Permeable Pavers

Permeable interlocking concrete pavement is designed to be as porous as possible, allowing water to adequately flow into an aggregate base, preventing flooding.

Commercial Solutions

We are proud of the reputation we’ve built as one of the leading commercial paving companies operating anywhere in the Carolinas or the surrounding areas today.

Municipal Solutions

Creating an innovative sustainable and ecologically friendly environment through low impact development, reducing major problems such as flooding and erosion.

Residential Solutions

Breathe new life into an outdoor area of your home using pavers, brick, stone, granite or permeables. We’ll guide you through creating the space of your dreams.

Permeable Solutions

Control storm water before, during and after extreme weather events as well as improve overall water quality thanks to the imbedded filtering system with Permeable Solutions.

Value Engineering

During projects, we provide better, more organized processes and procedures in an effort to better eliminate unnecessary costs that are discovered within the industry.

Products

Explore our paver products for concrete pavers, retaining walls, permeable pavers, sealers, joint stabilizers & accessories, clay pavers, natural stone pavers, slab & roof systems & porcelain tiles.

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A Beginner’s Guide to Hardscaping: Permeable Pavers

Permeable Pavers

With such a variety of materials available for hardscaping — from slate to river stone, and from concrete to steel, why has Unit Paving chosen to specialize in permeable pavers? Why, for that matter, do so many of our customers […]

By definition, commercial paving projects are a delicate balancing act. Cash-strapped municipalities and businesses operating on thin margins need to find materials that can withstand unpredictable weather, high traffic volume, and heavy loads. The finished product, whether it’s a parking […]

The Carolinas are two of the original thirteen colonies. We’re reminded of this when severe weather buffets the state, since it can feel like key infrastructure hasn’t had much by way of updates since Charleston was founded in 1670, or […]

Even though Houston is a long way from the Carolinas, the impact of Hurricane Harvey on Texas’s largest city still sent chills up the spine of anyone living in a hurricane-prone area. A combination of overdevelopment and poor wastewater management […]

When you cater to a rarefied clientele — and you also want to compete for a fair share of event and wedding bookings — it doesn’t pay for your grounds to look unkempt or outdated. Small investments, like investing in […]

When something is nearly ubiquitous, it’s easy to forget it’s there. Permeable interlocking concrete pavers (PICP) are one of those items. They’ve been around for thousands of years, but have become especially popular in recent years. They’ve certainly kept us […]

As America’s third century — and with it, the 21st Century — gets well underway, our urban fabric is evolving in ways urban developers and theorists like Robert Moses and Jane Jacobs could scarcely have imagined. In the process, we’re […]

What we typically think of as “landscaping” is more than just plants that must be maintained, watered, and weeded. That part of the equation — also called softscaping — is complemented by hardscaping, which is the use of inorganic materials […]

Sustainability has been a business buzzword for a decade or longer. However, sustainable growth is increasingly a concern for burgeoning municipalities, and even homeowners in the Carolinas are increasingly looking at how they can do their part. Urban growth taxes […]

Permeable Pavers

What Are Permeable Pavers?

The Roman Empire is known for its engineering marvels, including aqueducts, public baths, and monumental projects like the Colosseum. One of Rome’s most enduring legacies, however, is also one of its most humble: the paver, passed down through two millennia, […]

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By definition, commercial paving projects are a delicate balancing act. Cash-strapped municipalities and businesses operating on thin margins need to find materials that can withstand unpredictable weather, high traffic volume, and heavy loads. The finished product, whether it’s a parking lot, a road, or just a driveway, needs to perform and last with minimal maintenance.

While many will opt for the same commercial paving solutions they’ve always used, some are looking for alternatives. They find them with Unit Paving. Let’s compare the relative strengths and weaknesses of common commercial paving materials.

Asphalt Pavement

Asphalt seems to be everywhere. It’s the most common commercial paving material because it’s easy to manufacture and transport, and relatively quick and cheap to install. On the plus side, it’s easy to repair, resists erosion, and has a bit of give that allows it to adapt to a variety of soil and weather conditions.

It also has significant drawbacks. Because its binding material is petroleum-based, it’s a finite resource. Because of its petroleum content and the heat island effect (asphalt absorbs and traps heat), it raises local temperatures, and is also harmful to the environment. Its installation is very labor-intensive and can be dangerous. It’s impervious, so it contributes to stormwater runoff and flooding. It’s soft, leaving it prone to potholes and cracks. And its petroleum component makes recycling difficult and expensive.

