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Unilock Home Additions & ADU: The Long Beach Owner’s Guide
If you’re planning a home addition or ADU in Long Beach and want Unilock pavers, retaining walls, or outdoor living features integrated into the build, a full project typically runs $45,000 to $130,000 installed, depending on square footage, site prep, and whether we’re working with new construction or tying into an existing structure. Most Long Beach homeowners reach out after realizing their paver patio, driveway, or pool surround has shifted, cracked, or settled, or when they’re converting a garage and want the exterior hardscape to match the new living space.
We’re an independent remodeling contractor in Long Beach, not a Unilock dealer or affiliate, but we work with Unilock products regularly because they hold up better than most interlocking pavers in coastal salt air. The failure pattern we see most often isn’t the paver itself. It’s the base underneath, which is why we’re careful about excavation and compaction on every project from the first day.
Key Takeaways:
- Full home additions with Unilock hardscape in Long Beach run $45,000 – $130,000; standalone paver patios run $3,500 – $11,000
- We provide a written price before any work starts, and that written price includes the Unilock materials, the base prep, the labor, and the cleanup
- The 365-Day Done Right Promise covers every completed project, including any settling or shifting in the first year
- Graham Stein and our Long Beach crew have been building additions and outdoor hardscapes in neighborhoods from Naples to Belmont Shore for over a decade
Which Unilock Models This Applies To
Unilock makes a wide range of paver lines, and the right choice depends on where it’s going. For home additions and ADU projects in Long Beach, the lines we specify most often are Beacon Hill (a tumbled paver with softer edges that reads more residential), Richcliff (a long, linear paver that looks sharp next to modern ADU designs), and U-Cara (a multi-piece wall system that handles the grade changes common on Long Beach lots). Each line has specific thickness ratings, and that’s the compatibility gotcha most homeowners miss: a paver rated for a patio is not necessarily rated for a driveway, and putting a 60mm patio paver under vehicle traffic in Long Beach means it will crack within a few seasons.
We always check the paver thickness against the load. For driveways and any surface that will see a car, we specify 80mm pavers minimum. For walkways and patios, 60mm works fine. The Unilock product code is stamped on the bottom of most pavers, and if you have leftovers from a previous project, we can match them by that code, by a photo, or by bringing a sample to our supplier in Long Beach. On the OEM-vs-aftermarket question: we recommend OEM Unilock pavers when matching an existing installation, because aftermarket equivalents rarely match the color blend or the edge profile. If you’re starting fresh with no existing pavers to match, quality alternatives from Belgard or Techo-Bloc can work, but we’ll tell you the tradeoffs in writing before you commit.
Styles & brands we work with
Signs Your Unilock Home Additions & ADU Is Failing
- Pavers are sinking or creating low spots after rain. Long Beach gets less rain than most of the country, but when it does rain, water finds the weak spots in the base. A sunken paver means the compacted base underneath has failed, and simply adding sand on top won’t fix it.
- Sand is washing out between the joints. This happens when polymeric sand wasn’t installed correctly or has broken down. You’ll see bare gaps between pavers and weeds starting to push through within a season or two.
- Edge pavers are shifting outward. Without a proper edge restraint, the outside rows of pavers drift. This is an installation issue, not a paver issue, and it’s one of the first things we inspect during a free estimate.
- Cracks running across multiple pavers in a straight line. A crack that crosses several pavers means the base has a structural problem, often from a tree root or from poor compaction over a trench. Patching individual pavers won’t stop it from spreading.
- Standing water against the foundation or the ADU wall. If the hardscape slopes toward the structure instead of away from it, water works its way into the foundation over time. This is a grade issue we correct during the remodel, and it’s one of the most common things we fix on older Long Beach homes.
See the difference
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AfterReplacement Cost & What’s Included
For a home addition or ADU project in Long Beach that includes Unilock hardscape, the full installed price runs $45,000 to $130,000. That range covers everything from a modest bump-out addition with a small paver patio to a full ADU with a paver driveway, walkways, and a retaining wall. At the lower end, you’re looking at a smaller footprint, a simple site, and an existing concrete pad we can reuse. At the upper end, you’re dealing with demolition, a complex foundation on a narrow Long Beach lot, new utility runs, and significant hardscape square footage.
What’s included in our written price: the demolition and haul-away, the excavation and base prep, the Unilock materials, the labor, and the cleanup at the end of every day. We use drop cloths inside the house and shoe covers at the door whenever the crew is moving between the hardscape and the finished living space. The price I write down on day one is the price on the invoice when we’re done. And because Unilock pavers carry a manufacturer warranty against cracking and fading, you get that coverage plus our 365-Day Done Right Promise on the installation.
DIY or Call Us?
Installing Unilock pavers isn’t like painting a wall. The work is physically demanding and the failure mode is silent, because the mistakes are buried under the pavers where you can’t see them until the surface starts shifting. A homeowner can absolutely excavate a patio area and lay pavers on a weekend, but getting the base depth right, compacting it in lifts, and installing a proper edge restraint takes equipment and experience. What we see after DIY paver jobs in Long Beach is a patio that looks great for eight months and then starts sinking at the corners. For a home addition or ADU, the hardscape has to interact correctly with the foundation, the drainage, and the property line setbacks, and that’s not a weekend project. If you want to understand what’s involved before making a decision, call (562) 512-7086 and we’ll walk the site with you. The estimate is free, and you’ll get a written scope, not a verbal ballpark.
FAQs
Unilock pavers carry a lifetime warranty against cracking and fading, and the pavers themselves can last 30 to 50 years in Long Beach’s coastal climate. What fails first in most installations is the base underneath, which is why the prep work matters more than the paver itself. Call (562) 512-7086 for an exact assessment of your existing base.
Yes, individual pavers can be pulled, the base re-leveled, and the same pavers re-set in most cases. If the failure is caught early before the base washes out completely, repair is straightforward and costs far less than a re-install. We’ll tell you honestly whether repair makes sense or whether the base failure is widespread enough that redoing it is the better investment.
A full addition or ADU in Long Beach takes 3 to 12 months depending on size, foundation conditions, and permit timing with the City of Long Beach. A standalone Unilock patio or walkway project can be done in 3 to 7 days once the permits are cleared. We keep the same two-person crew on the job from the first day to the last, so you’re not managing a rotating cast.
We order Unilock materials directly for your project from our Long Beach supplier, which means we match the color and the specific product line to your existing installation rather than working from whatever happens to be on a shelf. This also means we’re not locked into a single color if you’re starting fresh, and we can show you full-size samples before you commit. We carry the full catalog, from Beacon Hill to Richcliff to U-Cara.
If you’re planning a home addition or ADU in Long Beach and want the Unilock hardscape done right, call (562) 512-7086. We’ll come out, look at the site, and give you a written price that covers everything, including the drop cloths and the cleanup. No phone menus, no voicemail. A live person answers, day or night.
Written by Graham Stein, Owner, Elmstead Remodeling Long Beach at Elmstead Remodeling Long Beach, serving Long Beach and nearby areas.
