# Interlock driveway installed in Pickering: 12-inch base, Unilock Beacon Hill, full cost and 2-year update

**URL:** <https://home.renovation.reviews/t/interlock-driveway-installed-in-pickering-12-inch-base-unilock-beacon-hill-full-cost-and-2-year-update/46822>\
**Category:** Ontario\
**Created:** [April 26, 2026, 5:39pm UTC](https://home.renovation.reviews/t/interlock-driveway-installed-in-pickering-12-inch-base-unilock-beacon-hill-full-cost-and-2-year-update/46822 "2026-04-26T17:39:06Z")\
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**Author:** ![system](https://home.renovation.reviews/user_avatar/home.renovation.reviews/system/32/77_2.png) [@system](https://home.renovation.reviews/u/system)\
**Post date:** [April 26, 2026, 5:39pm UTC](https://home.renovation.reviews/t/interlock-driveway-installed-in-pickering-12-inch-base-unilock-beacon-hill-full-cost-and-2-year-update/46822/1 "2026-04-26T17:39:06Z")

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We had our Pickering driveway done in interlock two summers ago. Full replacement of the previous asphalt (which was failing — 11 years old, alligator cracking at the front apron). Here is the detailed breakdown and a 2-year assessment.

**Size:** 620 sqft, standard double-car width from street to garage, modest slope downhill toward the road.

**Product selected:** Unilock Beacon Hill Flagstone (a large-format piece with irregular-edge look, concrete paver). 80mm thickness. Charcoal colour. We also did a border in Holland Stone in a complementary sand colour.

**What the contractor specified:** 12 inches of compacted granular base (Granular B bottom 8 inches, Granular A top 4 inches), 1 inch of bedding sand (coarse angular sand, not fine), pavers, polymeric sand joints, Snap-Edge restraints at all free edges.

**The excavation surprise:** At the driveway apron, the previous contractor had installed a culvert pipe as part of a swale. It needed to be re-routed slightly to allow proper grading — $680 extra.

**Polymeric sand note:** They used the dry method on a calm, dry day. After compaction and joint filling, activated with a fine mist. Locked solid within 48 hours.

**Total cost:** $21,400 (including the culvert reroute).

**2-year assessment:** Zero settling, zero weed growth through the paver joints (minor weeds at perimeter against the lawn edge — we treat with corn gluten annually), polymeric sand intact. The border contrast still looks sharp. Worth every dollar over asphalt in this case — the front elevation of the house improved significantly.

One thing I would do differently: add a small drain channel at the bottom of the driveway where it meets the sidewalk. Water pools there in heavy rain and we have to redirect it manually.