Concrete Pavement

Concrete tends to be more durable than asphalt. It’s also more versatile, since it can easily be shaped, colored, and textured to look like something else. The materials that make up the aggregate are easy to grind down and recycle or repurpose, and it’s reflective to help mitigate the heat island effect; these factors make it more environmentally-friendly than asphalt. Some forms of concrete are even designed to be pervious or porous to aid with runoff control.

However, even concrete has its disadvantages. Not as flexible as asphalt, it can be prone to erosion and cracking. Like asphalt, it also requires a lot of specialized equipment to install properly, which drives costs up relative to asphalt and permeable pavers. And because most concrete surfaces aren’t designed with sustainability in mind, they will — like their asphalt counterparts — place heavy demands on local drainage systems.

Permeable Pavers

Permeable pavers are extremely durable. On their own, they can be driven on by cars, trucks, and all manner of heavy equipment — they’re capable of handling more than 6800 PSI of ground pressure. Once filled they’re even stronger, offering more than 8000 PSI of compression strength. That’s more than adequate for any volume of commercial traffic.

They’re low-maintenance, being as easy to replace as they are to install. A smaller project can easily be handled by a single person, while a larger-scale project can be completed quickly by a smaller team than a concrete or asphalt pave would require. The fill material can be locally-sourced, and the pavers don’t require sealants. Because they absorb water rather than shedding it, they’re far more environmentally-friendly and will require far less drainage; that, in turn, cuts down on flood concerns, soil erosion, and depletion of natural resources.

For all the advantages (and they are legion), pavers do have some challenges. The amount of preparation in terms of backfilling, grading, and compacting is about the same. The cost is less than concrete, but may be slightly more than asphalt. And because they’re not as commonly used as concrete or asphalt, finding a qualified local installer can be challenging.

Challenging, but not impossible. If you require commercial paving in the Carolinas, Unit Paving Inc has the tools, expertise, and experience for commercial paving projects of all sizes. To find out how cost-effective a permeable paving solution can be for your business or municipality, contact Unit Paving to explore your options.

The Carolinas are two of the original thirteen colonies. We’re reminded of this when severe weather buffets the state, since it can feel like key infrastructure hasn’t had much by way of updates since Charleston was founded in 1670, or when Charlotte was incorporated in 1768. It has, of course, but it hasn’t always kept pace with modern times; many of our cities have modern infrastructure built atop Victorian-era drainage and sewage systems, which can be catastrophic when it comes to managing urban flooding. A key way to prevent this? Permeable pavement installed by an experienced NC paving company like Unit Paving Inc.

Why Flooding Happens

Here’s a thought experiment. Let’s say you go to the soda fountain at your local fast food restaurant or all-you-can-eat buffet, cup in hand, and queue up for a free refill. You decide you’re going to drink while your cup is refilling. If you’re not careful, you’ll be sponging Coke off your shorts. That’s because the flow from the dispenser into your cup is faster than the straw can handle.

Cities’ infrastructure is similar. The storm drains in small towns and big cities alike are like that straw; at some point, the inflow of rain, and the resulting storm water runoff, overpowers even a well-designed system. Our streams, creeks, and rivers crest, and our parking lots turn into swimming pools. With hundred-year and even thousand-year floods happening with greater frequency, it’s clear that something has to give.

How Permeable Pavers Work

Permeable pavers capture stormwater and help the soil absorb it. The more that goes into the soil, the less that goes into storm drains. What’s more, returning water to the soil filters out contaminants, aids in soil retention, and can prevent extensive water damage to paved surfaces and built structures alike. And when flooding can’t be prevented (as happened when Charleston experienced rain by the foot), permeable pavers do a better job of mitigating the impact than impervious pavement.

Permeable pavers are able to do this because instead of a continuous and impervious surface, there are joints filled with a porous compound through which water can pass. It is then filtered through layers of stone that provide the foundation for the pavers.

How Permeable Pavers Prevent Flooding

Now, let’s put it all together. Upgrading infrastructure helps, but it’s time-intensive, disruptive, and expensive. It also doesn’t solve the root of the problem: as development takes hold, and especially once it moves beyond the urban core, more and more of our green spaces are taken over by paved surfaces. Some statistics cite 40% of a cityscape being made up of impermeable pavement.

