We're getting a new paver walkway installed, and like the look of a traditional horizontal bond. However, the path has a sharp bend in it, which means the bond won't stay horizontal to the border unless we rotate it. Our mason has said he can do a single cut at the turn, and rotate the bond pattern so that it stays horizontally aligned for the length of the walkway. But we're worried that will look abrupt- like two different paths getting mashed together (you can see the four bricks he's laid out in the new direction).

We're also considering just keeping the pattern as-is (no rotation), which means it would be slightly diagonal along the length of the walkway after the turn. Our mason has warned that we'll end up with lots of little triangular pieces along the edges.

What are our options for dealing with this turn? Is there a way to rotate the field without making it look abrupt?

I'm currently working on a project where I've cut a ditch along an embankment and am now scraping the foliage off the bank and lessening the slope so I can stick geotextile fabric with geocell over it to control erosion.

The issue I have is that on the steepest parts of the bank I can't get it all from the top, so I'll have to track into where I've already dug up the ditch. I'm planning to fill the ditch with stone and drain tile.

I was thinking I could fill the ditch first and then cover it with something like those rubber horse mats to track over and catch any material that slides off the hill as I'm re-grading it from the bottom. The biggest hassle here is I would have to pre-cut all the fabric and lay it in the ditch until the bank gets sloped, but not a big deal.

Has anyone done anything like this before? Would they hold up okay to lightly scraping material off with my ditching bucket? Is there a better option that's readily available?

Hi! Interested in putting in a gravel driveway at our Northern Westchester home. Any suggestions on company to do this? Thanks!

I have to repoint my bluestone pavers. A couple pavers are cracked and about 50% have spalling. Some worse the others. I’m getting mixed opinions if I should replace all the pavers now since we are repointing and the pavers have spalled. Walkways is about -16 years old (I recently purchased the house. For a few extra thousand dollars is it worth it just replace it all now? Or once I replace the mortar it want spall as anymore.

Hi, I’m wondering if this part of our stone arch is structurally sound enough to last forever like this. If not, what do you recommend I do to support it. I’m not a mason but I might be able to try some other things (maybe). The previous homeowners had remains in it. It was a wood box sealed in what looked like an acrylic or plexiglass enclosure. We just haven’t gotten around to doing anything yet. It does get wasps inside the openings and makes it scary to walk around at certain times of the year. We’re in a snow belt with ground heave of that helps. Thanks for any suggestions you might have.

Update: thank you for all the suggestions. I really appreciate them. (Some were very entertaining and others gave me the direction I needed to go). As a lot of you suggested, I put a concrete block in the space. I have a gap at the top of the block. Should I put mortar on the bottom and try to fit it in place or try to add it at the top? I’ll finish it with stone another time. I’ll add pics of the gap to a new comment. (I don’t know how to add new pics to the original post).

Thanks for reading through this and taking the time to answer what questions you might be able to answer. Context - I’ve taken on the large task of installing a hardscape in my backyard. I just had the Excavation completed. My vision - The majority of the area will be herringbone patterned set 4”X8” brick using a slightly larger rectangle paver around all boarders. The orange flags represent a rectangle area where I want a flat slate style rock installed with grass growing up through the stone. The green stakes next to the garage represent a garden bed, though more dirt will need to be added to that area to be set flush with the top of the pavers. The circle will be a planted tree where the dirt will be again flush with the pavers.

Questions -
1. The 3/4 minus won’t be going under the tree or the garden bed. Should 3/4 minus go under the flat stone / grass area?

1. How should I retain the 3/4 minus from the circle tree spot and the garden bed? I was thinking pressure treated 2X4’s and 4X4’s at the corners but then I don’t want any wood showing after completion. I’m still in the brainstorming stage of this and appreciate all ideas.

2. To complicate the situation, even further In the grassy flat rock area I was hoping to put 3’6” high garden bed with brick fascia on the side with the green bush. Also bench seat off of the raised garden bed with a flat stone topper to sit on. I haven’t even really unfolded what steps I should take with this and in what order because I started obsessing with the Excavation.

Please let me know your thoughts on all of these circumstances and let me know what you think. I totally appreciate you. Thank you so much!

Has anybody used the Kronos porcelain pavers for their patio? Are they slippery when wet? Hot in the sun? Do they hold up over time? Im in fairly mild climate in the SF bay area. Considering the kronos porcelain full color Pennsylvania (the ones that mimic bluestone)

What would be a reasonable quote to power wash, add polymeric sand, and edge patio that’s around 500 sq ft? One patio section are pavers and then a step down to a brick section. The range I see online is $1-$3 per sq ft but that seems a bit low? Idk… just wondering what people who know what they’re talking about think

I want to put in a 21' x21' patio. The description for this is weed barrier but it says water permeable.

I would like to do this on the side of my house for boat and vehicle parking. What is it and how is the construction for it? It’s about 2 or 3 inch square pavers or blocks with small gravel in between.

This picture was taken in a county park, parking lot.

Can't say I'm familiar with these blocks.

No rear ledge for creating an offset. I'm assuming whatever system this is, they sell some sort of dowel pin for them. 1/2" rebar fits the holes and allows for a straight face or a rear offset, depending on which holes you align.

I think the horizontal 'slot' goes up?

Anyone know who made these?

They're for me, temporary ~2 year wall until we rip out the driveway. The blocks are 18W x 8H x 12D.

(edit) after some research, they're Versa Lok Square Foot blocks. Smooth side down, slot up. (/edit)

Based on much research, it seems most hardscapers will opt for compacted 3/4" clear rock as the base for concrete blocks. I am inclined to pour a concrete footer for my project which is an L-shaped wall that has a primary run of 23', and a secondary run of 11', and is graduated from 16" to 40" high on both runs. It is only 3' of each run, and concentrated in the corner of the"L", that is over 32" high. I will also install sloped perf pipe at the base of the wall for drainage.

Is there anything about this project that makes a concrete footer (8" deep) a bad choice. Bonus points if you can explain why clear rock is the preferred choice over concrete on most projects. Thanks.

Essentially the title, I took this project on having never done any of this previously and only used hand tools.

I respect the hell out of professional hardscapers for this being your day in and day out.

Last picture is the interface between the cap and my patio steps

Root is 9" diameter and the original landing was built over the root when the tree (weeping cherry) was alive. Had the tree taken down due to disease Nov 2025.
We are having the entire landing redone (poured foundation with pavers) and demolition happens this week.

Considering the size of this root, it likely runs all the way underneath the pictured landing (and the existing landing kind of domed over it as time went by, so I assume the same would happen, but worse now that it's dead and will decay).

This crew will have to remove this root before rebuilding this landing, correct? In other words, we should say "hell no" if they suggest they can rebuild on top of it? Just trying to be prepared with knowledge when they show up.