BEFORE and AFTER: Part 2

Our professional approach to your project

Natural Path Landscaping: Creating A Natural Work of Art Right Outside Your Door

“Fantastic! Tom’s team is the best. Their attention to detail, great ideas, high quality work, and beautiful results were exceptional. Tom took time to listen to what we wanted and created a CAD design of the work along with a detailed cost estimate. His team was very professional and they were absolute experts. I feel like my new front walkway and porch could be entered into a design magazine competition... Well done and highly recommended!”

— Kory Campbell

Although we have 'Before and After' pictures scattered throughout this web site, the purpose of this section is to highlight some of the more recent projects and tell their story in a little more detail.

Project #1:

As mentioned in the customer testimonial above we entered Kory’s front entrance in a design contest and won! Kory’s existing exposed aggregate concrete walkway did not have an adequate base so it had moved creating tripping hazards and the brick/concrete porch was very tired looking. Kory wanted a change and liked our idea to use granite.

Our design encased the bulk of the porch since the porch sat on the house foundation. Pulling off the porch’s brick top allowed enough space for a granite paving surface. We jackhammered off the old steps and replaced them with solid granite steps set on a concrete base that was tied directly to the house foundation. Together the granite steps and porch encasement completely eliminated the exposed concrete on the existing porch. Beautiful handrails curving onto a larger bottom step completed the look.

Since the walkway is so long, we added gentle curves to soften the look. In addition, a circular landing at the bottom of the steps fit the curved walkway better than the existing rectangular shape. We added a granite compass in the center and it was decided to align it with the house instead of offsetting it 8 degrees to align with magnetic north. We used Caledonia granite for the paving and Woodbury Gray granite for the steps to provide a contrast. Finally, we designed the paving pattern in AutoCAD to assure that all the paving pieces were sized properly without any small pieces to fill gaps.

Project #2:

The homeowners wanted to update the large precast concrete steps and do away with the overgrown plantings. Rather than add just add a replacement set of steps, we proposed to both reduce the number of steps at the house and eliminate much of the exposed concrete foundation by adding a terraced approach. As the design process unfolded it was decided to replace the entire exposed aggregate concrete walkway and the steps through the boulders at the driveway. We also added two granite lamp posts with unique lanterns.

Project #3:

The goal here was to create a small, raised sitting area at the back door with a patio below that fit into the irregular boundaries defined by the gardens. We utilized rounded granite steps with a large landing that allowed descends in multiple directions. We thought the irregular patio area would be best paved with an irregular paver but incorporating the ‘throw rug’ look with rectangular areas using conventional pavers. Of course, all paving is permeable so we do not have to worry about drainage issues.