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CGI Driveway & Pavers: The San Francisco Owner’s Guide
We stock and install CGI-compatible driveway and paver components across San Francisco, with most paver driveway installations running between $8,260 and $21,240 depending on square footage, base prep, and paver style. If you have a CGI driveway or paver system and a section is failing, sagging, or shifting, we can typically assess it the same week and give you a written price before any work starts. Most owners discover the problem the same way: a low spot appears after a rainy stretch, a paver cracks under a delivery truck, or the sand joints start washing out near a downspout.
This page covers what actually fails in CGI driveway and paver systems in San Francisco’s climate, what replacement costs look like, and how to tell whether you need a full section rebuild or a targeted repair. Elmstead Remodeling San Francisco is an independent service provider, not affiliated with CGI, but we work with their paver lines regularly and know which components hold up in the fog belt, the Sunset’s sandy soil, and the clay-heavy lots on the east side of the city.
Which CGI Models This Applies To
CGI driveway and paver systems break down into two broad buckets: segmental concrete pavers and larger-format slab systems, each with different failure patterns and replacement parts. The segmental pavers (typically 60mm or 80mm thickness for residential driveways in San Francisco) sit on a compacted base and sand bedding layer. The slab systems are thicker, often 2 to 3 inches, and are set on a more rigid base. The 80mm paver is the one we see specified on most San Francisco driveways because the heavier thickness handles the repeated wet-dry cycles and occasional vehicle weight better than the 60mm version, which is really meant for patios and walkways.
If you’re trying to identify which CGI line you have, check the underside of a loose paver. CGI stamps a mold number and sometimes a date code into the bottom face. A tape measure across the paver’s top face will tell you the nominal size, and that plus the thickness narrows the match quickly. We keep the common San Francisco profiles in stock and can order the less common ones, but here’s the gotcha: paver colors shift between production runs. A paver bought in 2019 will not perfectly match one made in 2024, even with the same color name, because aggregate sources and pigment batches change. For small repairs, that’s usually invisible. For a large section replacement, we sometimes pull pavers from a less visible area of the same driveway and put the new pavers there instead, so the front view stays consistent.
Styles & brands we work with
Signs Your CGI Driveway & Pavers Is Failing
- Low spots that hold water after rain. This usually means the base layer under the pavers has settled or washed out. In San Francisco, where we get months of rain then months of dry, the soil expands and contracts enough to create voids under the base. Water pooling is the symptom; the cause is almost always below the paver, not the paver itself.
- Sand washing out of the joints. Joint sand keeps each paver locked against its neighbors. When you see sand in the gutter after rain or gaps opening between pavers, the joint sand has failed and the pavers are starting to move independently. Left alone, the edges begin to chip.
- Crumbling or flaking on paver edges. The top face of a CGI paver is denser than the core. Once the face is compromised, the paver absorbs water and the freeze-thaw cycle, mild as it is here, starts flaking the surface. San Francisco doesn’t get hard freezes, but the repeated damp-dry cycling near the coast attacks pavers in a similar way over years.
- A sunken or raised area near the garage apron. The first 2 feet of driveway get the most vehicle weight and the most turning force. If the apron is sinking, the base under that section was either under-compacted at install or is being undercut by water running off the garage slab.
- Weeds or moss in the joints. Moss in joint lines is a San Francisco classic, especially in the Richmond and Sunset where the marine layer keeps things damp. It means the joint sand has gone and organic material has replaced it. Moss itself doesn’t break a driveway, but it means the joint system is gone and the pavers are moving.
See the difference
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After
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AfterReplacement Cost & What’s Included
For a CGI driveway or paver project in San Francisco, here are the price ranges we quote, written plainly so you know what to expect before anyone shows up at your door.
- Paver driveway installation (full): $8,260 – $21,240
- Concrete driveway installation: $5,310 – $14,160
- Driveway replacement (tear-out and new base): $5,900 – $16,520
- Paver patio installation: $4,130 – $12,980
The spread depends on square footage, how much base repair the existing driveway needs, paver thickness and style, and whether we’re pulling out an old concrete slab first. Every quote we give in San Francisco includes the same things: the written price before work starts, the tear-out of the failed section, base compaction, new sand and pavers, joint sand swept and compacted, and a clean-up photo before the crew leaves. We don’t hand you a low number and then add change orders when the base turns out to be worse than expected. The base condition is part of the first walk, not a surprise later.
Our work is covered by the Cedarwell Care Promise and the 365-Day Done Right Promise: if pavement work isn’t done right, we make it right. That’s stamped on every project, not buried in fine print.
DIY or Call Us?
Some things an owner can reasonably check before calling. Look at whether the problem is one paver or a whole section. One cracked paver with intact joints around it is a small job. Look at your downspouts: is one dumping water directly onto the paver edge? That’s a fixable cause. Check whether the sand joints are still full or washing out; if they’re full and tight, the base is probably still solid and you’re looking at a surface issue.
What an owner should not do is pull up a dozen pavers and start digging. Digging into the base without knowing what’s underneath, where the drain lines run, or how deep the original compaction went turns a $900 repair into a $9,000 rebuild. Most San Francisco driveways have utilities crossing the frontage, and the base under a CGI driveway is engineered in layers. The risky part isn’t lifting a paver; it’s disturbing the compacted base and then putting the pavers back over a now-loose foundation. We provide a written price for the repair and handle the tear-out, base, compaction, and finish. If you’re not sure which situation you have, call (831) 480-4497 and we’ll talk through what you’re seeing before anyone schedules a visit. Graham Stein has walked enough San Francisco driveways to tell the difference between a surface crack and a base failure over the phone, most of the time, and we’d rather save you the cost of a service call if the answer is a bag of joint sand.
FAQs
A properly installed CGI paver driveway in San Francisco lasts 25 to 35 years, with the pavers themselves usually outlasting the base. The first failure point is almost always the joint sand, which needs refreshing every few years, especially in damp neighborhoods like the Sunset and Richmond. Call (831) 480-4497 if your joints are washing out and we’ll give you an honest read on whether it’s maintenance or a rebuild.
Most failures are repairable as sections: we cut out the affected area, re-compact the base, and relay the pavers. Full replacement only makes sense when the base has failed across most of the driveway or the pavers are so worn that new and old won’t hold a match. The written quote we give before work starts tells you which one you’re looking at.
A typical section repair takes 1 to 2 days, and a full paver driveway replacement takes 3 to 5 days depending on access and whether we’re tearing out old concrete. Weather matters: we schedule around rain because compaction doesn’t take well in saturated base material. We’ll tell you the window in writing before we start.
We stock the common CGI paver profiles and thicknesses we see on San Francisco driveways and can source less common lines quickly. If you have a loose paver with the mold mark visible, bring it in or send a photo and we’ll match it. Elmstead Remodeling San Francisco also works with other named brands, including KraftMaid, Cambria, and Silestone, on the interior side of our remodeling work.
Written by Graham Stein, Owner, Elmstead Remodeling San Francisco at Elmstead Remodeling San Francisco, serving San Francisco and nearby areas.