When the only place for water to go is a city’s storm drains, it places considerable stress on multiple points in that city’s infrastructure. Soil erosion takes place, water runoff introduces chemicals and pollutants to water treatment plants that are ill-equipped to handle them, and flooding is more or less inevitable. Permeable municipal pavement helps minimize that impact and keep cities greener — and drier.

Hardscape Design for Flood Mitigation

Neither North Carolina nor South Carolina are strangers to terrible weather. Our residents are also all too familiar with the flooding that too often follows in its wake. Unit Paving isn’t just well-acquainted with the problem; we’re also on the vanguard of delivering sustainable paving solutions. Our permeable pavers aren’t simply attractive and durable. They’re part of an approach to sustainable hardscape design that is as environmentally-friendly as it is cost-effective. Why not consult with our paving experts today?

Even though Houston is a long way from the Carolinas, the impact of Hurricane Harvey on Texas’s largest city still sent chills up the spine of anyone living in a hurricane-prone area. A combination of overdevelopment and poor wastewater management caused catastrophic flooding and an estimated $180 billion in damage. Not all cases will be this extreme, but homeowners and cities alike are rethinking stormwater runoff management. Permeable pavers like those installed by Unit Paving are one facet of a sensible runoff management plan.

How Permeable Pavers Work

When you understand how permeable pavers work, you can begin to understand how they help to manage stormwater runoff. Permeable paving lays interlocking pavers over a substrate of gravel, crushed stone, or even grass. Small ¾ in. stone is put between the pavers themselves preventing the pavers from shifting but still allowing water to pass through. In contrast to impermeable paving, which sheds water, permeable pavers return water first to the soil, then — eventually — to the local aquifers. This process also filters out pollutants that could otherwise contaminate the local supply of drinking water.

Runoff Management Benefits of Permeable Pavers

Less Municipal System Load

Under normal circumstances, a municipal sewer system can handle a bit of rainfall. However, impermeable surfaces combined with 21st Century infrastructure atop a sewer system built a century ago (or longer) can be a recipe for disaster. Permeable pavers return water to the ground instead of diverting it to storm drains. Sustainable hardscape design using permeable pavers can also limit costs and build complexity, since drainage needs are typically smaller.

Reduced Soil Erosion

Runoff from impermeable paved surfaces undermines the soil in surrounding areas. This is especially true if the paved area abuts a grade or a steep slope. The fact that permeable pavers sequester and filter water means retaining valuable nutrients in the soil, keeping plant life healthy and providing another hedge against erosion. Some paving solutions are also designed for the sole purpose of keeping soil in place, which means less sediment in storm drains, less maintenance, and fewer costly repairs to the surrounding softscape and storm drains alike.

Soil erosion has consequences beyond the potential for desertification. In extreme circumstances, soil erosion can undermine roads, sidewalks, and other paved surfaces. It can also cause costly foundation and structural damage.

Reduced Risk of Flooding

Flooding happens because the volume of water falling or entering an area at any given time is more than drainage systems can handle. Storm drains and pipes will always be a fact of life, but incorporating permeable pavers into a municipal hardscape design reduces the amount of water flowing to those drains, making it easier for them to do their jobs. That, in turn, means less flooding.

Residents of the Carolinas are no strangers to extreme weather. Hurricane season hits harder here than most of the rest of the United States, which makes long-term planning an absolute necessity. Whether you’re a property owner, a business owner, or a municipality concerned with sustainability and stormwater runoff, a permeable paver consultation with Unit Paving can help you manage risk.

When you cater to a rarefied clientele — and you also want to compete for a fair share of event and wedding bookings — it doesn’t pay for your grounds to look unkempt or outdated. Small investments, like investing in a new patio area or hardscape design, can pay handsome dividends for country clubs. In the Carolinas, Unit Paving has leveraged our years of experience to add a modern, yet classic, touch to many area country clubs.

Maintain Historical and Architectural Consistency

Especially in older country clubs, the clubhouse is more than a building. It’s the center of gravity, acting as the anchor for the club’s full range of activities. Clubhouses usually come with a story and a sense of history, and the country club’s hardscaping design should both reflect and reinforce that historicity. Permeable pavers are a smart choice in this instance, since they can be designed to harmonize with a number of architectural styles.

