A walkway is the path a guest follows from the driveway to the front door, and the one you take from the back door to the patio, the garden or the gate. Most people only think about theirs once it has sunk in spots, tipped at the edges or started holding water.
We build walks in concrete pavers, flagstone, travertine and clay brick, plus the steps where a walk climbs to the door. A new walk suits a house whose old path has worn out, and a new patio that needs a way to reach it.
What we build
- Front walks from the driveway to a landing at the door
- Side paths and garden paths around the house
- Paver walkways in Techo-Bloc and Belgard pavers
- Flagstone walkways, square-cut or irregular
- Travertine walkways and clay brick walkways
- Borders and bands in a second material, such as a soldier course
- Natural stone steps and treads where the path climbs
What does walkway installation involve?
Digging, a new base and careful setting. The old walk or the soil is dug out, a new base is built where the walk will run, and the pavers, flagstone, travertine or brick are set on it and cut to the line of the path. Where the path climbs to the door, we build natural stone steps with treads and an even rise, so each step is the same height, ending at a landing you can stand on.
What is under a walk matters more than the stone you see. Water that collects in the soil under a path freezes in winter, swells and lifts the path; in a thaw the path drops back unevenly, and in time the joints open and the edges tip. Tree roots do the same work more slowly.
Paver walkway or flagstone walkway?
Pavers if you want even color, crisp lines and the widest choice of shapes; flagstone if you want natural stone, square-cut or with irregular edges. Flagstone gives a natural look no paver quite copies, and it is usually the pricier of the two. We bring samples of both to the estimate, so you can see them beside your own brick or siding.
| Material | The look | Suits |
|---|---|---|
| Concrete pavers | Many colors, shapes and sizes | Matching a paver patio; curves and patterns |
| Square-cut flagstone | Natural stone cut into rectangles | Straight walks and crisp edges |
| Irregular flagstone | Natural edges fitted together | Garden paths and gentle curves |
| Travertine | A light-colored natural stone | Walks that lead to a travertine patio or a pool |
| Clay brick | Small clay units laid in patterns | Brick houses, and borders for other materials |
Is your front walk due for replacement?
Show us where people walk now and where the path should go, and we will lay out the options for the new walk.
Where We Build Walkways
Centreville is in Fairfax County and Gainesville is in Prince William County, and our shop on Gum Spring Road in Chantilly is a short drive from both. Steps or a wall can bring a county permit into a walkway project. We check for that at the estimate, file the permit when one is needed, and prepare the drawings and product sheets an HOA review board asks for.
What drives walkway cost?
Length and material come first. We price the walk as one firm number, in writing, after seeing the site, and it moves with:
- The length and width of the walk
- Pavers, flagstone, travertine or brick, and any border
- Curves and patterns that call for more cutting
- Taking out the old walk, or setting stone over sound concrete
- Steps where the walk climbs, and the landing at the door
- How the ground slopes along the path
Should a front walk be straight or curved?
Either can work, and the line is yours to choose; we walk it with you at the estimate.
Which walkway builder lays stone, brick and pavers?
One whose masons lay all of them. Our masons lay pavers, flagstone, travertine and clay brick, so the material can follow your house instead of the crew. A brick border on a paver walk, or a front walk that matches the flagstone patio out back, comes from one walkway builder on one written price.
What goes with a new walkway?
Often the steps at the door, and a patio at the other end. A front walk usually ends at a front stoop, and the two are planned together; if a portico is part of the plan, new stone or brick steps come with it. Out back, a walk leads to a paver patio, a travertine patio, a fire pit or an outdoor kitchen, and on a slope it may need a retaining wall beside it or a seating wall where it widens into a place to sit. An outdoor fireplace at the end of a garden path gives the walk somewhere to go. See all of our patios and hardscapes.
