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Unilock Construction in Tiburon, CA | Gold Star Contractors
Gold Star Contractors provides independent Unilock paver installation, repair, and replacement across Tiburon. We’re not manufacturer-affiliated or authorized, which means we call it straight: what Unilock line fits your slope, what base depth your hillside lot actually needs, and what the Town of Tiburon will require before we set a single paver. The one thing that separates our Unilock work in Tiburon from anywhere else is that we build every base, edge restraint, and drainage detail for marine fog, winter runoff, and a planning department that reviews visible hardscape. Call (833) 382-8544 for a free estimate.
Why Tiburon Residents Choose Us for Unilock Service
We’ve laid enough Unilock on this peninsula to know which lines hold up on a 30 percent grade and which ones belong on a flat display lot. Brussels Block, Beacon Hill, Eco-Optiloc, we know how each one behaves after three winters of fog and rain on a downslope Tiburon lot. Noel Carranza, our owner and Tiburon General Contractor, cut his teeth doing concrete and finish carpentry across Orange County before building this operation, and he brings that same multi-trade instinct to every paver job: base compaction, drainage, edge restraint, and the finished surface all have to work together or none of it works.
We also understand Tiburon’s housing stock. Most of these homes are mid-century or earlier, built on slopes where any new hardscape shifts water toward a neighbor’s foundation. We plan for that. We tie into existing drainage, we daylight underdrains to the slope, and we use Unilock’s own units with matching edge restraint instead of generic pavers. The result reads like the original field, not a patch job. For a full scope of what we handle across the area, see our Unilock sales & service page.
Styles & brands we work with
Common Unilock Construction Problems We Solve in Tiburon
- Joint sand washout on steep driveways. Tiburon’s winter storms send water down driveways at speed. If the edge restraint wasn’t set into a concrete curb or the base wasn’t compacted to slope, that water strips joint sand within a season or two. We remove the failed sand, check the restraint, and re-sand with a polymer that handles slope runoff.
- Heaving and lateral creep on hillside patios. This is the classic Tiburon failure: a base built to flat-lot depth under a patio that’s actually sitting on a 25 percent grade. Without an underdrain that daylights to daylight, water pools under the pavers and pushes them downhill. We over-excavate, re-base, and tie in drainage before resetting the field.
- Paver settlement over clay or fill on downslope lots. Many Tiburon homes below the hill crest sit on fill or expansive clay. When that subgrade moves, the pavers move with it, and you get lippage at the garage apron or a wavy field that trips you every time you walk it. Repairing the surface without fixing the subgrade is throwing money away.
- Efflorescence and surface staining on north-facing terraces. Marine fog keeps north-facing patios damp for months. That moisture pulls salts up through the pavers and leaves a white haze that looks like a product defect. It’s usually not. We clean it properly and, where needed, adjust drainage so the patio dries faster.
- Edge failure where driveways meet hillside planting beds. Tiburon’s hillside homes often have planting beds right against the driveway edge. Roots, irrigation, and slope pressure push on the restraint until the edge opens up and pavers start walking. A concrete curb restraint solves it permanently.
Unilock Service in Tiburon: What Local Conditions Mean for Your Project
On Tiburon’s hillside streets above downtown, the Town’s planning department reviews visible hardscape changes for view and neighbor impact. A paver patio or driveway rebuild isn’t just a building-permit item here. You often need a site plan showing finished grades before we can set base. That’s a different process than flat inland lots, where a driveway replacement barely gets a second look. It adds time to the front end of the job, but it also forces a level of grading and drainage planning that a flat-lot install can skip, and that planning is exactly what keeps a Tiburon paver job from heaving two winters later. We’ve seen plans come back with conditions attached: maintain a specific grade, keep runoff out of a downhill neighbor’s lot, screen the hardscape from a view corridor. We work those conditions into the base and drainage design as part of our Home Remodeling in Tiburon, not just the paperwork.
If you’re on the hillside above downtown or anywhere in the 94920 ZIP, and your project involves visible hardscape, call us before you pull the trigger on a design. We read the site, check the grade, and tell you what the Town is likely to require before you spend money on plans. For more on how we handle projects across the peninsula, see our Tiburon service area page.
