Patios, walkways, and walls that frame the whole yard.

Patio and retaining wall questions

Block types, wall heights, drainage, and how pavers hold up against poured concrete in Virginia clay.

What types of retaining wall block are there?

Four families cover most residential work. Segmental concrete block is the standard — modular, engineered for tie-backs, and available in a range of faces. Natural stone costs the most and looks the best. Poured concrete suits tall engineered walls. Timber is the cheapest and the shortest-lived, typically fifteen to twenty years in our climate. For most Central Virginia yards, segmental block is the right balance of cost, strength, and appearance.

How tall can a retaining wall be before it needs engineering?

In most Virginia jurisdictions a wall over four feet requires an engineered design and a permit. Height is measured from the bottom of the buried base course, not from grade, so a wall that looks three feet tall may legally be over four. Anything holding back a slope, carrying a driveway, or built in tiers should be engineered regardless of height.

Do paver patios need drainage?

Yes, and it is the step most often skipped. Pavers sit on an open-graded or compacted aggregate base that has to shed water, and in our clay that water has nowhere to go without help. We slope the surface away from the house at roughly a quarter inch per foot and add drain tile behind walls and under patios where the grade demands it. Skipping this is what causes settling, heaving, and the wavy patios you see after two winters.

How long does a paver patio take to install?

A typical 300 to 500 square foot patio runs three to five working days — one for excavation and base, one to two for base compaction and screeding, and one to two for laying, cutting, and jointing. Retaining walls, steps, or a fire feature add time. Weather matters: we do not set pavers on saturated base, so a wet week pushes the schedule.

Do pavers need to be sealed?

Not structurally, but sealing helps. It deepens color, resists oil and leaf staining, and locks polymeric sand in the joints so weeds and ants have less to work with. Plan on resealing every three to five years. Wait at least sixty days after installation so efflorescence can work its way out first.

Which lasts longer, a paver patio or poured concrete?

Pavers, in this soil. Our clay moves with moisture and freeze-thaw cycles, and a paver field flexes with that movement while a concrete slab cracks. Pavers are also individually replaceable — a stained or damaged unit gets swapped in minutes, where a concrete repair is always visible. Concrete costs less up front and makes sense on flat, well-drained sites.