps without looking anything up, and will usually volunteer them before you ask. A company that installs a handful of patios a year between mowing routes may do fine work, but it is fair to ask how often their crew builds this kind of project and who will actually be running it on your property.
Should the contractor design the patio or just install it?
For a simple rectangle off the back door, a drawing from the homeowner can be enough. For most higher-end projects, it is not. A patio that works well answers questions a sketch usually leaves open: how it connects to the house and the rest of the yard, where water goes in a heavy rain, whether steps, seat walls, lighting, a fire feature or an outdoor kitchen belong in the plan now or in a later phase.
A design-build contractor handles those decisions and the construction under one roof, so the person who drew the grade is accountable for how it drains. If you hire a separate designer, make sure the installer reviews the plan before pricing it. Gaps between a drawing and a build are where change orders come from.
What should a good paver patio proposal include?
A proposal is the easiest way to compare contractors, as long as it says enough to compare. A thorough one spells out:
- The paver product, color and pattern, plus any border or accent band
- Excavation depth and what happens to the removed soil
- Base material, its depth and how it will be compacted
- Whether geotextile fabric goes down over the native soil
- The type of edge restraint and the jointing sand
- How the patio will be pitched and where water will drain
- Steps, walls, lighting sleeves or gas lines, if they are part of the scope
- Restoration of lawn and beds disturbed by equipment access
- A payment schedule tied to stages of the work
If one bid is noticeably lower, the reason is almost always in that list. A shallower base, no fabric or a plastic edge where another bid specified concrete can make two quotes look alike on the first page and very different after three Michigan winters. Our paver patio cost guide explains which of those choices move the total and why.
What questions should you ask before you sign?
A short interview tells you a lot. Useful questions include:
- Who will be on site each day, and are they your own crew or subcontractors?
- How deep will you excavate on our soil, and why that depth?
- Do you pull the MISS DIG 811 locate request before digging?
- What does your written warranty cover, and for how long?
- Can we see finished patios that are several years old, not just new ones?
- How do you handle a change to the scope once work has started?
Pay attention to how the answers come back as much as to what they are. Specific, unhurried answers are a good sign. So is a contractor who asks about your soil, your downspouts and how you plan to use the space before quoting.
How do you check a contractor's past work?
New photos show what a patio looked like on the day the crew left. What you want to know is how it looks after several freeze-thaw cycles. On the heavy clay common across Macomb and Oakland counties, a thin or poorly compacted base shows itself within a few seasons as dips, heaving and joints that open up along the edges.
Ask for addresses or references for projects that are three or more years old, and look at them if you can. Check that surfaces are still flat, borders are tight and cuts along curves are clean. Read online reviews for how the company handled problems, not just for star counts. Confirm the contractor carries liability insurance and workers' compensation, and ask for the certificate rather than taking it on faith.
What are the warning signs?
A few patterns come up again and again with patios that fail early:
- A quote with no detail beyond square footage and a paver name
- Pressure to sign quickly or to pay most of the job up front
- Vague answers about base depth, compaction or drainage
- No written warranty, or one that excludes the base
- A crew that plans to lay pavers directly on sand over native soil
None of these alone proves a contractor is a bad fit, but each is worth a follow-up question.
When should you start talking to contractors?
Earlier than most people expect. Spring is the busiest time of year for hardscape, and the best crews book up first. Fall and winter are the right time to design, compare bids on the same scope and get onto the calendar, even if the build itself waits for spring. Some projects can still be built in the fall while the ground is workable, which our post on paver patio installation covers step by step.
If you are still choosing materials, our guides to how to choose brick pavers and paver installation patterns will help you arrive at those conversations with a clear idea of what you want.
Looking for a paver patio contractor in Southeast Michigan?
Great Lakes Landscaping designs and builds paver patios from our Chesterfield headquarters, along with the grading, drainage, walls, lighting and planting that make a patio part of the whole property. See our paver installation service and the rest of our hardscape work, then contact us or call (586) 754-7336 to talk through design, materials and timing for your project.