I have a couple pavers that have sunk in my driveway. If this was close to the edge, I’d take up a few, re-level and replace. But this is in the middle of a large expanse of pavers.
How can I pull up a few in the middle to fix this without having to pull apart 1/2 my driveway?
I've done it two ways. Take a coat hanger and bend a 1" 90 degree at the end of a straightened out hanger. Insert the bent edge down into the seem and twist the hanger so the 1" piece turns under the paver you want to pull up. work it back and forth with a screwdriver in the opposite edge while pulling the paver up.
My other trick was to drill a hole in the paver I wanted to remove and stick in a plastic anchor. Insert the screw, screw it in a bit and lift up. Save the dust from drilling and when you reset the paver mix it with a little silicone, clear, caulk and stuff it into the hole.
Using a crowbar or screwdriver etc. lift the pavers to the left of the sunken ones first. Lift the ones numbered 1 and 2 in the image:
Then you should have enough room to dig out the sunken ones.
I've recently seen a video but can't find the link. Consider a Flexible Joint Knife, or the equivalent in a fairly wide spatula. Get a pair of them, to enable uniform lifting.
Slice from each edge of the spatula about one-third of the way inward, about an inch or two from the bottom. Bend those cut tabs in the same direction. As you force the tool into the crack, the tabs will be in the same plane as the crack, until you get below the level of the brick.
At that point, the tabs will extend under the paver providing lift points at four locations. Gently work the tool upward, lifting the paver a bit at a time.
Try using a pressure washer and a wet/dry vac to erode the sand and debris in the gap between the pavers. That'll hopefully get you to a place where at least the paver block can wobble freely, which will ease lifting it up.
For lifting.. if you're lucky, and/or have a sufficiently large vacuum, the paver might be lifted by vacuum alone. A ring of clay or putty massaged into the face of the paver could help seal the vacuum hose and improve the odds. Otherwise maybe fashion a wire hook, or use a bit of thin sheet metal, etc. Mechanical lift will require at least two lifting hooks.
If you have or can get spares/replacements then it might be OK to use more aggressive tactics which might result in breaking the paver. If it does break, grab a paver from a less-noticeable position and install it here, then use a whatever-you-can-get paver to restore the less-noticeable spot.
Just to add to the various hints, and complete the picture of available techniques, professionals who do this a lot would use a vacuum slab lifter, something like this:
Source: Express Tools
However your surface area may be too small for this, but even smaller attachments are made for bespoke situations.
A bit much of a purchase for a one-off, but worthy of note for completeness sake!
What works for me is using two pruning saws. Place one in the gap on each side of the paver, then twist each one so the teeth grab the paver. Then lift. Easy.
How about using some white glue (or other water-soluable) glue to attach a bolt/handle to the face of the paver? Once the repair is done, leave a soaking-wet rag on the glue overnight and wipe it off. If that doesn’t work, maybe some construction adhesive that can be dissolved with mineral spirits or ground off?
If you have even a single spare paver (as I do) then drilling in and using an appropriate plug can allow you to attach a screw eye and lift one straight out. After that the others should be fairly easy. When you've filled the void, replace the paver with the spare (perhaps using the one with the eye for a test fit)
Even without a spare, you may be able to swap the one with the screw hole to a less obvious place at an edge.
In this video Mike Haduck shows how he fixes pavers in his area (IIUC, he's been a stone mason for many years) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ioJsUnUDvok
Basically he uses two screw drivers to get the first paver out, he gets it gradually from one side, then the other and so on and so forth until it's out. The rest of them should be easy. IIUC, pavers are usually not cemented to the ground.
And as he writes in the description of many of his videos:
"... all my videos are my ways and ideas, I always suggest anyone doing any type of work to consult professional help".
EDIT: described the process a bit, as @ThreePhaseEel pointed out, if for whatever reason the video/link is down, there should be some description.
The flexible joint knife trick is described very well in the YouTube video "How to lift pavers without damaging them" by cjhtas:
Wet the stone then use a toilet plunger to lift it up.
