Buying guide
What to verify before you hire anyone.
Paving is one of the few trades where the quality of the work is invisible the day it is finished and only becomes obvious three winters later. That asymmetry is why the checks beforehand carry so much weight.
The non-negotiables
Liability insurance. Ask for the certificate. Excavation near services and structures carries real risk, and if something goes wrong on an uninsured job it is your property.
WSIB coverage. In Ontario, if an uncovered worker is injured on your property, you can be exposed. A clearance certificate takes one email to produce.
A written, specified quote. Excavation depth, base thickness, lifts, compaction, disposal, grade.
A verifiable business. Company name, address, working phone, a Google profile with reviews you can read.
The questions that actually differentiate
'What will you find under my driveway?' A good contractor will not know until they probe, and will say so. Someone who confidently describes your base without looking is guessing.
'What would make you tell me not to do this job?' Everyone has a version — a base too far gone for an overlay, drainage that has to be solved first. Someone with no answer has never turned down work.
'How many compaction passes per lift?' Specific and technical. The answer, or the absence of one, tells you a lot.
'Can I see the base before you cover it?' Any contractor confident in their base work will say yes immediately.
Reading reviews properly
Recent reviews matter more than the total. A company with 200 reviews and nothing in eighteen months has changed.
Read the negative ones and, more importantly, the responses. How a contractor handles a complaint is the best available predictor of how they will handle yours.
Be sceptical of a burst of five-star reviews in one week with no detail. Be reassured by detailed reviews that mention specifics — the crew, the timeline, a problem that got solved.
Warranty, and what it is worth
A workmanship warranty is only as good as the company still being there. A written warranty from an established business is meaningful; the same document from a crew with no fixed address is paper.
Ask what it covers specifically. Settlement? Cracking? Drainage? A warranty that excludes the things that actually fail is not a warranty.
Questions
Should I always get three quotes?
Three is a reasonable number, provided you ask all three the same specification questions. Three unspecified numbers tell you nothing.
Is a bigger company better?
Not inherently. Small crews often do excellent work. What matters is insurance, written specifications and verifiable history — not headcount.
How much deposit is reasonable?
A modest amount for materials on larger jobs. Most of the money should be due on completion.
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