As a codicil to the above, we also suggest harmonizing the landscaping with the heritage of the club, or its founding members. An English garden, for instance, could be an appropriate homage to a country club with continental roots. If, on the other hand, your club’s lineage consists of or caters to hunters or travelers, a more rustic touch or an Asian flourish might be called for. Furthermore, there are many ways — especially the creative use of local hardscape materials and fauna — to put a local twist on an international look.

Soften Your Geometry

Straight lines and sharp corners can seem severe and uninviting, especially if used to excess. Embrace curvature! One advantage of permeable interlocking concrete pavers is that they’re easy to adapt to any number of shapes; furthermore, they can be easier to adapt to irregular topography than asphalt, and less complex in some respects than concrete used under the same circumstances.

Remix Your Hardscaping and Softscaping

One thing we’ve learned over time: there’s both an art, and a science, to balancing your softscaping (the growing, organic matter that makes up your landscaping) and your hardscaping (pavers, retaining walls, and other inorganic features). The lush greenery of many country clubs is a source of beauty and point of pride, but a carefully-planned hardscape can extend an area that is both useful and durable, while also being lower maintenance than a green surface. An added perk: hardscaping is sustainable, and can help with water management and drainage; as such, it deserves a closer look if you’re coping with these issues.

Don’t Forget Bluescaping

While green spaces and hardscaping matter to any country club, there’s another component that can pull together outdoor spaces: water features. Ponds and fountains help to deal with summer heat, but they also create oases of tranquility in nearly any environment.

“Interiorize” Your Exterior

Borrowing a page from the interior design handbook can transform outdoor spaces. Rather than thinking of your patio area as a unified whole, mentally (and architecturally) compartmentalize. Use a creative mix of hardscaping and landscaped features to create thematically diverse areas that can provide opportunities that match your members’ desire for congregation, solitude, or a space in which to cut loose.

The country club is, in some ways, a uniquely American phenomenon. And while many have deep roots in history, the challenge facing clubs’ ownership and boards of directors is twofold: honoring that past, while adapting to changing times and tastes. Contact Unit Paving to draw on our quarter century of hardscaping design and commercial paving experience and make over your country club hardscaping.

When something is nearly ubiquitous, it’s easy to forget it’s there. Permeable interlocking concrete pavers (PICP) are one of those items. They’ve been around for thousands of years, but have become especially popular in recent years. They’ve certainly kept us busy here at Unit Paving Inc, as a growing number of homeowners, businesses, and cities turn to this old tech with a new twist. What’s behind that growing popularity?

Environmental Impact

The United States Geological Survey (USGS) cites a study by the Wisconsin Water Science Center that examines the impact of permeable pavers on the environment, especially in comparison with traditional paving methods. The results of the study were exactly what those of us in the industry would have expected: permeable pavers win hands-down when it comes to environmental impact.

That’s because in contrast with impervious surfaces, a PICP surface is specifically designed to sequester and filter wastewater and return it to the ground. When your landscape or streetscape uses an impervious surface like asphalt, the same wastewater is instead taxing sewer systems; if you’re a homeowner, meanwhile, that water could be pooling on your property, ruining your landscaping and attracting pests.

Sustainability

Of course, environmental concerns dovetail well with sustainability, the design and building methods designed to manage and mitigate environmental impact.

Sustainability addresses the finite nature of our water and material resources. For that reason, hardscaping is intended to return water to the soil rather than the sewer, and relies heavily on recycled and locally-sourced materials. Likewise, sustainable hardscaping like permeable pavers is also part of a wider strategy to preserve local soil and plant life.

Permeable pavers are a good fit here, since the construction method (whereby interlocking pavers are laid down in a grid over gravel, and using polymeric filler) lends itself naturally to erosion control, and limits or eliminates drainage concerns.

Heat Island Mitigation

In addition to its impermeability, blacktop has another significant problem: it absorbs and holds heat. Because permeable pavers are usually lighter in color, their reflective properties can have a light mitigating effect on the heat island phenomenon, whereby paved and overbuilt surfaces have a higher heat than the greener areas around them.

