Questions we get every week.

Yes. The site visit, the walkthrough, and the written scope and price are free. Drawn designs for large outdoor living projects are quoted separately.

Patios and decks by the square foot with the base work under them, walls and fences by the linear or face foot, drainage by the run and the outlet. Every item is a separate line in the written scope.

Yes. The written scope carries a fixed price. Changes only happen if you change the scope or something unexpected is found in the ground, and either way it is priced before the work continues.

About an hour on site. The written scope usually follows within a few days, longer for projects that need a drawing.

Rockland County and Bergen County are the core area. Orange and Passaic counties for larger projects.

A French drain moves water through soil to an outlet. A dry well stores water and lets it soak in, which only works in soil that percs. Rockland clay usually calls for a drain with a real outlet.

To daylight on your own lot, a swale, a dry well if the soil takes it, or a town storm drain where permitted. Discharging onto a neighbor is not an option.

Regrading and downspout extensions fix many surface water problems with minimal disturbance. Buried pipe means a trench, which is restored with topsoil and seed or sod.

Usually. Regrading, downspout extensions, and a footing drain solve most wet basements without touching the interior.

Six to 8 inches of compacted crushed stone for a patio, 10 to 12 for a driveway, with 1 inch of bedding sand under the pavers. Thinner bases are the usual reason patios settle here.

Pavers. They handle freeze and thaw without cracking, and individual pavers can be lifted and reset if the base ever moves.

No, but a matte sealer helps with stains and keeps polymeric sand joints tight. Every three to five years is typical.

Repairs after the first winter are covered. After that, a settled area is lifted, the base is fixed, and the same pavers go back down.

Yes. Wire runs along edges and under borders without lifting the field. Conduit laid during the build makes it simpler.

In most NY and NJ towns, over 4 feet measured from the bottom of the footing, or any height with a surcharge such as a driveway or a slope behind it.

Most towns in Rockland and Bergen require one, with 4 feet allowed in front yards and 6 feet in side and rear yards. The application is handled for you.

The contractor. Fence, wall, drainage, gas, and electric permits are part of the scope, and any engineering is coordinated as part of the job.

For a fence or a wall near a line, yes. Most towns ask for it with the permit application, and the fence is set from the survey pins, not the old fence.

Thirty-six to 42 inches in concrete, at or below the frost line, so the fence does not heave in March.

The excavation, deck, fence, drainage, and planting. The shell and plumbing come from a licensed pool builder, coordinated under one schedule.

At least 48 inches high with self-closing, self-latching gates and no opening a 4 inch sphere can pass through, under New York code and New Jersey's adoption of the ISPSC. New York also requires a pool alarm.

A licensed plumber on the crew. Natural gas or propane, with a shutoff at the island and a town inspection where required.

Granite. Sealed exterior-grade concrete is the second choice. Engineered quartz is not rated for outdoor sun.

Light travertine or light textured pavers. Dark surfaces of any material get hot.

Drainage and smaller jobs usually within two to three weeks. Patios, kitchens, and full backyard builds are scheduled four to eight weeks out in season.

In winter. Projects scoped in January and February are permitted and first in line when the ground thaws. Spring starts are mostly booked by March.

Yes, until the ground freezes, usually mid to late December. Fall is often the most open part of the schedule.

Commercial lots and HOAs on a seasonal contract, and a limited number of residential driveways near those routes in Rockland.

A return visit to check the work and fix anything that moved. After that the property can go on the seasonal schedule for cleanups, mulch, and trimming.