There’s a brick seat wall around a patio in Tottenville, on Staten Island, that I still think about years after I first saw it. The…
Drainage Behind a Retaining Wall: Why It Matters
I got called to a house up in Westville, on one of those streets that climbs away from the New Haven flats, to look at…
Sealing and Maintaining a Paver Patio
My name is Sal Ferraro, and I’ve spent the last 18 years installing, repairing, and maintaining paver patios across Staten Island — mostly the south…
Paver Patio Costs in Austin (2026)
Brick’s my trade, and I work it in New Haven, Connecticut — but my brother-in-law runs a paver crew outside Austin, in Pflugerville, and enough…
Fixing a Sunken or Uneven Paver Patio
The corner that wouldn’t stop pooling water I got a call from a homeowner over in Great Kills who’d had a paver patio put in…
Designing an Outdoor Living Space in Central Texas
My name is Frank Doyle. I spent thirty years repairing and repointing chimneys around New England, and these days I pick up masonry jobs across…
Building a Patio That Survives Texas Clay Soil Movement
My brother-in-law moved to Cedar Park, Texas a few years back and put in a flagstone patio his first summer there. By the second spring…
Brick vs Concrete Pavers for a Backyard Patio
My name’s Frank, and I’ve spent better than 20 years doing brick and masonry work around Staten Island — tuckpointing old brownstones built back in…
Winterizing Masonry Before the First Freeze
Every October I walk the same loop through Hamden and the surrounding New Haven neighborhoods, coffee in hand, checking for the small things that turn…
Waterproofing a Basement Masonry Wall
The first sign of trouble in a Great Kills basement is usually a smell before it’s ever a puddle — that musty, earthy note that…