Pictorial of Transformation from Old Wooden Deck to Brick Pavers Patio

Raised Pavers Patio with Landing, Steps, and Planter Creates Beautiful Outdoor Living Space

In Ann Arbor this past Spring, we created this backyard transformation from an Old Wooden Deck to a beautiful Outdoor Living Space.

Designing & building a raised brick pavers patio with a paver landing & steps made the most of the space available. The pavers patio encompassed a duel Planter / Sitting Wall application that created not only some landscape beauty, but useable sitting area for entertaining.

Usually I will go through a stage-by-stage description of the process of installing a uniquely designed paver patio. This post will give you a visual pictorial of the stages of production that lead us to the spectacular conclusion to this project. Pictures will tell the story this post. Enjoy!

Brick Paver Walkway and Landscape Wall Redesigned

Landscaper misses the mark when designing and installing walk & wall

We recently redesigned and reinstalled a brick paver walkway and landscape wall that an inexperienced landscaper installed in Ann Arbor.  The landscape contractor told them that this was the best he could do. The homeowner was very disappointed in their quality of design & execution and hired us to help.

The homeowner did not want the inexperienced landscaper to correct the problem because they lacked confidence in his workmanship and professionalism.  We are frequently performing redesign & reinstallation of brick paver jobs that have been installed by unqualified contractors. Many homeowners we deal with would rather pay someone that is qualified to redo the work then have the originally contractor perform the work.

This brick paver walkway was uneven and the joint lines of paving stones where crooked.  There was no soldier course row border on the inside, even though the outside of the pavers walk had one.  This made the pavers walk look unbalanced.  The paver walkway also did not flare at the drive and actually bowed or turned back towards the house.

The landscape wall was also crooked and just ended at the driveway.  The landscape wall had no balance to the layout of the landscape.  The end of the landscape wall ended too high and too close to the driveway with no finish edge.  It caused some damage to someone's car when they opened their door.

We completely lifted up the entire front paver walk and re-installed the pavers.  We made sure the joint lines flowed properly and flared the paver walk at the driveway for easy access.  We also installed a soldier course row border on both sides of the walkway to give a balanced frame effect.  The final product was a dramatic make over from the originally installed  pavers walkway.

We tore out about half of the landscape wall and symmetrically re-installed it to properly match the layout of the landscape.  The homeowner was looking for a landscape planter wall to compliment their newly installed baywindow.  Enclosing in the baywindow with a symmetrically curved landscape wall did the job.

We listened to the homeowner's needs & wants and we were able to recommend the best economical solutions to meet those needs.  The final result was drastic change to the curb appeal of the home and the customer could not be happier. Success again!

Raised Paver Patio, Steps, and Planters Revitalizes Pool Area

Interlocking Brick Pavers and Modular Retaining Wall Blocks and Caps are versatile

This past year we were hired to transform this backyard poolside area. The current homeowner inherited this eyesore when they purchased the home 3 years ago.  Though they were satisfied with the current layout, it was time for us to replace the old deteriorating clay pavers, rotting timber planters, and unsafe steps.

I suggested we use FENDT Country Manor blocks & caps to construct new paver steps and planter retaining walls.  We used the traditional 4"X8" shaped FENDT Holland paver to replace the old cracking & chipping clay paving stones used for the raised patio.

We discussed in detail the pros and cons of replacing the cement areas around the built in pool. Since the cement was still in good shape and properly pitched away from the pool, we jointly decided to keep the current concrete in for now. We decided that replacing the cement with paving stones would be a phase 2 project in the future.

We did power wash clean the cement areas to give it an improved appearance and polymeric sanded some open joints & minor cracks. We did saw cut out some small cement areas to install paver pad transition areas and modify the planter wall layout.

As seen from the photos, the transformation of this poolside area is dramatic.  Interlocking pavers and modular retaining wall blocks & caps create beauty, functionality, and low future maintenance & replacement costs.