Premium Paver & Natural stone installation & design

Walkways & Patio Areas

Selecting a Material:

When choosing an addition such as a walkway, patio, or firepit to your landscape it starts with comparing aesthetics, functionality, and price point. There are quite a few material options to choose from.

  1. Decomposed Granite (DG): We will start with the most cost effective option, DG offers a fantastic combination of durability, aesthetics, and functionality. It obviously comes with several drawbacks, but it is the best option for many applications & installations from garden walking paths, to outdoor raised bed areas.

We Install DG walkways for $5.20 per sqft this install includes removal of 6” of soil, installation of a 4” crushed stone base & liner, and Installation of 2” of Decomposed Granite w/ stabilizer on top. The biggest problem we have seen with DG installations is washout considering it is basically just a 1/4” minus gravel with a bonding agent.

Images sourced from Pintrest.com

2. Pavers, Pavers, Pavers:

Pavers are, in our opinion, usually the best option for a walkway, patio, or any outdoor area that you want to add a premium custom aesthetic; from natural, modern, or even rustic we have more options for style of pavers than you could imagine from styles like historic European cobblestone to clean, mid-century modern planks..

Unlike concrete, pavers (with interlocking poly sand) create a flexible hardscape, which means if the ground settles, shifts, or a tree root grows under it, it takes a significantly greater force to cause pavers to crack or to break. Because a paver hardscape is a flexible system consisting of thousands of interlocking pieces, it naturally flexes with seasonal ground movement without cracking.

*if damage does occur you don’t have to replace the entire installation, just fix the problem areas, this can save you thousands over the lifetime of the landscape, If an unexpected failure occurs, Xotix Outdoor Care also offers a 5-year limited warranty complementary with your install, that protects you from any craftsmanship or material defects that do occur. Even after that warranty expires it only cost a few hundred dollars to patch pavers vs usual thousands for concrete replacements.

Pavers do come with their own disadvantages as well, unlike concrete pavers need the binding agent replaced every 3-10 years to insure water & weeds don’t make their way to the base. It is fairly cost effective to do but if you forget to it can lead to failures in the drainage system.

This is the reason we install open grade bases with drainage in our systems even if they are not permeable systems. In case water does make its way past your hardscape, it has somewhere to go.

Not washing out your leveling sand and causing “waving” a failure point many landscapers do not consider during their installs but one we get calls to fix quite often. So if you hire someone make sure they know what they are doing, or are at least a license holder so you are protected in case they don’t.

The crushed stone base extends the life of the installation and allows water to runoff without taking your new walkway with it. Many landscapers argue you can install it directly onto the ground or on a slope. DO NOT DO THIS or you will understand really quickly what throwing money away feels like.

As we mentioned before DG does come with its drawbacks, if you are planning on walking barefoot on your new install or have a nice hard surface floor, DG tends to stick to the soles of feet and shoes, and can easily be tracked into a house by pets, children, or guests not paying attention. Sense it is pulverized granite it will scratch up many different types of flooring and doesn’t feel great under a bare foot. Consider these things when choosing your material; we wouldn’t suggest putting a DG scape anywhere near a entry point to your house without stepping stones or pavers, it does make a nice accent for many stepping stone installations.

Unmatched Structural Strength: Individual pavers are incredibly dense and highly resistant to chipping, cracking, or splitting under heavy loads.

2. Natural Flagstone (Slate, Sandstone, or Limestone)

Flagstone offers an authentic, timeless, and completely unique look. Because every stone is quarried directly from the earth, no two pieces are identical in shape, color variation, or texture.

  • The Installation Method: Flagstone can be installed using two distinct methods:

    1. Dry-Laying (Flexible Base): Similar to the paver method, large, irregular stones are meticulously fit together like a giant puzzle over a compacted gravel and sand base. The wide joints are filled with crushed stone dust or stable polymeric sand.

    2. Wet-Laying (Rigid Base): The stones are mortared directly onto a freshly poured slab, The joints are then filled with jointing mortar.

  • The Advantages:

    • High-End Organic Aesthetic: Natural stone delivers an irreplaceable, high-end look that matures beautifully over time, developing a rich patina that concrete cannot replicate.

  • The Disadvantages:

    • High Labor Costs: Fitting irregular flagstones together is a slow art form. It requires an experienced craftsman to hand-tool, cut, and shape the stones so the joint lines remain narrow and clean.

    • Uneven Surfaces: Because flagstone is split naturally, individual stones have slight thickness variances. This can result in minor ridges that make patio some outdoor furniture and appliances not suited for it.