278 Roosevelt Way – Backyard Hardscaping Makeover

Project Neighborhood: Corona Heights
Date: August 2023
Duration: 3.0 weeks
Landscaping Project: Backyard hardscaping makeover with quartzite flagstone walkways, redwood deck, black basalt stairs, retaining walls, and planters.

Project Overview

This project resided in the Corona Heights area of San Francisco, very close to the beautiful Corona Heights Park.  

This backyard makeover project incorporated numerous hardscaping elements including:  Custom quartzite walkway, new redwood deck, new black basalt stairs, retaining walls and planters faced with silver travertine and capped with black basalt.  

In addition to the hardscaping, a couple tons of fieldstone boulders were hand-selected and set and a 36 inch basalt water feature was installed.  To finish out the landscape, lighting and a new auto drip irrigation was installed.  No plants were installed as our clients opted to select their own plants.

Project Installation

We started with the demo and hauled everything away to start with a clean slate.  We then constructed the concrete retaining walls, planters, and steps. The concrete walls were built with steel reenforced 6 inch CMU and poured concrete.  As these were being built, the hand-selected boulders and basalt water feature were brought in and placed.  The electrical work for the water feature was also performed. 

The quartzite walkways were then constructed.  Each piece of quartzite flagstone was artfully positioned into mortar based on the color, size, and shape.  Each piece was then etched with acid to bring out the color and unique features of the quartzite stone.

The redwood deck was then installed, including a raised planter adjacent to the deck.  The decking was screwed down with our CAMO hidden fastening system for a clean look.  The face and cap of the raised planter was veneered with redwood.

The retaining walls, planters, and step risers were then veneered with silver travertine and capped with black basalt.  The black basalt steps were also laid  And finally, the lighting system and auto drip irrigation were installed.

This makeover gave our clients a refreshed, modern backyard and increased their useable area to boot!