Status: Proposed · August 2026
A Victorian on Meridian Street in East Nashville with a concrete driveway and front sidewalk that have started cracking and settling in a few spots — about 560 square feet between the two. The homeowner wanted the look of pavers on a house that deserves them, without a demolition job in the front yard. The plan is a paver overlay in Keystone Holland Stone, Graphite blend, laid directly over the existing concrete.
The problem
Older concrete on an older lot: cracking and slight settlement in a few panels, nothing structural. The right fix for a surface like this is not to rip it out — it’s to use it. The existing slab becomes the base, which is the expensive part of any paver job, and the new surface goes on top in a couple of days instead of a couple of weeks. The handful of cracked and uneven spots get slight base modifications first so the sand bed and pavers sit on an even foundation.
What we’re building
| Zone | Build stack, top to bottom |
|---|---|
| Driveway + front sidewalk — about 560 sq ft | Existing concrete cleaned; low or broken spots corrected → 1-inch machine-sand setting bed screeded to grade → Holland Stone Graphite pavers in herringbone with a soldier-course border, mechanically installed → plastic edge restraint spiked along every open edge → polymeric sand swept and locked into the joints. |
No demolition of the existing concrete, no dumpster in the driveway for a week. The build follows the published CMHA (formerly ICPI) guide specification for paver overlays on existing concrete: sand bedding on a sound slab, restrained edges, sand-locked joints. If a paver ever cracks or a utility needs access, the affected pavers lift and reset — no patch, no color mismatch, no re-pour.
The material
Keystone Holland Stone, Graphite. A 4″×8″×60 mm concrete paver (ASTM C936) with color through the whole stone. Graphite is a deep charcoal that sits well against painted Victorian trim; the red-brick border in the sample above is one option for the edge course, and a matching charcoal border is the other.
What it looks like finished
Two completed Holland Stone overlays in Nashville — same product, same installation approach. The first is the Chicago blend rather than Graphite; the second is a larger HOA entrance drive in a charcoal herringbone. The Meridian Street project will be one of the first we install in Graphite.
How we build it
The crew cut sheet for the overlay system — layer stack, twelve install steps, sand quantities per 100 square feet — is on our paver overlay page. For a driveway that needs a full base instead, see paver driveway installation, and for what an overlay costs in Nashville, our 2026 pricing guide.
East Nashville
Meridian Street runs through the historic core of East Nashville — narrow lots, mature trees, Victorians and four-squares with original concrete walks that have been through a century of freeze-thaw. An overlay fits these houses: it keeps the footprint, keeps the mature landscaping intact, and puts a surface out front that matches the architecture. We’ve installed paver overlays across Nashville, including two entire neighborhoods, and the West End job above is a short drive for anyone who wants to see the product on the ground.
Thinking about the same thing for your driveway? Call (615) 356-0139 or request a free quote. We come out, shoot the grade, and tell you straight whether an overlay is the right call.