Paver patios in Valley Cottage, NY, from a Valley Cottage contractor
MDK is based right here in Valley Cottage. Patios, walkways, driveways, and retaining walls for the homes around it, with the owner on the job.
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
Paver work in the hamlet MDK calls home
Valley Cottage is where MDK is based, so a patio here is a job down the road rather than across the county. The hamlet sits in the Town of Clarkstown, strung along Route 303 and Kings Highway, with Route 9W and the Hudson side to the east. Houses and lots change from one street to the next here, and the backyard that comes with each one can look completely different.
That mix shapes what a paver job involves. An older house may sit close to the road with a small, uneven back lot and a foundation that was never designed with a patio in mind. A newer house often has a builder's grade slab or a strip of lawn outside a slider door that the owners have been meaning to replace for years. Toward the east side, where the land rises toward Rockland Lake State Park and the Hook Mountain ridge, grade changes become the main design problem, and a patio often needs a wall or steps to sit right against the house.
What MDK builds in Valley Cottage
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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.
What to know before building in Valley Cottage
Permits.
Valley Cottage has no town hall of its own. It is part of the Town of Clarkstown, and building questions go to the Clarkstown Building Department. What a project needs depends on the work involved, so each job gets checked against the town's rules before the crew breaks ground. Any driveway change that opens up a Clarkstown town road or apron requires a permit from the town's Superintendent of Highways. MDK explains what applies to the job during the site visit. If a permit is required, having MDK pull it is an option, which saves the homeowner the trip to town hall.
Grade.
Lots on the rising ground toward the east often need the patio set into the hill. A low wall on the uphill side holds back the soil and gives a built-in spot to sit. On the downhill side, the base gets built up and compacted in lifts so the edge does not slump.
Old foundations.
Next to an older house, the soil against the foundation may have been disturbed or backfilled long ago. The dig checks for soft spots before the base goes in, and the patio is pitched so rain never runs back toward the house.
Where the downspouts go.
A downspout that empties onto a new patio will stain it and wash out the joint sand. Rerouting it, or running it under the patio to daylight, is cheap to do during construction and expensive to fix afterward.
Paver work by MDK
Patios, walkways, driveways, walls, and steps built by MDK.
How MDK runs a Valley Cottage job
The first step is a call to describe the project. Mark comes out for a site visit, then sends a written proposal that lists the work, the materials, and the price. When the homeowner signs, the job is scheduled, built by MDK's own crew, and finished with a walkthrough. The pavers and hardscaping page lays out every step.
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.
Other towns MDK builds in
From its Valley Cottage base, MDK covers the whole of Rockland County.
Paver patios in
New City
Paver patios in
Orangeburg
Paver patios in
Nanuet
New City paver questions
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Yes. MDK is based in Valley Cottage and serves the rest of Rockland County from here.
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The Town of Clarkstown. Valley Cottage is a hamlet within Clarkstown, so the Clarkstown Building Department covers building questions and the Clarkstown Superintendent of Highways covers driveway work that ties into a town road. MDK reviews what the specific job needs before it starts.
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The two usual approaches are cutting a level area into the slope and holding it with a retaining wall, or setting the patio at the house level and adding steps up to the rest of the yard. Some yards use both. The right choice depends on how steep the grade is and where the water goes.
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Yes. The deck is taken down and hauled off, the footings are removed or cut below grade, and a compacted base goes in where the deck stood. A patio at ground level also removes the rot and railing upkeep that come with an aging deck.
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Not usually. Paver work in Rockland continues through about the end of November, and sometimes into December if the ground stays unfrozen. Calling now is the best way to find out whether there is still room on this year's schedule.
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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