Add style to existing concrete porches and landings with bluestone overlays

A large number of homes across Orange County, NY and the greater Hudson Valley are built with standard poured concrete front walkways, porches, and landings. Even if the house was built in the last 10 years, chances are still pretty good that the front walkway is concrete. 

Either way, at Landworx, we work with a lot of customers who are looking to upgrade the look of their home's outdoor surfaces. While concrete overlays are a great way to add the beauty of bluestone and natural fieldstone to your curb appeal, it is important that these existing surfaces are sound structurally. Barring any large cracks and/or shifting, overlaying and veneering can be a cost-effective way to bring big outdoor style and curb appeal. 

Front landings are particularly well-suited for this approach. The above photo shows a member of the Landworx install crew working on a total front entry transformation. On the sides of this landing and on the step risers, colonial fieldstone is skillfully veneered, achieving a finished product that looks like it has been that way for years. Finishing off the structure, the bluestone step treads tie in the natural colors of the fieldstone and cohesively unites with the house facade.

Now that's a drastic improvement over the existing concrete stoop!

A Look Back on Some of the 2015 Highlights

Spring and summer flies by when your in the landscaping business here in Orange County, NY. It's been an extremely busy year for the Landworx Crew and we will still be going strong with landscape design and installations right up the holidays. 

Here, we take a look back on some of the great projects we've had the pleasure of working on. With so much passion and hard work put into each and every outdoor living space we create, it's awesome to see the last few months in photo review. 

These projects show a little bit of everything from the Landworx team including custom pergolas, pavers and natural stone patios and walkways, elaborate poolscapes, Unilock and natural fieldstone retaining walls, lush plantings, outdoor kitchens, and more! 

Check out even more inspiring projects on the Our Work tab of our website. 

Enjoy Hudson Valley!

Hillside Landscaping: How to Effectively Terrace a Slope with Retaining Walls

Slope Landscaping with natural fieldstone retaining walls and groundcover plantings. 

Landscaping on a steep slope can be one of the most challenging aspects of residential landscape design. Depending on where you live in the Hudson Valley region, hillside landscaping ideas can certainly come in handy. 

A common solution to taming a steep hillside is to create a series of tiered retaining walls. The ones above—a home located in Orange County, NY—shows how the Landworx team used natural fieldstone to create an inviting front entrance. Each wall is set back off the lower one for stability and engineering reasons with an added benefit of creating beautiful planting beds to break up the hardness of the stone walls. 

With a wonderful mix of ground cover plantings, hostas, and small flowering trees and shrubs, this welcoming along the driveway is popping with color and curb appeal.

The tiered retaining walls are a graceful and timeless solution to landscaping on a steep slope while luring the visitors' eye up the meandering entrance to the front walkway.  

Related: Is a multi-level patio right for you? 

Bluestone and Brick Walkway: A Classic Combination

A during and after shot of the bluestone front walkway at Roe Brothers in Florida, NY.

We love working with other local business in Orange County, NY. At Roe Brothers, the Landworx crew is wrapping up a new bluestone walkway with a brick border course—a classic combination. The timeless material choices bring a sense of place and history to this new entrance. 

Bluestone walkways and patios can be installed two main ways—wet or dry. A dry lay of bluestone involves a gravel base and the bluestone is installed without using any cement. Wet laid bluestone is installed over a concrete pad with rebar and/or wire mesh reinforcement and is finished off with grouted joints. This project was the latter. 

Providing the finishing touched to the walkway is a precast curbing and a fresh planting design and installation. Thanks to our friends and Roe Brothers! 

Fall in love with Outdoor Rooms

Southern Living Magazine shares their favorite outdoor rooms for the fall season. 

What better way id their to spend the upcoming chilly nights than relaxing by a beautiful custom masonry outdoor fireplace? We're not sure. But the best way to start planning a beautiful outdoor living space for for fall festivities is by gathering some inspiration. 

Take a look at some of these stunning outdoor spaces located throughout the country. Let them inspire you and then decide...

How will you enjoy your outdoor rooms this fall here in the Hudson Valley?