Paver patios, walkways, and walls in New City, NY
MDK builds hardscape for New City homeowners, from a small back patio to a full driveway. Mark, the owner, works on the job sites himself.
Rockland County License H-12382(A6)
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Insured
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Licensed H-12382(A6)
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CMHA Certified Paver Installer
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Rockland County Professional Landscapers Association
| Insured | Licensed H-12382(A6) | CMHA Certified Paver Installer | Rockland County Professional Landscapers Association
Hardscape built for New City yards
New City is the Rockland County seat and a hamlet of the Town of Clarkstown. It stayed mostly rural until the postwar years, when the Tappan Zee Bridge and the Palisades Interstate Parkway opened and subdivisions spread out from the center. Many New City houses date from that wave, and homes of that era were often finished with a poured concrete stoop, a narrow walk, and a small slab patio. Decades of freezing and thawing crack and tilt that concrete, and replacing it with pavers on a real base fixes the problem instead of patching it. The ground varies a lot across the hamlet. North of the center, toward High Tor and the state park along the town line, lots climb and many back yards step up or down from the house. Older, wooded streets like South Mountain Road and the area around Lake Lucille carry big trees, roots, and shade that affect where a patio can go and how it drains. Closer to Route 304 and the center, lots are flatter and tighter, and the challenge becomes fitting a patio, a walkway, and a grill area into a smaller footprint without crowding the yard.
What MDK installs
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Paver Patios
A patio is the paver job with the most choices: shape, size, color, pattern, and border. Marking out the footprint on site before digging lets the homeowner see the patio against the house and the yard. The base is sized to the soil and the use, whether that is a dining table, a grill, or a sitting area.
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Walkways
A walkway takes the most foot traffic of anything on the property, including in winter when it gets shoveled and salted. MDK builds walkways wide enough for two people side by side where the space allows, pitched so water runs off instead of freezing on the surface, and edged so the pavers stay in line.
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Driveways
A paver driveway carries the weight of cars and, in winter, a plow. That takes a deeper base than a patio and tighter compaction. MDK removes the old surface, builds the base for vehicle loads, and sets the pavers in a pattern suited to turning tires. A cracked paver can be lifted out and replaced without cutting the whole driveway.
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Retaining Walls
Many Rockland yards slope. A retaining wall turns that slope into level ground for a patio, a lawn, or planting beds. The wall needs a compacted footing, drainage behind it, and gravel backfill so water does not push it over time. Taller walls can involve permits and engineering, and MDK covers that on the site visit.
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Steps and Landings
Steps connect a patio to a back door, a deck, or a lower part of the yard. Each step needs the same rise so nobody trips, and a landing at the top that is deep enough to open a door without stepping back. Steps are built from wall block or solid caps set on a compacted base.
Permits and site conditions in New City
Permits.
New City is governed by the Town of Clarkstown, so building questions go to the Clarkstown Building Department rather than the county. Requirements depend on the job, so the specific project should be checked with the town before work begins. A new or widened driveway that cuts into a town road or apron needs a separate permit from the Clarkstown Superintendent of Highways. MDK walks New City homeowners through what applies to their project, and when a permit is needed, MDK can pull it so the homeowner does not have to deal with Clarkstown directly.
Slopes.
On the hillier streets, the question is usually whether to cut the patio into the slope and hold it with a wall, or build it up and step down to it. Either way, the finished surface has to pitch away from the foundation.
Trees and roots.
Mature trees on the older wooded lots mean roots in the dig area. Cutting a large root close to the trunk can harm the tree, and a root left under a patio can lift the pavers years later. The layout gets set with the tree line in mind.
Water.
Where a yard slopes toward the house, the patio needs to carry water to a lawn edge or a drain, not to the back wall. That gets planned on the site visit, before any digging.
Access.
Many New City backyards can only be reached through a side yard or a gate. Excavated soil has to come out and stone and pavers have to go in along that same path, so the route, the equipment size, and protection for the lawn along the way all get decided before the job is priced. A homeowner should know up front if a fence section needs to come down for a day.
Paver work by MDK
Patios, walkways, driveways, walls, and steps built by MDK.
From the first call to the walkthrough
Call MDK and describe what is there now and what should replace it. Mark visits the property and follows with a written proposal that lists the work, the materials, and the price. Once it is signed, the job goes on the schedule, the crew builds it, and Mark walks the finished work with the homeowner. The full process is on the pavers and hardscaping page.
What Rockland homeowners say about MDK
The owner is on the job
Mark owns MDK and has run it since 2007. He comes out to every property himself before pricing a job, handles the billing, and works on the job sites alongside his own crew. MDK does not hand its work to subcontractors, so the people who show up are the people Mark hired.
Paver work near New City
MDK takes on paver jobs in every part of Rockland County, not only the towns listed here.
Paver patios in
Valley Cottage
Paver patios in
Orangeburg
Paver patios in
Nanuet
New City paver questions
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New City falls under the Town of Clarkstown, and the Clarkstown Building Department decides what a given project needs. Driveway work that opens a town road or apron needs a permit from the Clarkstown Superintendent of Highways. MDK checks the rules for the specific address before the job starts.
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Yes. On sloped New City lots, the usual answer is a retaining wall that creates a level area, or a patio set lower with steps leading up to the rest of the yard. The site visit settles which one fits the grade, the budget, and the drainage.
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Yes. The slab is broken up and hauled away, the ground underneath is dug to the right depth, and a new compacted base goes in before the pavers. Laying pavers directly on top of an old slab is a shortcut that traps water under the surface.
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Paver season in Rockland runs through about the end of November. Calling in the fall or winter gets the site visit and proposal done early so the job can go on the spring schedule.
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The crew excavates below the finished height, lays geotextile fabric where the soil calls for it, then spreads and compacts crushed stone in layers. A thin bedding layer goes on top to set the pavers. Edge restraint holds the outside edge in place, and joint sand locks the pavers together. Skipping or rushing any of these steps is what causes sinking and heaving later.
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Poured concrete usually costs less up front. Pavers handle freeze and thaw better because the individual units flex slightly with the ground instead of cracking as one slab. When something does go wrong, a section of pavers can be lifted, the base fixed, and the same pavers relaid. A cracked slab has to be cut out and patched, and the patch rarely matches.
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Pavers do not have to be sealed. Some homeowners seal them to deepen the color or resist stains. Normal care is sweeping, rinsing, topping up joint sand every few years, and pulling any weeds that take root in the joints.
Call Mark to talk through the project and set up a site visit. Estimates are free. To write it out instead, use the estimate form.
Plan a patio, walkway, or wall with MDK
What to expect:
•A free on-site visit to look at your property and talk through what you want
•A written, itemized proposal with the price before any work starts
•A licensed and insured crew, and materials named on the proposal