What interlock restoration costs in Ottawa.
Almost nobody in this trade publishes real numbers. Here are ours — and how to read anyone else's quote.
Cheapest quote you'll get
A pressure wash, sometimes with sand swept into the joints. You'll see these offered around town for a fraction of a restoration — and the surface does look better, for a season. The old joint material, the weed roots, and the actual cause of the problem all stay in place.
From $1,050 +HST · typical driveway $1,800–$2,250 +HST
Every joint is extracted, the surface is hot-water cleaned, weedy joints are steamed to kill the exposed roots, then Techniseal HP NextGel is compacted and levelled. Two visits are required because polymeric sand only performs in dry joints. Qualifying areas carry a 3-year joint warranty (5 years with the Annual Maintenance & Warranty program).
Price mine in 60 seconds →Routinely several times the cost of restoration
Sometimes genuinely needed — when the base has failed. But if your stones are sound and it's the joints and surface that have gone, replacement quotes are paying to demolish good stone. The free assessment tells you which situation you're in, honestly.
What moves the number
- Area. The estimator lets you paint your driveway or patio directly on a satellite photo so the price range is built from your actual square footage, not a guess. At the free assessment David measures the surface with a precision measuring instrument, and your final price comes from that measurement.
- Joint condition. Tight joints with early weeds cost less to restore than joints that are empty and eroding.
- Surface and access. Steps, tight side yards, and pool decks change the work.
- Getting there and setting up. A restoration arrives as a truck, a trailer, a plate compactor, a steam unit and a day's fuel — machines we buy, maintain and haul. That is part of doing the work, wherever the work is. The estimator reads your postal code so the range you see already includes it, and nothing gets added afterwards because of where you live.
- Sealing — later, if you want it. CAT5 Seal & Renew runs from $950 +HST and only ever goes over joints that have cured 30+ days. Anyone quoting same-day seal over fresh sand is sealing in moisture.
See the work behind these numbers — before & after, same surfaces →
Prices exclude 13% HST. The range the estimator shows is confirmed at a free on-site assessment — sometimes the bottom, sometimes the top, occasionally outside it when joints hide surprises. The written proposal is the number we stand behind.
Asked before every quote.
How much does interlock restoration cost in Ottawa?
Full restoration — joint extraction, hot-water cleaning, steam where the joints need it, premium polymeric re-sanding — starts at $1,050 +HST, and a typical two-car driveway in our regular service area lands in the $1,800–$2,250 +HST range. Your own number takes about 60 seconds in the estimator, no email required.
Why do interlock quotes vary so wildly?
Because "interlock cleaning" can mean anything from a rinse to a rebuild. A pressure wash with swept-in sand is a fraction of the price of a restoration — and it lasts a season, because the old joints and weed roots stay. Compare scope, not just price: ask exactly what happens to the joints.
Is sealing included in restoration?
No, and it shouldn't be — though the restoration is doing more for you than that answer suggests. Conventional interlock is impermeable paving: it sheds water off the top, and the joints are part of that surface. Rebuild them and far less water goes down into the bed. Sealing is a different job at a different depth — CAT5 keeps water and salt out of the pores of the stone itself. Sealing over fresh polymeric sand traps moisture and fails, so CAT5 (from $950 +HST) is a second step after 30+ days of cure — priced separately because it is honestly a separate decision.
What makes my price higher or lower?
Area (paint it on the satellite photo in the estimator), joint condition, surface type, steps, access — and getting the equipment there. Bringing the truck, the machines and a full day of setup to your property is part of every restoration, so the estimator reads your postal code and builds it into the range you see rather than adding it later. The free on-site assessment then confirms the number before any work is booked.
Does the brand of polymeric sand matter?
More than most people realize, because "polymeric sand" covers a wide range of products. Plain jointing sand washes out and feeds weeds. Bargain polymeric can set weakly and leave a cement haze on the stone that is miserable to remove. We install one product only: Techniseal HP NextGel — a no-haze formulation that is rain-resistant an hour after activation and rated for joints from 1/16" up to 1". Naming the product on your proposal is deliberate: you know exactly what went into your joints, and so do we when we stand behind them.
Why does new joint sand need plate compaction?
Because sand poured into a joint bridges. The larger grains lodge partway down and hold the rest up, so the joint looks full while sitting 30–50% empty underneath. That crust cracks within a season — and the sand gets blamed. Vibration is what drives the sand to full depth and consolidates it. That is why every re-sand we do is run over with a plate compactor fitted with a polyurethane pad, protecting the stone from the steel while the joints consolidate. Compaction appears as its own line on your proposal — it is a real step, not a flourish, and you should see it in any quote you compare.
Why does the sand go in on a second visit instead of the same day?
Polymeric sand only bonds in dry joints. After hot-water cleaning, and steaming where weeds called for it, moisture sits deep in the joint gaps for longer than a workday — sand installed over it traps that moisture and sets poorly. So the process is two visits by design: clean, extract and steam on the first; return to sand and compact once everything has fully dried. One honest caveat: joint sand can't fix a bed that has already gone soft, or unrestrained edges — that is a lift and relay, and if we see either at the assessment we tell you before anything is priced.