Andersen Driveway & Pavers: The Fort Myers Owner’s Guide
If you have an Andersen driveway or paver system that’s failing, we stock and install compatible replacement parts across Fort Myers, with most jobs priced between $7,000 and $18,000 installed. The most common call we get sounds something like this: a homeowner steps out after a summer storm and notices a section has sunk almost an inch, or the edge pavers near the garage apron have separated so much that a trip hazard has developed. In Fort Myers, we see this happen faster than you’d expect. Our sandy soil and the relentless wet-dry cycle of rainy season followed by intense heat means the base underneath can wash out or compact unevenly in just a few seasons.
Which Andersen Models This Applies To
Andersen’s paver line shows up most often in Fort Myers under newer construction in communities like Esplanade, WildBlue, and Pelican Preserve, and we work on their full range. The compatibility question usually comes down to three things: the specific paver shape (they make a rectangular plank, a square, and a large-format slab), the thickness (60mm or 80mm), and the color lot. That last one trips up a lot of people. Andersen runs their colors in batches, and a paver from one production run can look noticeably different from the next when it’s laid next to an older one, even if it has the same name on the tag. We pull an existing paver to match against our supplier stock before ordering replacements. For ground-level repairs on an installed driveway, the 80mm is what you need for vehicle traffic. The 60mm is a patio and walkway product and we would not recommend it for a driveway here, especially with the soil conditions in Lee County. We stock the most common Andersen driveway pavers on our trucks, and we can source anything we don’t have within two business days. Groundwork Construction Co. of Fort Myers is an independent service provider, not affiliated with Andersen Windows or Andersen pavers, but we work with their products daily.
Signs Your Andersen Driveway & Pavers Is Failing
- Uneven or sunken sections. A single low spot that holds water after a rain is almost always a base failure underneath, not a problem with the paver itself. In Fort Myers, the limestone base washes out faster than you’d see with the clay soils up north. The paver is fine. The ground under it is the issue.
- Gaps opening between pavers. If you can slide a finger between pavers that used to be tight, the edge restraint has let go or the sand joints have washed out completely. Left alone, the whole section starts walking outward, and soon you have pavers loose enough to lift by hand.
- Cracked or chipped individual units. This is less common with Andersen’s product than some cheaper brands, but we do see it when someone turned too heavy a vehicle on a corner or when a paver was already hairline-fractured from the factory. One cracked paver is often a quick swap. A cluster of them in the same area tells us the base is moving.
- Standing water that wasn’t there last year. Pavers are permeable to some degree, but they rely on slope for drainage. If water sits on your driveway for hours after the afternoon thunderstorm, the slab has settled and the grade is off. You’re looking at a lift-and-relevel, not just a cosmetic fix.
- Edge pavers tilting or dropping at the perimeter. This is the most common failure we see in Fort Myers neighborhoods where lawns are irrigated heavily. The sprinkler overspray softens the ground at the driveway edge, the restraint fails, and the border pavers start listing like loose teeth.
Replacement Cost & What’s Included
A full paver driveway replacement in Fort Myers runs $7,000 to $18,000, with most Andersen installations landing between $10,000 and $15,000 for a standard two-car drive. The range depends on three things: total square footage, how much base we have to excavate and rebuild, and whether we’re matching an existing color lot that requires a special order. Smaller partial repairs, like removing and re-setting a 50-square-foot sunken section with new base and sand, start around $800 to $1,500.
Every job we quote includes materials, base work, haul-away of the old material, and all labor. The price on the quote is the price you pay. No change orders because we found something underneath. No surprise upcharges. We’ve been doing this across Lee County long enough to know what’s under the ground in Fort Myers before we even open it up. All our paver work is covered by our 730-Day Done Right Promise. If something settles or shifts within two years, we come back and make it right.
DIY or Call Us?
For a single cracked paver in a spot you can reach without disassembling half the driveway, a patient homeowner with a couple of pry bars can swap it on a Saturday. Pop it out, level the sand underneath, drop the replacement in, sweep polymeric sand into the joints, and mist it with water. That is straightforward work.
Lifting and releveling a sunken section is where it gets tough. The pavers themselves are heavy, around 8 to 12 pounds each for the 80mm size. You have to pull up a larger area than just the sunken spot to blend the new base grade into the old, which means cutting sand, compacting limestone, and screeding to a precise slope. Get the pitch wrong and you’ve just moved the puddle to a different corner of the driveway. Add Florida summer heat to that equation and it’s a hard day of work that can go sideways fast. If the failure is from a washed-out base, not just a loose paver, call us at (844) 638-7249 and we’ll come out, diagnose the root cause, and give you a fixed price on the repair. Estimates are free.
FAQs
With a properly compacted base, you should get 25 to 30 years from the pavers themselves, but the sand joints and base will need attention long before that. In Fort Myers, we typically see the first signs of base settlement around year 8 to 10, especially on lots with heavy irrigation or poor drainage. The pavers are a durable product. The ground underneath them in Southwest Florida is what needs watching.
Almost always, we can isolate and repair just the affected section. We pull up the pavers in a larger rectangle than the sunken area, rebuild the base with fresh compacted limestone, re-lay the pavers, and blend the slope so water flows correctly. The repaired area will look slightly different for a few months until the sand joints weather in, but it functions like new right away. We’d only recommend a full replacement if the base failure is widespread or if the color lot is discontinued and you don’t want a visible patch.
Most section repairs, like lifting and resetting a 50-to-100-square-foot sunken area, take one full day from excavation to final compaction. A full driveway replacement with new Andersen pavers typically takes three to four working days in Fort Myers, depending on access and weather. We show up with background-checked, uniformed technicians on every job, so you know who’s on your property from the moment the truck pulls up.
We keep a rolling inventory of Andersen’s most-installed colors and shapes in the Fort Myers market on our trucks and in our yard. If your specific color lot isn’t something we stock, we can typically source it within two business days through our local supplier. We match against an existing paver from your driveway before we order, so you don’t end up with a color mismatch that stands out for the next decade. Call (844) 638-7249 and we’ll check stock while you’re on the phone with a live person, 24/7.
Written by Derek Hollenbeck, Owner & General Contractor, Groundwork Construction Co. of Fort Myers, serving Fort Myers and nearby areas.