Expense

Interlocking pavers require less complex installation. Typically, the ground can be graded and compacted, a layer of rock or other porous material laid, and the pavers put down over that. By contrast, laying an impervious surface requires specialized equipment and is much more labor-intensive, which drives costs up.

Durability

The interlocking nature of permeable pavers affords an additional benefit: durability. A conventional asphalt driveway or concrete walkway can buckle or crack as the ground settles beneath it, or as tree roots grow beneath the surface. PICP, in contrast, already has a series of expansion joints built in, and rather than being a continuous slab is actually flexible, capable of adapting to topographical changes.

Aesthetics

Let’s be honest. An expanse of asphalt or concrete may be plenty practical, but in terms of looks, it’s about as interesting as watching paint dry. Choosing the right interlocking pavers isn’t just easier on the planet and your landscaping. It’s easy on the eyes.

Whether you’re a homeowner, commercial property manager, or city manager, the benefit of permeable pavers in your green portfolio is obvious. What can be less obvious is who to turn to for the hardscape design and paver installation to modernize your landscape. If you live in the Carolinas, that choice is much easier: simply contact Unit Paving Inc for a consultation and quote.

As America’s third century — and with it, the 21st Century — gets well underway, our urban fabric is evolving in ways urban developers and theorists like Robert Moses and Jane Jacobs could scarcely have imagined. In the process, we’re reimagining the very meaning of the city — its design, its purpose, and all that it’s capable of being. Streetscapes are an integral part of this evolution, and Unit Paving Inc. is proud of the part we’ve played in streetscape design in the Carolinas.

What is a Streetscape?

How we think about cities and towns — a bird’s-eye view that takes in the whole — is useful in some ways, but limited in others. Most of us, after all, experience the burgs we live in from ground level, in cars, taxis, and buses, or on foot. The streetscape is the roads and streets that frame that urban landscape, as well as the trees, signage, sidewalks, bus stops, and wayfinding that ornaments them. Smart streetscaping, therefore, considers the human scale and impact of our streets, and tries to determine how they might be made more effective.

Streetscape Trends

A few key trends are shaping modern streetscape design.

The Return of the Commons

As social media becomes more entrenched, many urban planners and local administrations are eyeing a return of public spaces to entice people outdoors. There are a number of reasons for this. It makes us more social, keeps us fitter and happier, helps us get to know our neighbors, and improves engagement and civic pride. Improving access to areas in which people can congregate — which can be as simple as a public park or an open-air market — helps toward this end.

Walkability

There are a number of pressures on the auto industry. Ownership and even leasing are on the decline, and as ride-sharing and autonomous driving take hold in the years ahead, that trend will only accelerate. But the impact is already being felt; people are choosing the places they live based on walkability, with younger professionals and home-buyers being especially attentive to cities’ Walk Scores. That makes features that are pedestrian-friendly especially important — including wayfinding features, better sidewalks, pedestrian bridges, and public spaces that are built with foot traffic rather than vehicle traffic in mind.

Transit-Oriented Development

In tandem with the decline of private vehicle ownership, we’re also seeing more money invested in public transportation, and on mixed-use development that maximizes access to buses and trains. This trend, called transit-oriented development, still sees the United States lagging behind most of the rest of the developed world, but shows encouraging signs of growth.

Sustainability

We know there’s a debate on climate change, but Mother Nature doesn’t seem to have gotten the memo. Record-breaking weather events, flooding, water shortages, and heat islands each pose challenges to municipalities of all sizes, giving rise to a sustainable approach to management and growth that seeks to mitigate the worst of natural and human activity. Among the innovative paving solutions we’ve seen are the deployment of permeable pavers, green roofs, and even one city’s drastic approach of painting its roadways white to combat the heat island effect.

Complete Streets

The trends mentioned above converge in Complete Streets. An initiative of nonprofit organization Smart Growth America, the Complete Streets project is gathering steam across the United States — including municipalities like Myrtle Beach and Charleston, SC, Chapel Hill, Durham, and Winston-Salem, NC, and the Departments of Transportation in both states, via a network of public-private and municipal partnerships.

This involves a multi-pronged approach that includes:

  • Promoting and capitalizing on development in walkable neighborhoods
  • Strategizing place-based economic development
  • Provision for safer and more convenient travel options, including public transportation
  • Supporting policy outcomes that support robust local community development
  • Conducting research and analysis that promotes smart and sustainable growth strategies that involve whole communities

This is a time of challenges, but also of great opportunities. For help meeting those challenges and maximizing those opportunities in streetscape design, consult with Unit Paving Inc.

