“You’re going to spend many hours with the salesperson,” says Rick Pestana, owner of Method Paving in Santa Clara. “If that person never comes back to the job, it’s going to be hard to implement the vision and quality you originally designed.”
Mr. Pestana also advises to ask about a company’s installation crews. Are the crew members employees of the firm, or are they subcontractors or day laborers? Has the crew worked on the projects you’ve seen in the company’s portfolio?
Asking some technical questions about the installation can also be beneficial. Don’t worry about knowing what the correct answers are. If you ask them of several contractors, you’ll quickly learn which ones know their business:
• How much base will you put down? How is it compacted?
• Will you use geotextile fabric below the base rock?
• What type of edge restraints will be used? (Not plastic or aluminum)
• Will you use a wet cutting saw to cut the stone? (If not, the end result won’t look as good.)
• Are you going to use polymeric sand? (Generally, that’s preferred to keep the sand from flowing away.)
• Are the pavers going to be sealed? (Sealing usually prolongs the pavers’ life.)
