Thanks for all the comments. The LA is DC based. I am near Harrisburg, outside of his normal service area (CL ad ran in Baltimore and was picked up as a "nearby" area to us). He has a guy who is Baltimore based who might be interested in the work, but his interest will be higher if we do more of the project at once rather than phased since that would be a ride for him too. That doesn't perfectly match my fund from cash reserves approach, but the HELOC rate is real low and my employment is stable. The LA would help administer the project, but I believe only if we contract him to do the construction documents vs the concept doc's. Which is a % for the construction docs, plus hourly for the administration (where he might not be local to supervise easily). We re-did the basement in the old house and we juggled contractors which wasn't a ton of fun. I guess I did it for cost savings, but it was certainly work. We (my wife in particular) are organized and capable, but there is always the knowledge gap to deal with. I don't think we'd do it for a neighbor though. The cash benefit is nice, but we'd need the future dividends of the work done right and the improvements being ours, at least for our period of ownership. I prefer the materials LA is proposing. A part of me wonders if it over improves the property to the neighborhood, if the neighbors are all using pavers or blocks. We hope to be in the house ten more years, but it won't be our last place. I expect to take a financial loss on these improvements. But I do expect the improvements to make our place sell faster. The people my wife knows in the expensive neighborhood would definitely let us see their yards. I just don't if the people she knows have done anything. I can find out. I'll ask the LA if he cares if I post the design concept on the net if anyone wants to see what we are working towards.

We have a patio done with concrete pavers that is surrounded with a natural stone wall, and we like the contrast of the smooth finish and regular pattern with the randomness and roughness of the natural stone. Doing all stone, especially all random stone, requires some design expertise to avoid looking like a mish-mash, for example, a well defined edge to the patio. If you are determined to use natural stone I would still suggest square cut stones for a more regular look - not that I've seen a picture, thus making assumptions about your stone. You can get all sizes of slab - 24x24, 12x18, 12x12, what have you - in either cut stone or concrete. In my climate I can lay such stones directly on dirt or on a base of sand. As long as it's well compacted we get little heave or sinkage - depends on your ground and climate. You may need a better base (gravel?) but probably no need to mortar in any case. KarinL

Ok, sure!! The seasoned pro coins a new word...and it's praises are sung far and wide. But have a newbie do it..."what was he thinking?" :) It's called typing so fast my fingers out flash my brain....and forgetting spell check. Now, to Inkcognito's question. No you are not waking me up. I've been quite coherent and alert on this one. :) This space is attached to an existing small space display of flagstone...so my intent is to trickle out from there and establish a working model that typifies the Rky Mtn zone. Id like to use a couple of evergreens and some local perennials to infuse into the project. This company's 4 mainstays for paving are concrete, including stamped, brick pavers and walls, flagstone work and exposed aggregate. So to make these 4 stand out I will create 2 intertwining pathways, circling each other, having these 4 interplayed into the design. At intervals I will establish brick retaining walls, spaced apart with a couple of brick maiboxes or columns. There is a rise on one end of the space which will allow for steps and terracing possibilities. The client wants this to not be straight edged in any fashion, but to allow for wandering around pathways. The current space is lawn, and a few existing evergreens lined on the top of the slope. So I see no reason not to use some of the lawn, thus allowing shoppers to actually see how the hardscape looks against the grass. Once I figure out the gallery here I will post my plans and the existing space. being as this company does alot of stamped concrete, The idea of showing samples of brick, tile, cobblestone, etc. should open up the variety. Anyway, my beginning steps.

Yardvaark, thanks a lot for those thoughts. I agree with the assessment of the parking pad. I’m unsure about getting rid of the parking spot entirely- maybe I could sandwich a narrow spot (for occasional use by visitors) by squeezing that planting bed on the right side of the porch. I suppose I’ll have to get my measuring tape out to see what I’m working with- for a sense of scale, that front sidewalk is about five feet wide. You’re right that the side is narrow, and can only accommodate the driveway. You might be able to discern from the picture that my driveway directly abuts my driveway- I had thought about maybe a narrow planting strip to delineate my neighbour’s driveway from mine. On the left there is currently a cup flower by the fence between my yard’s and the neighbour’s where you have your small tree- it gets to be about seven feet tall by this time of year. Pinkmountain, thanks for that thought. That’s a good idea, particularly as the balcony railings ought to be higher than they are anyway.