Glossary

Paver & hardscaping terms, explained

Name: Alliance Pavers
Address: 1561 E Irlo Bronson Memorial Hwy, St Cloud, FL, 34771, US
Telephone: +14074567000
Rating: 4.2

Materials, installation, drainage, and warranty language — defined once, so every page on this site can point back here instead of re-explaining.

21 of 21 terms

B

Base Course: The base course is the layer of compacted aggregate — typically crushed concrete or limerock — that sits beneath the bedding sand and pavers, carrying the load of everything above it. Its depth and compaction are specified for the traffic the surface will carry: a driveway needs a deeper, denser base than a walkway.
Bedding Sand: Bedding sand is a thin, screeded layer of coarse sand spread over the compacted base course, providing the level, uniform surface the pavers are set into. It's a leveling layer, not a load-bearing one — the base course beneath it carries the weight.

C

Concrete Paver: A concrete paver is a manufactured unit cast from vibrated, high-density concrete, produced in a wide range of colors, shapes, and sizes. It's the most common paver material for Central Florida driveways and patios because it balances upfront cost, strength, and design flexibility better than natural stone or poured concrete.

E

Edge Restraint: An edge restraint is a rigid or spiked border — typically plastic, aluminum, or concrete — installed along the perimeter of a paver field to keep the outermost units locked in place. Without it, the field can spread outward over time under normal use and weather.
Efflorescence: Efflorescence is a white, powdery mineral deposit that appears on the surface of concrete pavers or natural stone when water carries salts up through the material and they crystallize as it evaporates. It's a cosmetic surface issue, not a sign of structural failure, and it's especially common on new installations.

F

French Drain: A French drain is a gravel-filled trench with a perforated pipe that collects and redirects groundwater away from a structure, patio, or retaining wall. It's a common solution where hydrostatic pressure or standing water is a recurring problem rather than an occasional one.

G

Geogrid Reinforcement: Geogrid reinforcement is a grid of high-strength synthetic mesh laid into the soil behind a retaining wall at set intervals, extending the wall's effective mass back into the slope it's holding. It lets a wall safely reach heights or carry loads that a gravity wall's own weight alone couldn't support.
Grading (Slope & Pitch): Grading is the slope built into a hardscape surface — typically a slight pitch away from the house — so rainwater runs off instead of pooling. It's set during base construction and can't be corrected afterward without rebuilding the surface, which is why it's one of the first things assessed on any project.
Gravity Retaining Wall: A gravity retaining wall holds back soil using its own mass and weight rather than internal reinforcement, relying on the wall's width and the friction between its blocks to resist the pressure of the earth behind it. It's the most common wall type for the moderate slopes found on typical residential lots.

H

Hydrostatic Pressure: Hydrostatic pressure is the force water exerts when it collects and can't drain — most relevant behind a retaining wall, where trapped water pushes against the structure from behind. Left unaddressed, it's a common cause of wall bulging, leaning, or failure over time.

I

ICPI/NCMA Certification: ICPI (Interlocking Concrete Pavement Institute) and NCMA (National Concrete Masonry Association) are industry organizations that certify installers on paver and segmental-wall installation standards. Certification isn't a legal requirement to install pavers, but it signals a contractor has been trained and tested against a documented set of construction practices.

J

Joint Sand Replenishment: Joint sand replenishment is the process of sweeping fresh polymeric sand into paver joints that have washed out or worn down over time, then compacting and activating it. It's routine maintenance rather than a repair — every installed paver surface loses some joint sand to rain and traffic over the years.

N

Natural Stone Paver: Natural stone pavers — marble, travertine, and porcelain among them — are cut from quarried material rather than manufactured, giving each unit unique veining, tone, and texture. They typically cost more than concrete pavers and demand more precise bedding and joint work, which is why professional installation matters most at this end of the material range.

P

Paver: A paver is an individual manufactured unit — concrete, brick, or natural stone — laid in a pattern over a compacted base to form driveways, patios, and walkways. Unlike a poured concrete slab, a paver surface is built from many separate pieces locked together by base compaction, edge restraints, and joint sand.
Paver Pattern: A paver pattern is the layout units are set in — common options include herringbone, basketweave, and running bond. Beyond appearance, pattern choice affects interlock strength: herringbone, for example, distributes vehicle loads across more units than a straight running bond, which is why it's common on driveways.
Paver Sealing: Paver sealing is the application of a protective coating over an installed paver surface to guard against staining, fading, and moisture intrusion, and to help lock joint sand in place. Sealers come in film-forming and penetrating formulas, and most manufacturers recommend resealing every few years rather than treating it as a one-time step.
Permeable Paver: A permeable paver system uses specially spaced units over a graded, open aggregate base to let rainwater drain through the surface into the ground below, instead of running off. The joints — typically filled with small aggregate rather than polymeric sand — are what let water pass through.
Polymeric Sand: Polymeric sand is joint sand blended with a binding additive that hardens when watered in, locking pavers together, resisting washout in heavy rain, and slowing weed growth in the joints. It has replaced plain sand in most modern paver installations, used in the final compaction step.

S

Screeding: Screeding is the process of dragging a straight rail or pipe across the bedding sand to level it to a precise, uniform thickness before pavers are set. It's typically the last step before placement, and any unevenness left in the screed telegraphs directly into the finished surface.

W

Wall Batter: Batter is the slight backward lean built into a retaining wall's face, tilting the top of the wall back toward the slope it holds. That lean shifts the wall's center of gravity into the soil behind it, meaningfully increasing its resistance to the pressure pushing forward against it.
Workmanship Warranty: A workmanship warranty covers defects in how a hardscape was installed — base settlement, edge restraint failure, or pattern separation caused by the work itself — separately from any manufacturer warranty on the paver material. Its length, activation terms, and exclusions vary by contractor, and a real warranty spells all three out in writing.

Est. 2007 · St. Cloud, Florida

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