What we typically think of as “landscaping” is more than just plants that must be maintained, watered, and weeded. That part of the equation — also called softscaping — is complemented by hardscaping, which is the use of inorganic materials like stone and pavers for beauty and function. For many in North and South Carolina, the hardscaping services provided by Unit Paving Inc have proven to be equal parts durable, functional, and beautiful.

What is Softscaping?

Softscaping is the organic, living part of landscaping. Grasses, trees, shrubs, and a variety of other annuals and perennials are each an important part of your softscape, and they’re also part of what makes a given space — a yard, a town square, or a country club — inviting.

Softscaping presents maintenance challenges. Because it’s made up of living things, those plants need to be watered, fertilized, trimmed, and fed. Beyond that, many of the things we do to manage our softscape can create environmental issues if they’re not correctly managed. These can include wastewater runoff, soil erosion, and groundwater contamination.

What is Hardscaping?

Hardscaping is every bit as varied as softscaping. A typical hardscape design can include anything from a driveway to a retaining wall, a streetscape, ponds, fountains, or something as simple as a gravel path. The issues pertaining to hardscape maintenance are fewer, and normally arise from improper design or installation; this is a prime reason to opt for an experienced hardscape installer.

A properly designed and built hardscape, on the other hand, can help to mitigate some of the environmental impact of your landscaping. It need not be complex; something as simple as a walkway or drive constructed with permeable pavers can help manage wastewater runoff, combat soil erosion, and help to filter common contaminants out of water before it’s reabsorbed into the water table.

Balancing Hardscaping and Softscaping

We’re proponents of hardscaping, which is hardly surprising given our 25 years in the business. However, we’re also mindful of the fact that there’s such a thing as too much. There are some circumstances in which it’s best to weight your landscaping toward hardscaping products; this is especially true in high-traffic areas, areas that will be traversed by vehicles, or in areas where water conservation is a must.

However, softscaping also has its place. It beautifies, improves air and water quality, increases property value, and makes for public spaces in which people enjoy gathering.

Therefore, whether you’re planning a lawn or a downtown area, this isn’t a question about the primacy of one or the other. One might as well ask whether oxygen or water is “better”; we need both, and in much the same way, hardscaping design is about how well each balances and complements the other. Striking that balance is equal parts art and science, and is something best handled by an experienced hardscape designer working in tandem with a hardscape contractor; with Unit Paving, you get both. For assistance designing and building sustainable hardscapes for your home, commercial paving project, or municipal project, contact us for a consultation.

Sustainability has been a business buzzword for a decade or longer. However, sustainable growth is increasingly a concern for burgeoning municipalities, and even homeowners in the Carolinas are increasingly looking at how they can do their part. Urban growth taxes resources, often in unexpected ways. Sustainable hardscape design can help lighten the load borne by aging infrastructure, and Unit Paving Inc can help point a way forward.

What is Hardscaping?

Landscaping is made up of softscapes and hardscapes. Softscaping refers to the organic matter that fills a space, and can include (but is not limited to) grasses, shrubs, flowers, trees, and other things that grow. Hardscaping refers to non-organic, and often man-made, features that complete the landscape. These can include walls, footpaths, bike paths, fountains, man made ponds, and roads.

What Makes Hardscaping “Green”?

Hardscaping can be made more environmentally friendly. The EPA recommends a number of best practices for “greenscaping,” the practice of environmentally-sustainable landscaping. Many of their recommendations refer specifically to hardscape landscaping. They suggest that sustainable hardscape designs should “[r]educe nonpermeable hardscape wherever possible to minimize rainwater runoff and erosion.”

Municipal hardscaping has other environmental benefits as well. By definition, it requires no water or fertilizer. When installed properly, it also aids with water sequestration and filtration, limiting runoff, reducing load on sewer systems and wastewater treatment plants, and filtering off pollutants.

Basic Principles of Sustainable Hardscapes

Sustainable hardscaping borrows some of its tenets from sustainable landscaping. In brief:

  • Water is finite. It should be treated as a resource, and the hardscape designed in such a way that returns water to the soil, not the sewer.
  • Material resources are finite. Materials used should be recycled and/or locally sourced to the greatest extent possible.
  • Soil and plant life should be preserved. Hardscaping should complement the natural environment and assist in its preservation.