Unilock Models & Products We Service in Tiburon
We install and repair the full Unilock residential range, with the most Tiburon volume on Brussels Block, Beacon Hill, and Eco-Optiloc, plus Marin City Unilock service across the county. Brussels Block carries that older, rounded, reclaimed look that fits Tiburon’s mid-century homes. Beacon Hill gives a flatter, more contemporary face that reads well on view decks. Eco-Optiloc, with its permeable joint spacing, is the one we recommend first when the Town’s drainage conditions call for on-site water management.
For repairs, we use Unilock’s own units and matching edge restraint, never generic pavers. We order by dye lot so the repair blends with the original field. If the base and drainage are sound, we repair and re-sand. If the subgrade has failed, we’ll tell you straight that a re-base costs less than a second repair a year from now.
See the difference
Before
After
Before
After
Before
AfterUnilock Service Pricing in Tiburon
| Service | Typical Range in Tiburon |
|---|---|
| Paver Driveway Installation | $7,000 – $18,000 |
| Paver Patio Installation | $3,500 – $11,000 |
| Driveway Replacement | $5,000 – $14,000 |
What drives the number on a Tiburon job? Slope, access, and subgrade. A steep downslope lot with poor access and fill requiring over-excavation will land at the high end. A flatter lot with good access and stable soil lands lower. Every estimate includes a site walk, a written line-item quote, and a look at what the Town will want. Call (833) 382-8544 for an exact number on your project, estimates are free.
Serving Tiburon, CA — Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Tiburon area and know this community well. Use the map below to see our service coverage — if you’re nearby, we can almost certainly help.
FAQs – Unilock Construction in Tiburon
Yes, in most cases. The Town reviews visible hardscape for view and neighbor impact, so a paver driveway or patio rebuild typically needs a site plan showing finished grades, not just a building permit. We handle the plan prep and submittal so you don’t have to decode the requirements yourself. Call (833) 382-8544 and we’ll tell you what your specific site will require.
Because the base was built too shallow for the slope, or the underdrain doesn’t daylight, so water pools under the pavers and pressure pushes them downhill. Tiburon’s marine fog and winter rain make this failure more common here than on flat inland lots. The fix is a deeper, open-graded base with a perforated underdrain tied to the slope, not just resetting the surface.
Sometimes. If the concrete is structurally sound and the grade works for drainage, an overlay saves money. But if the slab has heaved or cracked across the field, or the slope doesn’t allow proper edge restraint, an overlay will fail. We’ll tell you honestly which situation you have before any work starts.
For Tiburon’s conditions, we lead with Eco-Optiloc where the Town’s drainage conditions allow permeable design, because it manages water at the surface. Where a traditional joint is preferred, we lean on Brussels Block or Beacon Hill with a polymer joint sand and a concrete edge restraint. The line matters less than the base and drainage underneath it.
We schedule smaller deliveries with a transfer at the nearest accessible point, then stage materials with a compact loader that fits Tiburon’s narrow rights-of-way. We’ve worked streets above downtown where a full semi would block the road for an hour, so we don’t do that to your neighbors. Call (833) 382-8544 if you’re on a tight street and we’ll plan the logistics before we quote.
Service Areas Near Tiburon
We also serve the surrounding Marin County communities and the broader Bay Area, including Unilock service in Belvedere just across the water, and Unilock service in Sausalito to the south. If you’re in Marin or nearby and need Unilock work on a hillside lot, call us at (833) 382-8544 to confirm coverage.
Book Your Unilock Service in Tiburon Today
On a downslope lot off Lyford Drive, we tore out a heaved concrete patio and found the original slab poured over fill with no daylighted drain. We over-excavated to stable soil, set a geotextile and open-graded base, tied a perforated underdrain to the slope, and laid Unilock Brussels Block with a concrete edge restraint. The patio has stayed flat through two rainy seasons. That’s the standard we build to in Tiburon.
One call, done right, that’s the only way we know how to run a job. Call (833) 382-8544 to schedule your free estimate.
Written by Noel Carranza, Owner at Gold Star Contractors, serving Tiburon and Marin County with independent Unilock paver installation and Unilock in Chinatown repair.