Edge restraint
Also called: paver edging, paver restraint, snap edge, concrete edge restraint
The plastic, aluminum or concrete edging spiked or set along the perimeter of a paver surface to keep the pavers and bedding sand from spreading outward under load. Without it a paver driveway loosens at the edges within a season. About $2 a foot for plastic restraint with 10-inch spikes.
Interlocking pavers work as a surface because they’re held tight against each other: load on one paver spreads to its neighbors through the sand-filled joints. That only holds if the outer course can’t move. The edge restraint is what stops it — and on a driveway, where a tire turns on the edge every day, it’s the difference between a surface that lasts twenty years and one that unravels in one.
Three kinds. Plastic or aluminum L-shaped restraint spiked into the compacted base every 8–12 inches with 10-inch spikes — the usual choice, invisible once backfilled with soil or mulch. A concrete curb or toe troweled against the outer course — heavier duty, used on curves and commercial work. An existing edge — a house foundation, a curb, or the old driveway slab — which restrains the pavers on its own if the base runs tight to it.
Rules that matter: the restraint sits on the compacted base course, never on the bedding sand or the soil, which is why the base is dug 6 inches wider than the pavers; it’s installed before the pavers are laid or immediately after the first courses, not after the field is done; and it’s backfilled so it’s supported from the outside. A paver quote that doesn’t mention it is a quote to question.