Midlands red clay holds water and moves with it. A paver patio set on a thin base will telegraph every one of those cycles within a couple of seasons — settled corners, lipped edges, joints opening up. We excavate to depth, build a compacted aggregate base, and set edge restraint so the field can't creep. It's the part of the job nobody sees and the only reason the surface still looks right in year ten.
Excavation and compacted base depth matched to soil and use
Pavers, natural stone, travertine and stamped or broom-finished concrete
Polymeric jointing and edge restraint to lock the field in place
Grading, drainage and keeping water off the house
On a lake lot the whole yard is a slope, and every patio you add is a surface that no longer absorbs rain. Before we set a single paver we work out where that water goes. Sometimes it's as simple as pitching the field away from the foundation; often it means a channel drain, a French drain line, or a retaining wall that terraces the grade into something usable.
Positive pitch away from the house and any foundation walls
Channel drains, French drains and daylighted discharge lines
Engineered retaining walls to terrace steep backyards into level living space
Fire features and the reason people stay outside in November
A fire feature is what turns a patio from a summer space into a nine-month one. A gas fire pit lights instantly and suits a smaller seating circle; a full masonry fireplace is a bigger investment that anchors the whole patio and blocks wind off the water at the same time. Both need to be sited with clearances, gas runs and prevailing wind in mind — a beautiful fireplace in the wrong spot smokes right into your seating.
Wood-burning and gas fire pits, and full masonry outdoor fireplaces
Gas lines, electrical and lighting run before the hardscape goes down
Seat walls and built-in benches sized around a real furniture layout
Patios that connect to everything else
A patio rarely stands alone here. It usually needs to meet a deck, sit under a covered porch, wrap an outdoor kitchen, or land at the bottom of a stair run heading toward the water. Because we build all of it, the transitions get designed together — matching elevations, one drainage plan, one crew, one schedule.