In addition to the design and installation techniques used by Unit Paving, we also offer a range of pavers made of natural materials that follow best practices for sustainability. Among the paving products we offer are permeable pavers, clay, and natural stone pavers, backed with careful installation that is intended to bear up under heavy traffic while also capturing and filtering stormwater runoff.

A Note for Homeowners

By and large, we’ve concerned ourselves with municipal hardscaping in this article. However, it bears mention that homeowners can benefit from sustainable hardscape practices. The principles and benefits are the same; only the scale is changed.

South Carolina Hardscape Contractors

Sustainable hardscape design is equal parts art and science. On the one hand, you’ll want the urban spaces you’re hardscaping to be attractive, and special attention should be paid if the hardscape landscaping is undertaken in an area with a particular historical character.

On the other hand, there are a number of practical concerns — drainage, runoff management, and much more — which have more to do with function than esthetics. While Unit Paving Inc has helped our fair share of homeowners in the Carolinas, we have the experience to design and deliver at scale. That experience is invaluable when it comes to providing hardscaping services to a diverse clientele that includes businesses, towns, and cities. We invite you to contact Unit Paving for a paving consultation.

The Roman Empire is known for its engineering marvels, including aqueducts, public baths, and monumental projects like the Colosseum. One of Rome’s most enduring legacies, however, is also one of its most humble: the paver, passed down through two millennia, and an important part of modern hardscaping. Just as science and experience have improved on other Roman innovations like concrete, the paver has undergone a renaissance of its own, seen in the permeable pavers offered by Unit Paving.

How Permeable Pavers Work

Traditional pavers are impermeable, which is to say they’re specifically designed to prevent the penetration of water. That leads to water — and anything picked up in the water, like oil, fertilizer, and a host of other pollutants — being carried to storm drains, where the whole toxic mixture ends up in our rivers and groundwater.

The alternative is Permeable Interlocking Concrete Pavers, also known as PICP. Instead of being a smooth and solid surface, permeable pavers are designed with a certain amount of porous surface area that absorbs the water. The paver, the substrate, and even the fine stone filler between pavers each contribute to filtering contaminants out of the water before it makes its way back to the soil and the water table.

Permeable pavers should not be confused with pervious pavers such as grass pave. Both are designed for the same purposes, but work by different means; pervious pavers which have a visibly porous look due to their use of a coarse aggregate and larger void areas. Permeable pavers use a different proportion of concrete to aggregate to the same end, but are virtually indistinguishable from other traditional pavers offered by Unit Paving and tend to be more user friendly as well as ADA compliant.

Why Permeable Pavers?

History reminds us that the more things change, the more they stay the same. Like ancient Rome, modern times find us trying to keep pace with a growing population in ways that don’t tax our natural resources.

Every modern convenience brings certain downsides, including water contamination from the fertilizers that help our crops grow, oil and fuel from our cars infiltrating groundwater, and massive rainwater runoff flooding streets and driveways. The design and mechanics of permeable pavers are an attempt to address these issues in a way that stays practical and functional.

Benefits of Permeable Pavers

PICP provides certain benefits when used in South Carolina paving projects. These pavers are sustainable. They contribute toward LEED NC-2009 and LID credits by capturing and treating the contaminant load of rainwater. They require less infrastructure (like stormwater retention ponds). Furthermore, they reduce pollution and the heat island effect.

Permeable Paver Applications

When you think of pavers, you may think of a driveway or walkway. However, when the right materials and installation are used, permeable pavers prove to be remarkably adaptable. Not only can they handle pedestrian traffic and parked cars, but they’re also suitable for shopping plazas, parks, and even roads that carry a high volume of vehicular traffic.

Permeable Pavers from Unit Paving

In addition to the choice of PICP, the choice of your paving contractor matters. Using Unit Paving comes with a number of built-in advantages, including our many years of experience serving the needs of businesses, homes, and municipalities in the Carolinas, our diverse range of projects that includes courtyards, driveways, and pool decks, a wide choice of materials, and our certifications (we are ICPI Certified Installers and Green Advantage Environmental hardscape installers). Contact us to consult on your project — no matter how large or small — today.