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Techo-Bloc Home Additions & ADU: The San Antonio Owner’s Guide
We install Techo-Bloc-compatible home additions and ADUs across San Antonio, with most projects priced between $45,000 and $130,000 depending on square footage, foundation work, and finish level. If you’re reading this, you likely have a Techo-Bloc product on an existing structure and something has gone wrong: a paver section is heaving after a hard summer, a retaining wall block is cracking near a door, or a patio edge has settled enough that water now runs toward the house. The short version: we stock the Techo-Bloc lines most common in San Antonio, we match color and series before ordering anything, and we can usually give you a written price within a day or two of measuring.
Which Techo-Bloc Models This Applies To
Techo-Bloc manufactures several paver and wall lines that show up repeatedly on San Antonio additions and ADUs. The workhorse series we see most often on home additions: Blu 60 for driveways and walkways, Blu 80 for heavier vehicle loads, Mista and Para for patios, and Semma or Mini-Creta walls for raised planters and retaining edges. The compatibility gotcha most owners miss: Techo-Bloc changes its color blends over time. A “Shale Grey” Blu 60 patio poured in 2019 will not match a 2025 batch of the same named color exactly. We photograph your existing pavers, pull the lot code when it’s still readable on the underside, and order from current stock that is closest in tone, not closest in name.
When a paver or wall block has failed, the decision is almost always OEM over aftermarket. Techo-Bloc paver dimensions are not standard across the industry. A 60mm paver cannot be swapped for a 60mm “equivalent” from a big-box store without a visible height difference at the seam. The only exception we make: select wall caps and edge restraints where the manufacturer’s dimensional tolerance is wide enough that a quality aftermarket match works without visual compromise. That is rare.
Styles & brands we work with
Signs Your Techo-Bloc Home Additions & ADU Is Failing
- Pavers are rocking or shifting underfoot near the addition’s door line. This usually means the bedding layer has eroded or the edge restraint has pulled away, allowing the outermost pavers to drift. In San Antonio’s clay-heavy soil, seasonal expansion and contraction do this faster than most owners expect.
- A retaining wall block is cracked or bulging outward. Water is almost always the culprit. Poor drainage behind the wall builds pressure, and the oldest blocks in the run fail first. If the wall borders a walkway or the new ADU’s foundation, this is a repair that should not wait.
- Water pools against the new structure after rain. A settled patio or walkway can change the grade enough that runoff heads toward the addition instead of away from it. The paver surface may look fine while the actual problem is underneath.
- Efflorescence (white chalky residue) keeps returning on wall blocks. This signals persistent moisture moving through the block, not just surface wear. On a Techo-Bloc product, repeated efflorescence usually points to a drainage or grading issue rather than a manufacturing defect.
- Joint sand is disappearing between pavers, and ants are moving in. In San Antonio heat, polymeric sand breaks down faster when the pavers flex. Ants follow the voids. The fix is not just re-sanding; it is stabilizing the base so the joints stop opening.
See the difference
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After
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After
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AfterReplacement Cost & What’s Included
For a full home addition or ADU built with Techo-Bloc hardscaping, San Antonio prices land between $45,000 and $130,000. A smaller paver patio repair around an existing addition runs toward the lower end; a full ADU build with a Blu 60 driveway, retaining walls, and integrated drainage runs toward the top. A mid-sized patio replacement with new edge restraint and recompacted base typically runs $3,500 to $11,000, depending on square footage.
What is included: we remove and dispose of the failed section, recompact the base, replace drainage aggregate where needed, install the new Techo-Bloc product, and re-sand the joints. You get a written price before any work starts. No line items added after demo day. The 365-Day Done Right Promise applies: if the work fails within a year, we come back and make it right.
DIY or Call Us?
You can safely check a few things on your own: look for visible block cracks, note where water sits after rain, and pull up one loose paver to check whether the sand base is still firm. Those observations help us price the repair faster. What we do not recommend: digging out a retaining wall yourself or re-leveling pavers near a structure. A wall that is holding back soil can shift without warning, and a paver base that is not recompacted correctly will settle again within months. The labor we put into base compaction is the part you do not see, and it is the part that fails when it is skipped. Call (432) 233-0976 and one of our uniformed technicians will measure, photograph, and give you a written price.
FAQs
Twenty-five to thirty years is realistic for the paver units themselves when the base underneath is built correctly. The base fails long before the concrete does, especially in San Antonio’s clay soil, which is why proper compaction matters more than the paver brand. If your pavers are moving at year eight, the base is the issue, not the Techo-Bloc block. Call (432) 233-0976 and we will tell you what is actually failing before quoting a repair.
Individual pavers can almost always be replaced one-for-one, and a cracked wall block can usually be swapped without rebuilding the entire wall. What cannot be repaired is a failing base or drainage system; any new block placed on an unstable base will fail the same way. We always diagnose the layer underneath before quoting a surface fix. Estimates are free.
A standard paver patio section of 200 to 400 square feet takes two to three working days from removal to final compaction. A short retaining wall repair is often done in a day if the existing base is sound. A full ADU build with hardscaping runs weeks, not days, and we put that timeline in writing before we start. Call (432) 233-0976 with the square footage and we will give you a schedule range.
We do not carry every Techo-Bloc series in the truck, but we keep the most common San Antonio lines in our yard: Blu 60, Blu 80, Mista, and a selection of wall caps. For less common series or older colors, we order directly and usually have the right lot within a week. Before we order anything, we photograph your existing material and confirm color match with you, in writing, as part of the quote.
If you have a Techo-Bloc patio, walkway, or wall that is failing around your San Antonio home addition or ADU, call (432) 233-0976 for a free estimate. We will measure, photograph, and hand you a written price before any work starts. You will also get the same protections we bring to every project: shoe covers and drop cloths inside, a photo of the clean-up before the crew leaves, and the 365-Day Done Right Promise on the completed work. Graham Stein and our crew know San Antonio’s soil and heat as well as anyone, and we write everything down before a single tool leaves the truck.
Written by Graham Stein, Owner, Elmstead Remodeling San Antonio at Elmstead Remodeling San Antonio, serving San Antonio and nearby areas.
