Paver walkways in West Seneca, NY

Front walks, side paths and patio-to-door paths

A front walk is the first thing people see, so it should line up with the steps and the driveway and look like it belongs to the house. A gentle curve past the foundation beds often reads better than a hard straight line, but the main job is to get people to the door without cutting across the lawn.

Side paths carry the daily traffic: to the gate, the garbage cans, the garden hose or the back door. They can be a little simpler, as long as they stay flat and dry. Behind the house, a path from the back door to the patio keeps mud off the patio and out of the kitchen. If you are adding a paver patio, the walkway is easiest to build at the same time, so the two match and the digging happens once.

Base and edging for West Seneca winters

A walkway fails from underneath. The clay soil around here holds water, and freeze-thaw cycles lift and drop wet ground all winter. Pavers set on dirt or a thin layer of sand start to rock and sink within a season or two, and a tilted paver on a front walk is a trip hazard.

So the route is dug out, base stone goes in and it is compacted before the pavers are set. The walk is pitched slightly so water runs off to the side instead of pooling in the middle or running toward the foundation. Along the edges, a restraint keeps the pavers from spreading as the ground moves. Our guide on pavers and Western New York winters explains frost heave, joint sand and salt in more detail.

Tying the walkway into beds and lawn

A new walkway looks unfinished if the ground beside it is torn up or sits higher than the pavers. We finish the edges as part of the job. Beds along the walk get cleaned up or reshaped, and granite cobblestone edging or decorative stone can set them off. Lawn that was disturbed is graded flush so the mower runs right along the edge.

Plant choice matters too. Shrubs planted tight to a walk end up brushing pant legs and blocking the path in a few years, so we leave them room to grow. Where snow gets shoveled off the walk, tough plants and stone hold up better than delicate perennials.

Snow, salt and keeping it clear

A walkway in West Seneca has to live with lake-effect snow. A flat, even surface with tight joints is easier to shovel and leaves fewer edges for a blade to catch. Go easy on rock salt, which is hard on some pavers and on the plants beside the walk.

If you would rather not shovel, walkway clearing is available in West Seneca through The Big Freeze LLC, Patrick's winter company, alongside driveway plowing. More about our work around town is on the West Seneca landscaping page.