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ES Windows Driveway & Pavers: The Fort Lauderdale Owner’s Guide
If you have an ES Windows product and the driveway or paver components around it are failing, this page tells you exactly what to expect. A paver driveway installation in Fort Lauderdale typically runs $7,000 – $18,000, while a full driveway replacement falls between $5,000 – $14,000 depending on square footage, base condition, and paver style. Most owners discover the problem the same way: a paver sinks after a heavy rain, a section of the driveway shifts and creates a lip, or the sand between joints washes out and weeds start pushing through.
This is not a page about window parts. It is about the driveway and paver systems that sit around and under ES Windows-equipped homes in South Florida, where the soil, the rain, and the salt air all work against a driveway faster than most homeowners expect. Penhallow Remodeling Fort Lauderdale is an independent contractor, not affiliated with ES Windows, but we work on properties across Broward County every week, and we know how ES Windows homes are typically built here.
Which ES Windows Models This Applies To
ES Windows does not manufacture driveways or pavers. The company builds impact-rated windows and doors, most commonly installed in Fort Lauderdale homes as part of a hurricane-hardening package. So when we talk about “ES Windows driveway and pavers,” the real question is compatibility: your driveway and paver system has to work around the drainage, thresholds, and entry points that ES Windows products create.
Here is what that means in practice. ES Windows impact products, especially their sliding glass doors and French door systems, require a low-profile threshold for smooth operation. If a paver driveway is installed too high against that threshold, it traps water against the door frame. Over time, that water works into the substrate below the pavers and the door sill itself. We see this constantly in neighborhoods like Victoria Park, Rio Vista, and Coral Ridge, where mature landscaping and older grading make proper drainage a real challenge. When we build or repair a paver driveway at a home with ES Windows doors, we set the finished paver elevation at least 1.5 to 2 inches below the door threshold and slope the first six feet away from the house at a quarter-inch per foot minimum. That is the kind of detail a driveway crew that does not understand impact door systems will get wrong.
For pavers themselves, the OEM-versus-aftermarket question rarely applies, because ES Windows does not make pavers. What matters more is matching the paver type already on your property. Belgard and Unilock are the two brands we most often match, and both have Fort Lauderdale distribution within a day or two. If your driveway was built with a discontinued paver, we can usually source a visual match from a different line, but we will tell you honestly before cutting a single stone whether the match is good enough to avoid a uniform look problem.
Styles & brands we work with
Signs Your ES Windows Driveway & Pavers Is Failing
- Low spots that hold water for more than an hour after rain. This means the base under the pavers has washed out or settled. In Fort Lauderdale’s sandy, fast-draining soil, a low spot is usually a symptom of a void, not just surface wear. Ignore it and the paver will eventually crack or sink permanently.
- Pavers rocking or shifting when you walk on them. Loose pavers mean the joint sand has failed and the base layer has started migrating. The fix is not just adding sand; you have to re-compact the bedding layer or the same paver moves again in six weeks.
- Water pooling against the ES Windows door threshold. This is the one we take most seriously. Pooling water at a sliding door or French door means the driveway slope has failed or was never graded properly. It will damage the door frame, the flooring inside, and eventually the structure behind the wall.
- Weeds or ants pushing up between joints. This is the classic first sign that the polymeric sand has broken down. In Fort Lauderdale’s humidity and rain, polymeric sand on a paver driveway lasts 3 to 5 years at best. When it fails, weeds arrive. When weeds arrive, the joints widen, and the pavers start moving.
- A visible lip or trip hazard where the driveway meets the sidewalk or the garage slab. Tree roots and soil settlement both cause this. It is not just a trip hazard; it tells you the subgrade under that section has moved. A proper repair means lifting the pavers, fixing the base, and re-laying them, not just shimming the edge.
Replacement Cost & What’s Included
For a typical Fort Lauderdale single-family home, a full paver driveway installation runs $7,000 – $18,000. A complete driveway replacement, which includes demo of the old surface and rebuilding the base, runs $5,000 – $14,000 depending on whether you re-use existing pavers or install new ones. A smaller repair, like lifting and re-setting a 100-square-foot settled section, typically starts around $1,500 and goes up from there based on how much base work is required.
What drives the price up or down, specifically in Fort Lauderdale: the square footage of the driveway, whether the base has to be dug out and rebuilt (most older driveways do), the paver style you choose, whether we are matching an existing paver or starting fresh, and how much drainage correction the site needs. Every quote from Penhallow Remodeling Fort Lauderdale includes the paver material, the base material, labor, haul-away of the old surface, and a written line-item price before work starts. No change orders unless you ask for a change. If the paver fails inside our 365-Day Done Right Promise, we come back and fix it at no charge. That is in writing, on every project.
See the difference
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AfterDIY or Call Us?
There are a few things you can safely do yourself. You can sweep sand into a small section of worn joints, pull weeds by hand (not with herbicide, which breaks down polymeric sand), and keep an eye on where water pools after a rain so you can describe the problem accurately when you call. You can also hose out a drain channel if it is clogged with leaves.
What you should not do is attempt to lift and re-set pavers yourself. Setting a base that will last in Fort Lauderdale’s soil, at the correct slope away from your ES Windows doors, requires a plate compactor, the right subgrade material, and experience reading the slope with a laser level. We have been called to fix more DIY paver “repairs” than we can count, and the second fix always costs more than the first would have. If you want an honest opinion on whether your driveway can be repaired sectionally or needs a full replacement, call (754) 551-2922 and we will come look.
How much does a paver driveway last in Fort Lauderdale?
A properly installed paver driveway in Fort Lauderdale typically lasts 8 to 15 years before the base needs re-compaction or significant re-setting, depending on drainage, tree roots, and how well the joint sand is maintained. The pavers themselves can last 25 years or more; it is the base and the sand that fail first in South Florida’s climate. Call (754) 551-2922 if you want us to assess your driveway and tell you how much life is left in it. The estimate is free.
Sectional repair versus full replacement comes down to what the base looks like when we pull a few pavers up. If the base stone is still solid and the settlement is isolated to one area, we can re-set just that section. If the base has washed out in multiple locations or tree roots are the cause, the full replacement is usually the smarter and cheaper long-term move, because another section will fail within a year or two. Call (754) 551-2922 and we will give you a straight answer, not a sales pitch.
How long does a paver driveway replacement take in Fort Lauderdale?
Most Fort Lauderdale driveway replacements take 3 to 5 working days from demo to final compaction, assuming weather cooperates and the base does not require significant re-grading. Larger driveways or those with drainage corrections can run 5 to 7 days. We give you a defined arrival window before work starts and a written schedule, and we leave the site cleaner than we found it. That is the way we operate, every time.
Yes. For the most common paver styles in Fort Lauderdale, including Belgard and Unilock lines, we typically have the material on site or available within one business day. For discontinued pavers or unusual sizes, we have to source them, which can take 3 to 5 days. The best way to find out is to send us a photo of your pavers and the square footage; we will tell you what we can match and what it costs before you commit to anything. Call (754) 551-2922 or stop by and we’ll take a look.
Written by Trevor Nash, Owner, Penhallow Remodeling Fort Lauderdale, serving Fort Lauderdale and nearby areas.
