What We Build
WalkwaysHow We Build Them
There are two ways to build a walkway, and they are not variations of each other. One is a full paver installation on a compacted base. The other is natural stone set individually into your existing lawn. We build both, and which one is right depends on where the path goes and what you want it to look like in ten years.
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Method one
Paver walkway on a full base
This is the same build as a patio, and it is the right answer for a main entry, anywhere that takes heavy foot traffic, and anywhere you want a continuous surface underfoot.
Eight inches of excavation. All topsoil and organic material comes out, because organic material decomposes and anything sitting on it drops with it. We over-excavate past the finished edge so the perimeter is supported, since the perimeter is where a walkway fails first.
Four inches of crushed asphalt, compacted. Most crews use plain gravel. We use crushed asphalt because the residual binder re-cements as it compacts, and it sets up harder and holds that compaction longer.
Two inches of masonry sand, screeded flat. The stone sets into this layer.
Lay the paver, then polymeric sand swept into every joint, washed and activated. Then backfill and loam along both edges, seeded where we disturbed grass.
On a walkway the pitch is a cross-pitch, running to one side rather than lengthwise, so water leaves the surface instead of running the length of the path and pooling at the low end.
Method two
Natural stone set into the lawn
Large bluestone or fieldstone laid individually with grass between them. It suits a back garden, a path to a shed or a firepit, anywhere you want the route to read as part of the landscape rather than as construction.
It is more hand work, not less. We cut the sod with a rotating saw so the edge is clean, then hand-dig each pocket to depth. Every stone is set and cemented in place individually so it cannot rock or sink. Then the gaps get filled with loam and grass seed, the cut sod is cleared, and the area is raked.
Done properly, by mid-season you should not be able to tell where we worked. Here is how a Mashpee client described hers:
★★★★★"I LOVE the placement of the large blue stones and he and his workers followed the guide/outline I sent to him perfectly. The curve of the walkway is exactly what I was looking for. Junior and his team cemented each very large stone in place, staying into the dark, using my house exterior lights to finish that part of the job. The next day, the team came back and filled in the gaps with loam and grass seed and cleaned up the cut sod and raked the area."
Katie M. — Mashpee, MA
Which one
Choosing between them
Full paver base for a front entry, anything that gets used daily, anywhere you will be carrying groceries or pushing a stroller, and anywhere you want to shovel it in winter without catching an edge.
Stone set into lawn for garden paths, routes to a firepit or shed, and anywhere the look matters more than the traffic. It is not the right choice for a main entry that gets snow.
We will tell you which one the space wants. Sometimes the answer is both: full base from the driveway to the door, stone in lawn for the path around the side.
Getting it right
Width and line
Most walkways are built too narrow. Four feet lets two people walk side by side. Three feet is a single-file path and feels like one. Below three feet people step off it and wear a track in the grass beside it, which tells you everything.
On line: we lay from a straight reference rather than off the house, because houses are rarely square and the eye reads the path, not the wall. If you want a curve, bring us the shape you have in mind. We build to it.
Materials
What we build in
Have questions?
Common questions
How wide should my walkway be?
Four feet if you want two people side by side, which is what most front walks should be. Three feet is single file. Narrower than that and people walk beside it instead of on it.
Will grass grow back around stone set in the lawn?
Yes. We backfill the gaps with loam and grass seed and clear the cut sod. By mid-season it fills in and the stones read as though they were always there.
Can I shovel a stone-in-lawn path?
Not easily, and that is the main reason we steer people toward a full paver base for a main entry. A shovel catches every edge.
Can you match a walkway to an existing patio?
Yes. We source to match the existing stone and lay the pattern so the two read as one project rather than two.
Get in touch
Free walkway estimate
No commitment. We will respond within 24 hours and schedule a visit to your property within 48.
Get a Free EstimateMain: (508) 360-2151 · Office: (508) 373-3495
Masonry and hardscaping contractor serving all of Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Licensed and insured in MA.
(508) 360-2151(508) 373-3495contact@bridimasonryservices.comWhat We Build
- Custom Patios
- Walkways
- Stone Steps & Stairs
- Retaining Walls
- Cobblestone Aprons
- Paver Driveways
- Chimney Repair