FAQ
Hardscaping in North Hills, answered
The questions we hear most from North Hills homeowners.
Both build surfaces, but the method is different. Hardscape as we use the word means dry laid: pavers or stone set on compacted aggregate and bedding sand, held by an edge restraint and locked together with joint sand. Nothing is mortared and nothing is poured. Concrete and masonry are the opposite, a wet pour or units set in mortar that cure into one rigid piece. The practical difference shows up later. A dry laid surface flexes slightly with the ground and individual units can be lifted and reset, while a concrete slab has to be broken out to fix.
The base is most of the job even though none of it is visible when we finish. We excavate to depth, compact the subgrade, then lay crushed aggregate in lifts and run a plate compactor over each lift rather than dumping it all at once and hoping. Screeded bedding sand goes over the compacted rock at a consistent thickness, and the pavers are set into that. Depth depends on use, since a walkway needs less than a driveway. A patio that sinks or waves within a couple of seasons almost always failed here, not in the paving.
Usually not directly, and we do not recommend it. An overlay traps whatever is wrong underneath, and a slab that has already cracked and lifted will keep moving and telegraph through. It also raises the finished surface, which can put paving above a door threshold or a weep screed. On the older homes here the original slab is often thin, unreinforced and sitting on soil that was never properly compacted, so the honest fix is to break it out, haul it away, and rebuild the base correctly before any paver is placed.
Yes, and level ground makes it more important rather than less. Water landing on paving has to go somewhere, and with no natural fall it will find the lowest point, which is often a foundation or a low corner of the yard. We build a slight pitch into the surface running away from the house, and where the yard cannot shed on its own we set a channel drain or an area drain tied into a solid line. The aggregate base itself is built to let water move through it rather than pond beneath the pavers.
Concrete pavers cover the most ground for the money and come in enough formats to avoid looking generic, which is why they carry most patios in this area. Natural stone, whether flagstone or a cut stone in a dry laid setting, looks better up close and costs more, so it often gets used for a smaller feature area or an entry. Decomposed granite and gravel are the least expensive surfaces and suit paths, side yards and casual seating. On lots this size, mixing two materials rather than one gives definition without needing more square footage.
Color and material choice matter more than most people expect. A dark paver in full sun gets genuinely hot underfoot through the afternoon, so on the west and south facing side of a yard we push toward lighter tones and a surface with some texture. Shade solves the rest, whether that is a tree placed to cover the seating area by late afternoon or a pergola over the part of the patio people actually use. Dry laid paving also sheds heat faster after sundown than one large uninterrupted slab does.
An edge restraint, and it is not optional. Pavers are held together by friction and by the pressure of everything pushing inward, so the moment an edge is free the field starts to creep and joints open up. We set a rigid plastic or metal restraint spiked into the compacted base along every open edge, or use a soldier course bedded in concrete where the design calls for a heavier look. Edges that run against a house wall or an existing wall are already restrained. This is the single most common shortcut in cheap paver work.
Joint sand fills the gaps between units and is what makes a paver field behave as one surface instead of loose pieces. Polymeric sand contains a binder that sets once watered, so it resists washout, weeds and ants better than plain sand, and on a patio or walkway we generally use it. It does have to be installed to the manufacturer process, fully dry going in and swept clean off the paver faces before activation, or it hazes the surface. Joints get topped up occasionally over the years as part of normal upkeep.
Measure furniture, not square footage. A round table with four chairs pulled out needs roughly a twelve by twelve area to work, and a lounge grouping needs something similar. On the back yards typical of these lots, that patio plus a walking path around it consumes a real share of the space, so the honest conversation is what the yard is mainly for. Undersized patios are the most common regret we hear about. Better to build one properly sized space and plant the rest than to spread three cramped areas across the yard.
It works well and it is common here. Decomposed granite compacts into a firm, walkable surface with a warm natural color that suits low water planting, and it costs a fraction of paving. It needs a defined edge to stay put, a stabilizer if the area gets heavy foot traffic, and it should not be used where it will wash onto a public sidewalk. Gravel is looser underfoot and better for beds and utility areas than for main paths. Both drain freely, which helps on a front yard converting away from lawn.
Yes, both are part of dry laid work. Seat walls are built from wall block, dry stacked and pinned or adhered, capped flat, and they do double duty by defining the edge of a patio and giving people somewhere to sit without more furniture. Steps in a dry laid system use solid block or stone treads set on compacted base, with consistent riser heights so nobody trips. Since the ground here is level, steps usually appear only at a door threshold or where a patio steps down slightly, which keeps that part simple.
One licensed contractor does every piece of it. Daniels Landscaping stays accountable for the work. Excavation, base, compaction, cutting, laying, edging and jointing are all done by people who work for us and who have built these surfaces together many times, which is why the pattern lines up and the joints stay tight across the whole field. There is no handoff mid project and no second company to chase. The crew that starts your hardscape is the crew that finishes it and cleans up after.
Yes, and it is worth planning the split before the first shovel goes in. Hardscape divides cleanly at an edge, so a back patio can be built now and a front walkway later without disturbing what is already down. What cannot wait is anything running under a paved area, so if a gas line, an irrigation lateral or a lighting conduit will ever cross that spot, the sleeve goes in during the first stage. Spreading the work out this way is normal on these streets and costs very little extra when it is anticipated.
A properly built dry laid walkway stays where it was put. Movement comes from three things, an under compacted base, a missing edge restraint, or water running beneath the surface, and all three are avoidable. Some very slight settling in the first season is normal as everything beds in. If a single paver does drop or a tree root lifts a section years later, the repair is genuinely simple, since we lift those units, correct the base underneath and reset them, and the patch is invisible because nothing is bonded.
Everything that lives below the surface. That means irrigation lines and any drip laterals feeding beds beyond the patio, drain lines, empty conduit for low voltage lighting, and a sleeve for a gas line if a fire feature or an outdoor kitchen is even a possibility later. Trenches are backfilled and compacted properly before base rock goes over them, otherwise the paving above a trench settles in a straight line you cannot miss. Thinking one stage ahead here saves cutting into a finished patio down the road.
Concrete pavers hold color reasonably well but will lighten some over years of full sun, and anything organic dripping from a tree or spilled at a table can stain the surface. Sealing is optional. A penetrating sealer makes cleanup easier and deepens the color slightly, and it needs redoing every few years. Plenty of homeowners skip it and simply rinse the patio and pull the occasional weed from a joint. Because the units are individual, a badly stained paver can also be pulled and swapped, which is why keeping a few spares is smart.
It is broken out, loaded and hauled away, not buried in the yard or left for you to deal with. Old slabs on these properties are usually thin enough to come up with a breaker rather than heavy equipment, which keeps disruption to a driveway or lawn down. Where the concrete is clean, it can often go to a recycler rather than a landfill. Once it is gone we can see the actual soil condition underneath, and that occasionally changes how deep we build the base for what is going back in.
Reach us at (818) 443-9300 and we will come out and measure the space. We look at where water goes, what the existing concrete is doing, how you plan to use the area and what furniture has to fit, then provide a free written estimate that names the paver or stone, the base depth, the edge restraint and the jointing so you know exactly what is being built. Daniels Landscaping holds California license 1138709. If the project makes more sense in stages, tell us at the walk and we will lay it out that way.