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Unilock Home Additions & ADU: The Fort Lauderdale Owner’s Guide
Unilock home additions and ADU construction in Fort Lauderdale typically run $45,000 – $130,000 installed, depending on square footage, foundation type, and the specific Unilock paver or wall system you’re extending. We plan and build these projects with written pricing before the first block is set, and we’re happy to walk your lot and give you a real number. Most homeowners reach out because an existing patio, walkway, or retaining wall has shifted or settled after a few hurricane seasons, and they realize the original base was never compacted right in the first place.
We’re an independent remodeling contractor, not a Unilock corporate affiliate. That matters because it means we can tell you straight when a Unilock product is the right call for your addition and when a different BelGard paver or poured concrete stem wall would hold up better against Broward County’s high water table.
Key Takeaways
- Full Unilock home additions in Fort Lauderdale run $45,000 – $130,000; detached ADUs with Unilock hardscape run $90,000 – $220,000.
- The biggest cost driver is soil prep, not the pavers themselves. Fort Lauderdale’s sandy, saturated soil needs geotextile fabric and deeper base compaction than most national guides assume.
- We handle the structural build, hardscape, and interior finish as one contract with one written warranty.
- Written price before any work starts. No change orders hiding behind the word ‘unforeseen.’
Which Unilock Models This Applies To
Unilock doesn’t make a single “home addition” product. What you’re actually planning is a structural addition, a garage conversion, or an ADU shell that ties into existing Unilock hardscape, or you’re extending a Unilock paver patio, driveway, or retaining wall as part of the new footprint. The product lines that come up most in Fort Lauderdale are the Brussels Block and Courtstone paver lines for patios and pool decks, Estate Wall and Pisa II for retaining walls, and Richcliff for driveways that need to hold the weight of a converted garage.
Here’s the compatibility gotcha most owners don’t know: Unilock pavers are made in regional plants, and South Florida stock comes from the company’s Florida manufacturing runs. Dimensions are modular, but the color lots differ from what you’ll see in Unilock’s Canadian and northern U.S. catalogs. If you’re matching a five-year-old Brussels Block patio in Fort Lauderdale, a new pallet won’t be a perfect color match. We’ll pull samples from local suppliers and lay them next to your existing hardscape before you commit. That’s not a sales trick. It’s how you avoid a two-tone patio that looks like a patch job.
OEM Unilock pavers and wall blocks are the obvious choice for matching existing work. For new sections where you’re not matching anything, we also price BelGard and other trade brands. Penhallow uses Unilock, BelGard, and other recognized lines so you can compare real numbers, not just catalog photos.
Styles & brands we work with
Signs Your Unilock Home Addition or ADU Is Failing
- Paver edges sinking or spreading into the lawn. This means the edge restraint was never spiked in or the base layer was too thin. In Fort Lauderdale’s sand, a paver edge can wander two inches in a single wet season.
- Low spots holding water after a normal afternoon storm. Your base wasn’t graded with a 1-2% slope. Standing water on Unilock pavers accelerates efflorescence and lets efflorescence salts migrate through the joint sand.
- Retaining wall leaning or bulging toward the yard. That’s hydrostatic pressure from the water table doing what water does behind a wall with no drain pipe and no gravel backfill. Fort Lauderdale sits at six feet above sea level in most neighborhoods, so water is always pressing.
- Joint sand washing out after every rain. This happens when the wrong sand went in. Standard play sand won’t lock Unilock pavers. Polymeric sand sets up hard and resists ants, weeds, and runoff.
- Cracks across the slab or stem wall of the addition itself. This one isn’t a paver problem. It’s a foundation problem, usually from a slab poured on uncompacted fill. We see it most in older Fort Lauderdale neighborhoods like Riverside Park and Progresso Village where houses were built before modern compaction codes.
Replacement Cost & What’s Included
A Unilock home addition in Fort Lauderdale runs $45,000 – $130,000 installed. Detached ADUs with Unilock hardscape as part of the scope run $90,000 – $220,000. Garage conversions with a Unilock driveway extension run $30,000 – $80,000. What drives the spread?
- Foundation type: slab-on-grade costs less than pier-and-beam. If your soil report shows muck or fill, piers become mandatory and the number climbs.
- Square footage and roofline: a 400-square-foot bump-out with a shed roof is a different job than a 900-square-foot primary suite tying into the main gable.
- Unilock product grade: Richcliff driveway pavers cost more than Courtstone, and Estate Wall blocks cost more than a poured concrete stem wall with a paver veneer.
- Interior finish level: if the addition is a bedroom with two closets and two windows, it’s one number. If it’s a kitchen expansion with plumbing, electrical, and Cambria countertops, it’s another.
Every quote includes the written price before work starts, a written 365-Day Done Right Promise, and project materials drawn from trade brands we’ll name on the line items: Unilock and BelGard for hardscape, James Hardie for siding, KraftMaid for cabinetry if the addition includes built-ins. You’ll see the brand, the quantity, and the cost. Nothing lumped under ‘miscellaneous.’
See the difference
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AfterDIY or Call Us?
You can handle a few things yourself before you call. Check your lot survey to confirm setbacks for an ADU in your Fort Lauderdale neighborhood. Look at your HOA covenants if you have one (many sections of Coral Ridge and Victoria Park still carry 1970s restrictions on accessory structures). Note where water pools after the next hard rain, because that dictates drainage. But once you start moving dirt, pulling permits, or tying a new roofline into an existing house, you’re into work where a wrong cut costs more than the labor you saved.
Fort Lauderdale requires permits for any addition over a certain square footage threshold, and ADUs trigger impact-fee and flood-zone reviews. We pull permits, schedule inspections, and carry the responsibility. If you’re standing in the yard with a sketch and a tape measure, call us at (754) 551-2922. We’ll tell you what’s buildable and what it costs before you spend a dollar on drawings.
FAQs
Unilock pavers are engineered for a 25-30 year structural lifespan, but the base underneath them matters more than the paver itself. In Fort Lauderdale’s wet, sandy soil, a properly compacted base with geotextile fabric and a buried edge restraint will carry structural load for decades. A sloppy base will show failure within three rainy seasons. Call (754) 551-2922 and we’ll examine your existing base before quoting the addition.
Yes, if the base is still solid and the pavers aren’t cracked, we can lift, re-grade, and re-set the existing section, then extend it with the closest available color lot match. If the base has failed, patching just moves the problem sideways. Bring us a photo of the patio and we’ll tell you which situation you’re in over the phone.
A typical bump-out addition runs 10-16 weeks from permit to paint. A detached ADU runs 5-8 months depending on how long Broward County takes on plan review and flood certification. We’ll give you a written timeline alongside the written price, and the 365-Day Done Right Promise covers the work after completion.
We source Unilock pavers and wall block from regional Florida distributors that stock the product lines common in South Florida, which means no eight-week freight delays for Brussels Block or Courtstone. We don’t warehouse pallets ourselves; we order per project so you’re getting fresh material from a current color lot. If you need a timeline, call (754) 551-2922 and we’ll give you real lead times, not a guess.
Call Penhallow Remodeling Fort Lauderdale
If you’re planning a Unilock home addition or ADU in Fort Lauderdale, we’ll walk the site, tell you what’s buildable under Broward County codes, and hand you a written price with a written guarantee before any work starts. We’re not the cheapest bid you’ll get, and we’re not trying to be. We’re the one that holds up. Call (754) 551-2922 to schedule your free estimate. Tell me what you need, I’ll tell you what it costs, then we’ll get it done.
Written by Trevor Nash, Owner, Penhallow Remodeling Fort Lauderdale, serving Fort Lauderdale and nearby areas.
