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Unilock Construction in Felton, CA | Brookside Contractors
We provide independent Unilock paver, retaining wall, and hardscape construction across Felton and the San Lorenzo Valley. Our crew has installed and repaired Unilock Brussels Block, Beacon Hill, Olde Quarry, and U-Cara systems on steep, wooded Felton lots for years, so we understand how these products perform under redwood canopy, heavy winter rain, and county fire-code requirements. We’re not manufacturer-authorized; we’re better in the field, where it counts. If you need Unilock work done right in Felton, call (833) 725-3508 for a free estimate.

We’re Brookside Contractors, a full-scope general contractor led by Nate Burrell. We handle the whole property, not just what’s inside the front door, and we bring that same single-contractor accountability to Felton General Contractor work for Unilock hardscapes. This page covers what local conditions do to Unilock systems, what we fix, what it costs, and how to get started.
Why Felton Residents Choose Us for Unilock Service
Felton hardscape work isn’t like valley work. The lots are steeper, the soil is root-heavy and expansive, and the county, not a city, decides what you can build and how it has to drain. We’ve spent years working those conditions on Unilock jobs from Felton Empire Road to neighborhoods off Highway 9. We read Unilock’s installation specs and Santa Cruz County soil reports side by side before we ever set a paver. No manufacturer authorization, just hands-on expertise and a lot of finished driveways and patios that still look right after the storms pass.
Nate Burrell grew up in Morgan Hill’s Paradise Valley area when half those neighborhoods were still being framed up, trained in construction technology at Gavilan College, and has spent the better part of two decades on job sites throughout South Santa Clara County and the Santa Cruz Mountains. He got into contracting because he watched his dad’s garage addition fall apart three years after a cheap crew walked off the job. Do it once, do it right, everything else is just a future repair bill. That’s the standard we bring to every Unilock project in Felton.
We match the material to the project. If you need a paver driveway that sheds water instead of holding it against your garage, we engineer the base and drainage for that. If you want a fire-resistant patio surface that also handles wheelbarrow traffic and kids, we’ll spec the right Unilock line. Your project, your brands, our accountability from first stake-out to final walkthrough.
Styles & brands we work with







Common Unilock Construction Problems We Solve in Felton
- Paver migration and joint sand loss on sloped driveways. Felton’s atmospheric-river storms send water sheeting down steep driveways. If Unilock Brussels Block was set on an insufficient base over expansive clay, the pavers shift, edges spread, and the joint sand washes out. We pull the affected area, re-grade the base with proper drainage, and reset with fresh edge restraint.
- Efflorescence and surface spalling on Beacon Hill pavers. Shaded, north-facing Felton walkways stay damp through winter. Freeze-thaw cycles plus deicing salt use cause the surface to flake and white mineral deposits to bloom. We assess the subbase and joint drainage, then address the spalling with matching units where the surface is too far gone to clean.
- Retaining wall bulging or tie-back failure in U-Cara walls. Felton’s wooded hillsides put enormous lateral pressure on retaining walls, especially where root systems grow into the backfill. U-Cara walls built without engineered drainage bulge and lean. We rebuild with proper gravel columns, drainage pipe, and geogrid where the soil report calls for it.
- Polymeric sand washout on Olde Quarry patios. Upslope redwood canopies shed a surprising amount of water. Where surface flow isn’t diverted, it scours the joints of Unilock Olde Quarry patios and separates the edge restraints. We add surface drainage features and re-sand with a quality aftermarket polymeric product that holds up better under Felton’s rainfall volume.
- Base failure beneath entire driveways and patios. Felton’s root-heavy clay expands and contracts with the seasons. Over years, it pumps and heaves the base rock until the Unilock surface dips, cracks, or separates. Spot repairs won’t fix a failing base. We rebuild the section with proper depth and compaction, then reinstall the pavers so the problem doesn’t just migrate downhill.
Unilock Service in Felton: What Local Conditions Mean for Your Equipment
Here’s the thing about taking a paver spec from the valley and dropping it onto a Felton hillside: you can’t. Felton’s Santa Cruz County permitting, not a city building department, means Unilock hardscape projects here must often include engineered drainage and erosion-control plans that wouldn’t be required in nearby valley towns. That design time happens before a single paver goes down, unlike simpler Unilock in Scotts Valley projects. On a steep, redwood-shaded lot off Felton Empire Road, our crew rebuilt a Unilock Brussels Block driveway that had heaved and lost joint sand after repeated storm runoff. We pulled the pavers, re-graded the base with a drainage curtain to redirect hillside water, and reset the blocks with fresh edge restraint. The driveway now sheds water instead of trapping it against the garage. That’s the difference local knowledge makes: a generic paver crew sees a driveway; we see where the water wants to go, where the roots are pushing, and what the county’s erosion rules will and won’t allow. We’ve worked Felton lots long enough to know all three before the first excavator bucket drops.
Unilock Models & Products We Service in Felton
We work with the Unilock lines most common on Felton properties: Brussels Block for driveways and high-traffic surfaces, Beacon Hill for walkways and pool decks, Olde Quarry for patios and gathering areas, and the U-Cara retaining wall system for slope stabilization and garden walls. For repairs, we source genuine Unilock units and matching edge restraints so color and dimension stay consistent with your existing hardscape. Where aftermarket products outperform, we use them: high-performance polymeric sands for Felton’s winter rain volume, commercial-grade drainage components for steep slope applications, and geogrid for U-Cara walls on root-heavy hillsides. If a wall or patio has widespread base failure, we’ll recommend a rebuild over spot repairs. Patching a failing system just moves the problem downhill.
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AfterUnilock Service Pricing in Felton
Unilock construction and repair costs in Felton depend on site access, slope, soil conditions, and whether the existing base is salvageable. Here’s what we typically see for the Unilock work we do most often in the San Lorenzo Valley:

