Light stone patio with two outdoor dining sets, stacked stone planter walls, and a patio heater

Patios & Walkways

Flagstone, pavers, brick, and colored concrete — the outdoor surfaces your family actually lives on, graded right and built to stay put.

The craft

The finish gets the credit — the base does the work

Patios and walkways fail from underneath: soil that was never compacted, water with nowhere to go, slabs poured thin. So that’s where we start — grading everything to drain away from the house, compacting the base, and setting reinforcement before any concrete is poured or a single stone goes down. It’s the part of the job nobody photographs, and it’s the reason the photos on this page still look this way.

The finish is where a yard gets its personality. Natural flagstone and bluestone, interlocking pavers, herringbone brick, colored concrete steps — after 44 years working across Torrance, Palos Verdes, and the beach cities, we’ve laid just about every surface a South Bay backyard can ask for. If it’s where you eat outside, walk in from the street, or climb the slope in your own yard, it’s on this page.

Finishes & materials

Natural flagstone & bluestone
Interlocking pavers
Brick & herringbone
Colored concrete steps
Exposed aggregate
Slate & stone veneer
Stone & brick borders
Turf & stone combinations

A crew member sitting on a freshly formed curved concrete bench in a backyard mid-construction — Fresh out of the forms — a curved bench seat, with the rest of the patio still to come.

Patios & outdoor living

Flagstone, pavers, and natural stone — the surfaces that decide where the table goes, where the fire pit lives, and how many months of the year the backyard actually gets used.

Gray interlocking paver patio with outdoor dining tables and umbrellas behind a home — Interlocking paver patio sized for two dining tables

Flagstone patio and walkway wrapping a BBQ island with a built-in grill and sink — Flagstone wrapping a BBQ island, turf beyond

Flagstone patio around a square stone fire pit set into a lawn — Flagstone pad and fire pit set into the lawn

Multicolor natural stone patio laid off the back of a house — Multicolor stone paving off the back of the house

Fire pit and lounge chairs on a stone and turf patio overlooking the water — Stone-and-turf patio with a fire pit and an ocean view

Backyard bocce court with poured concrete curbs, a gravel walk, and new turf beside it — A backyard bocce court, curbed in poured concrete

Before & after

The same yard, living a different life

Most of these projects started with a surface that had quit — cracked walks, crumbling steps, slabs patched past saving. Here’s what the same spots looked like before and after our crew was done.

Before and after: a worn concrete courtyard repaved in Pennsylvania bluestone around a spa — A tired courtyard, repaved in Pennsylvania bluestone. The old surface had been patched to its limit. We pulled it, prepped the base, and set Pennsylvania bluestone across the whole courtyard and spa surround — same footprint, completely different backyard.

Before and after: a narrow cracked concrete walkway replaced with a wider natural flagstone walk and a stone-faced entry — From a bare strip of concrete to a flagstone welcome. The old walk was narrow, stained, and past saving. We replaced it with a wider flagstone walkway and carried stone veneer onto the porch and the front of the house, so the whole entry reads as one piece.

Before and after: exterior steps crumbled to their steel stringers, rebuilt with new aggregate-finish treads — Rebuilt on the original steel. These steps had crumbled clean off their stringers. We demolished the failed treads, kept the sound steel frame and railing, and set new aggregate-finish treads — safe again, without replacing the whole staircase.

Before and after: a small worn patio under an awning replaced with a much larger concrete patio meeting new turf — Twice the patio, one clean pour. The original slab stopped well short of the space this family actually used. We took it out, regraded, and poured a far larger patio with a clean curved edge where it meets the new turf — a bigger outdoor room without a bigger house.

Walkways & front entries

The first thirty feet everyone walks before they reach your door. Brick, stone, aggregate, and paver walks — and the porches and landings they lead to.

Large-format natural stone walkway leading to a gated entry with lantern pillars — Stone walkway to a gated entry

Bluestone slab steppers set through gravel and plantings along the side of a house — Bluestone steppers through a planted side yard

Herringbone brick walkway and brick steps leading to a front door — Herringbone brick walk with matching steps

Walkway of arabesque terracotta pavers framed with a brick border — Arabesque terracotta pavers framed in brick

Exposed aggregate walkway with brick borders running between panels of turf to a front entry — Aggregate walk with brick borders, turf on both sides

Paver walkway and brick-trimmed steps leading up to red double front doors — Paver walk stepping up to a red double door

Flagstone entry landing at a front door with stacked stone wainscot on the walls — Flagstone landing with a stacked stone entry

Front porch with stacked stone knee walls flanking a smooth concrete landing — Stone knee walls flanking a smooth porch landing

Front porch steps faced in flagstone at a wood front door — Porch steps faced in flagstone

Garden steps & hillside stairs

Half the South Bay is built on a hill. Steps are how a sloped yard becomes a usable one — curved through a garden, faced in stone or slate, or run as a full staircase with walls to match.

Broad front entry steps with stone-faced risers and concrete treads, edged in river rock — Entry steps with stone risers and river-rock edges

Curved colored concrete steps winding through a terraced garden with palm trees — Colored concrete steps curving through the terraces

Long colored concrete staircase climbing a hillside beside a stone-faced retaining wall — A full staircase up the hillside, wall and all

Flagstone steps and walkway climbing a slope between paver-block garden walls and roses — Flagstone steps between garden walls in bloom

Steps tiled in multicolor slate with an iron handrail — Multicolor slate treads with an iron rail

Colored concrete steps zigzagging up between split-face block garden walls — Steps switchbacking up between block garden walls

Common questions about patios & walkways

Concrete, pavers, or natural stone — which should we pick?

All three are on this page, and each earns its place. Poured concrete costs the least and takes color, borders, and aggregate finishes. Pavers flex with the ground and can be repaired one unit at a time. Natural flagstone and bluestone are the premium look that never dates. We’ll tell you honestly which one fits your yard, your slope, and your budget.

Can you extend or replace part of an existing patio?

Yes — sometimes the right answer is adding on, and sometimes it’s a tear-out and one clean pour, like the patio extension in the before-and-after above. One thing we’re always straight about: new concrete never perfectly matches old concrete, so we’ll tell you up front whether an addition will blend or whether repouring the whole surface will look better.

What about drainage and slope?

It’s the first thing we look at. Every patio and walkway we build is graded to carry water away from the house, and on hillside lots — which is half the South Bay — that usually means steps, terracing, or walls designed for the grade rather than fighting it. A properly compacted base underneath is what keeps the surface flat once the water is handled.

How soon can we use a new patio or walkway?

Pavers are ready as soon as we finish setting and compacting them. Poured concrete takes a day or two before foot traffic, and about a week before you drag the heavy furniture back. Mortar-set stone needs a few days for the bed to cure. We’ll give you exact dates for your project before we start.

What does a new patio or walkway cost?

It depends on size, access, whether an old surface has to come out, and the material — a broom-finish walkway and a bluestone courtyard are very different projects. Estimates are always free: call (310) 539-8023 and we’ll walk the yard with you.

Let’s build something that lasts

44 years of South Bay craftsmanship, one phone call away. Estimates are always free.

Call (310) 539-8023