An Ashlar Stamped Patio and Block Wall in Pittsford
This backyard had a small slab off the sunroom and a lawn that ran downhill into the trees. It now has a curved stamped patio in a Majestic Ashlar finish, a mini crete block wall along the low side, and a river rock border. Here is how it was built.
- Majestic Ashlar stamped patio
- Mini crete block wall
- Borders and landscaping
Project at a glance
- Location
- Pittsford, NY 14534
- Scope
- Stamped patio, block wall, borders
- Pattern
- Majestic Ashlar
- Shape
- Freeform curve, stamped edge
Before
What the Backyard Started With
There was already a patio here, and that is worth saying plainly: it was a small slab that stopped a few feet past the sunroom door. It held a bistro table and not much else. Past the edge of it the lawn sloped away toward the tree line, so the family had a wooded lot with almost no flat ground they could actually use.
That is a common brief for us. The ask was not a repair. It was usable square footage, in a shape that suited a curved wooded yard rather than a rectangle bolted to the back of the house.
Base and forms
Forming the Curve
The shape set the difficulty for the whole job. A freeform curve has to be formed in flexible board and staked tight the entire way around, and it has to hold that exact line while several yards of concrete push against it. Before any of that we built and compacted the stone base and set the grade so water sheds away from the house instead of collecting at the slab edge.
The stamp
Stamping the Majestic Ashlar Finish
Stamping has a window. The concrete has to be firm enough to hold an imprint and still soft enough to take one, and once that window opens the whole crew is on the slab laying mats in sequence. Majestic Ashlar sets out in a random rectangular course, so the finished surface reads as a poured concrete patio that replicates the look of cut stone, with no repeating grid to give it away.
If you are weighing finishes for your own yard, our guide to stamped concrete colors and patterns covers how the pattern and the color release work together, and the main stamped concrete page covers the rest of what we install.
Wall and border
The Block Wall and the Border
Where the yard dropped away at the back of the patio we set a mini crete block wall following the same curve as the slab and capped it flat, so it holds the grade and doubles as somewhere to sit. Outside the wall we ran a river rock border with plantings. That border is not only decoration. It gives runoff somewhere to go and keeps water from working back under the edge of the slab, which is what shortens the life of a patio through a Rochester area freeze and thaw cycle.
Finished
The Result
The patio now runs the full width of the back of the house and swings out into what used to be unusable slope. The sunroom door opens onto real space, the wall closes the low side, and the border ties the whole thing into the tree line. It is one of the cleaner examples of what a curved concrete patio does for a wooded lot, and it is the kind of concrete work we do throughout Pittsford.
A Patio They Can Actually Use
What the homeowner said
We had an awesome experience working with NG! Our patio came out perfectly. Everyone we worked with was professional and communication was great throughout the whole process. It’s obvious that every employee cares and takes pride in their work. We will definitely be using your company again for future projects. Thank you!
Homeowner, Pittsford NY
Thinking About a Patio Like This?
Every yard is its own problem. Tell us the shape you are working with and we will come walk it with you. Estimates are free, and we will say so if a different finish suits the space better.
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