| Service | Price Range |
|---|---|
| Paver Driveway Installation | $7,000 – $18,000 |
| Paver Patio Installation | $3,500 – $11,000 |
| Driveway Replacement | $5,000 – $14,000 |
Steep lots and narrow mountain roads add excavation and material-handling time. Fire-code requirements for defensible space can also affect where a patio or fire feature can go, which changes the square footage and the budget. Our free estimate includes a site walk, a soil condition assessment, and a line-item quote. Call (833) 725-3508 to schedule yours.
Serving Felton, CA — Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Felton area and know this community well. Use the map below to see our service coverage — including Unilock service in Lompico — if you’re nearby, we can almost certainly help.
FAQs – Unilock Construction in Felton
Yes. Felton sits in a wildland-urban interface, and Santa Cruz County fire code, not a city code, governs what goes where. Non-combustible hardscape like Unilock pavers actually helps your defensible-space compliance, but the placement matters: fire pits have specific clearance requirements from structures and vegetation, and the county wants hardscape positioned to support defensible space, not block access. Call (833) 725-3508 for a site assessment before you commit to a location.
Because Felton’s winter storms move water downhill fast, and if the driveway slope concentrates runoff into channels, the water scours polymeric sand right out of the joints. The fix isn’t just re-sanding; it’s addressing the water path: adding a drainage curtain, adjusting the grade, and using edge restraint that holds the system together. We’ve done this on Felton Empire Road and throughout the San Lorenzo Valley, plus Unilock service in Mount Hermon, and the difference is visible after the first big storm.
Yes, if it’s built for those conditions. Unilock U-Cara walls perform well on Felton hillsides when they’re installed with proper gravel backfill, drainage pipe, and geogrid tie-backs engineered for the soil report. A wall built without those components will bulge or lean within a few wet seasons. We’ve rebuilt enough of them to know the failure starts underneath, not at the face.
Often, yes. Felton is unincorporated, so Santa Cruz County handles permitting, not a city building department. Steep slopes, significant grade changes, or projects that affect drainage usually require engineered plans and erosion-control measures. We pull the permits on every project that needs them and coordinate with the county from plan review through inspection. Call (833) 725-3508 and we’ll tell you what your specific site will require.
Spalling happens when water soaks into the paver surface and freezes. On shaded, north-facing Felton walkways, the best defense is threefold: use a quality polymeric sand that limits water infiltration at the joints, keep deicing salt use minimal or switch to a paver-safe product, and ensure the base drains so water doesn’t sit against the pavers. If the surface is already flaking, we can replace the affected units with matching Unilock product.
Service Areas Near Felton
Our Unilock construction team covers Felton and the surrounding Santa Cruz Mountains. We also serve Ben Lomond, Brookdale, Boulder Creek, Scotts Valley, and Mount Hermon. For Unilock service in Ben Lomond, our crews work the same steep-lot conditions with the same attention to drainage and county code. We also handle Unilock service in Prunedale for homeowners on the drier side of the hills, where soil conditions present a different set of challenges. And if your project is close to the edge of our coverage area, reach out and we’ll sort out if it’s feasible. See our Felton service area page for details, or start with our Unilock sales & service page if you’re still deciding between product lines.
Book Your Unilock Service in Felton Today
Whether you need a new Unilock paver driveway, a patio that actually drains, or a retaining wall rebuilt to hold a Felton hillside, we’re ready to put eyes on your site. Call (833) 725-3508 to schedule your free estimate. Built to your spec, managed from start to final walkthrough.
Written by Nate Burrell, Owner & General Contractor at Brookside Contractors, serving Felton and the San Lorenzo Valley.