Services
Patios that stay flat
Interlock patios, front walks, retaining walls and armour stone steps. The stone is the part you choose. The base is the part that decides whether you like it in year ten.
GTA clay holds water, and water in clay freezes and lifts. A patio built straight on it, or on a thin layer of limestone screenings, rises in February and settles unevenly in April. Do that for a few winters and you get the hump at the door, the dip where the downspout lands and the joints opening up. We dig out the clay, lay geotextile over the subgrade so the gravel does not sink into it, and build six to eight inches of Granular A for a patio or walkway, ten to twelve for a driveway, compacted in lifts. Then one inch to an inch and a half of HPB bedding, which drains, instead of screenings, which hold water and heave.
On top of that base we lay 60 mm pavers for patios and walks and 80 mm for anything that takes a car. Natural flagstone goes on the same base. Retaining walls get their own footing of compacted granular, a drained backfill and a stepped line that follows the slope. In Mississauga, walls under 1 m need no building permit. Armour stone steps are set into the grade, so the stone sits in the ground rather than on it.
Before any of that, two things. The grade has to fall away from the house: Mississauga's Residential Drainage Guide asks for about 2 to 3 percent in the first 2 metres, and says swales must never be filled. And nothing gets dug until the Ontario Dig Authority locate is back, which is free and takes 5 business days for a single address. If you have irrigation, pool wiring or a gas line to the barbecue, those are private lines and need a private locate as well. We book both.
How the job goes.
Measure and grade
We measure the space, shoot the grade from the foundation out, and mark where the water goes now and where it should go.
Drawing and quote
A drawing with the patio, walls and steps, and a written quote that lists the base depth and materials line by line.
Locates
We request the Ontario Dig Authority locate and any private locate. No digging until both are back.
Dig and base
Excavate, geotextile over the clay, Granular A compacted in lifts to the depth on the quote, checked for grade as it goes.
Bedding and stone
HPB bedding screeded flat, then the pavers or flagstone laid, cut and edged, walls and steps built on their own base.
Joints and finish
Joint sand swept in and plate-compacted, the old material hauled away, the site raked and the lawn edges repaired.
What is included
- Site measure, grade check and a drawing
- Public and private locates booked by us
- Geotextile, compacted Granular A and HPB bedding
- 60 mm pavers for patios and walks, 80 mm for driveways
- Retaining walls, seat walls and armour stone steps
- 5 years on hardscape workmanship from final payment
What it costs
Industry ranges quoted by GTA firms in 2026 put an installed interlock patio anywhere from $12 to $30 or more per sq ft, with other firms quoting $25 to $55, and premium paver brands at $35 to $55. One Toronto firm puts a 300 sq ft premium paver patio at about $10,000 to $14,000. Walkways are quoted at $10 to $50 per sq ft, driveways at $15 to $55, and natural stone at $40 to $100 or more. Retaining walls are quoted by the linear foot, at $350 to $700, or by the face, at $25 to $50 or more per sq ft. What moves the number: how much clay comes out, access for the machine, the depth of base, the stone you choose, the number of cuts and curves, and steps and walls, which take far longer per foot than open patio.
Straight answers
Why not limestone screenings? Other quotes use them.
Screenings hold water. In a GTA winter that water freezes under the stone and lifts it, which is the most common reason a patio heaves. HPB is a clear crushed stone that drains, and it costs little more. We do not lay on screenings at all.
How long does a patio take?
GTA firms quote several days to roughly two weeks for a residential paver job. A plain rectangle on good access is at the short end; walls, steps, curves and a narrow side yard push it longer. Add 5 business days before the start for the locate.
Do I need a permit for a retaining wall?
In Mississauga, not for walls under 1 m. For anything taller, or for a wall in Oakville or Milton, we check with the city or town before we draw it.
What does the warranty cover?
5 years on hardscape workmanship from final payment. Like most firms, we exclude settling under 3/8 inch, salt damage and efflorescence, the white bloom that can show on new concrete pavers. The paver maker's own product warranty sits on top of ours.
Send us the yard
Call or write with the street and what you want fixed. We will come and measure, check the grade and the trees, and tell you what the base will take before we talk about stone.
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