Your lawn is part of your home, and you should be free to enjoy the sunshine and fresh air when you want. Spend this time relaxing by yourself, with your pets, or with family and friends. The one thing you don't want to do is having to deal with lawn care.
You can look for lawn care services near me that handle lawn needs in both Suffolk County and Nassau County. Alternatively, you can have someone do hardscaping that minimizes how much mowing lawn area there is to deal with in the first place.
About Hardscapes
Hardscapes have their place in landscape design. Any yard should be a place where you can relax, but hardscaping in specific lets you enjoy a yard that's low in needs both for maintenance and water upkeep.
Specific hardscaping elements have gotten quite popular in many backyards, including steps, patios, and pathways. Paving stones can incorporate a new level of beauty given their natural stone aesthetic and how resistant they are to damage. If you can find a paver company in your community, then you have someone who can install every feature that you can think of.
Do All Landscaping Companies Do Pavers?
You don't have to find a masonry company on your own to get pavers put in. That's certainly a DIY option if you're so inclined, but a project like this is complicated and significant enough in scope that it's worth having it done by professionals.
The answer is yes, every landscaping company that knows what it's doing does pavers. They usually have their own connections to a masonry company where they order their pavers from, and then they use their own experience and skill in designing and implementing a hardscape to your yard.
Finding a Paver Installation Service
A local paver installation service provider is able to totally makeover your backyard within days. They can consult with you on the design before installing features that simultaneously look fantastic while also minimizing erosion of your landscape. The real professionals also get the underlying surface ready so your paver stones will not separate, making maintenance even easier. When you check out local companies, you should look specifically for one that does all of the following:
-Offers a wide variety of services covering design, installation, and maintenance
-Provides many different styles, patterns, and colors with their pavers
-Has a developed a reputation for high-caliber work and installations that last a long while
Implement some structure in your natural space using paver stone paths and patios.
Four Warning Signs Your Last Pavers Were Not Installed Right
Owning a home is a dream come true, but that's not to say there aren't nightmares involved. One of them is spending money on what you thought was a competent business to get pavers put in, only to find out you were wrong.
Your yard probably looked fantastic at first, but after some time, be it a few months or even just weeks, you probably started noticing things. Pavers were now crooked. Some were out of place. You could feel the uneven surface as you walked over it.
At best, an improperly installed paving job looks bad. At worst, it's a hazard. There's a growing danger that someone will trip over it, and they might just hit another jagged paver when they land. You might even wind up with a lawsuit on your hands.
How did this happen? Is it fixable? How do you make sure it doesn't happen again?
Frequent Flaws in the Installation of Landscape Pavers
One obvious warning sign of poor paver installation is heaving pavers. There are other warning signs you should look out for too:
Low Spots, Settling, and Puddling
A sunken area is a sign that the landscaping paver base isn't holding up quite like it otherwise should. This might happen because of contractors who rush the work or just don't have that much experience. Whoever does the work needs to put in enough time to compact the paver base sufficiently so it withstands anticipated loads of foot traffic.
This might also happen if the base involved the use of improper materials. In particular, base materials that have too much stone dust might have a compromised structure. The inevitable result is settling.
You See Your Borders Are Falling Apart
The edges around a paved area need special care since they won't be supported on every side by other units. Putting pressure on these units or the ones around them might push them over the nearest edge.
Paver edges can be corrected for this with edge restraints. Sadly, this particular detail is something that many newer contractors fail to adhere to. Edges are also prone to poor base compaction and its effects. Effective contractors take the compacting outside the footprint enough to make sure that even the edges have proper compaction supporting them underneath.
Heaving/Uneven Pavers
Pavers shifting out of place might happen from several different things. Having a base that isn't deep enough is a frequent culprit here. Contractors sometimes save money and materials because they skimp the base. However, doing so can compromise the pavement structure.
Excessive sand in the base might also result in pavers heaving or shifting. Also, if pavers didn't properly compact or sweep in after the installation, then pavers can shift out of place quite easily.
The Appearance Is Just Wrong
Sometimes, the pavers just get laid out badly. Your pattern could look uneven, or you have huge gaps in between your pavers. Inexperienced contractors are prone to this, but anyone who rushes their work can wind up doing this to you.
How to Handle Paving Installation Flaws
Heaving and broken pavers are a definite safety threat for anyone walking through. Even if no one gets hurt, you deserve a great-looking yard.
Regardless of what happened or why you need to make sure that such problems are addressed promptly.
Fortunately, some such issues can be addressed easily. For example, missing edge restraints usually can be installed without the whole jog having to be ripped up. Then again, if your base isn't done right, then you might need all the current pavers pulled up so the base can be corrected with re-excavation or compacting before the pavers can be installed again. Unfortunately, corrective work like this might wind up being more expensive than your original work.
Hire the Best to Start With
Avoiding a subpar paver installation is best done by picking your contractor wisely. Use the following checklist to get a great landscape paver contractor or service:
Certification: Find a business with certified paver installers on their staff. Qualified professionals take their work seriously and have the right training.
Insurance: Liability insurance is unlikely to reimburse you just for shoddy work. However, it should cover any costs involved with physical damage a contractor might do to your property. Reputable service providers also have workman's compensation coverage if their crew members get injured on your property.
Bonding: This isn't insurance, but it's similar. Contractors with bonds have paid premiums to a surety company, meaning you're protected by them if the work you get fails to meet certain professional standards.
Inspiring Portfolio: If a contractor doesn't have images of similar projects that they've done already, then ask him for such pictures. If you can, go see such a site for yourself to see how well their work holds up over time.
Warranty: Installers that stand by their finished products offer warranties on them. Make sure you get it in writing.
Low Bids: You don't want to spend a dime more than you have to, but if you get multiple bids and one of them is super-low compared to the rest, it might indicate a contractor cutting corners in more than one area. These areas can include but aren't limited to materials, time, and even legal expenses.
Do You Need Landscaping Services in Long Island New York?
Returning to the original question of whether or not all landscaping companies do pavers, you should know by now that while most say they do, not all of them do it right. If you're looking for lawn care services near me, then Lawn Brothers Landscaping is worth considering. The team has more than five decades of cumulative experience in both lawn care and doing landscape design. Do you live in Long Island New York? The Lawn Brothers handle everything from weekly mowing lawn services, pruning, and trimming to landscape design that can include water features for residents and businesses in both Suffolk County and Nassau County.