Stone walkway installation in Foxborough, MA

A walkway takes more traffic per square foot than any patio, and it usually sits where water wants to run. That means the same discipline as a patio in a narrower trench: dig to depth, compact the base in lifts, set the slope so the path drains, and restrain both edges.

In Foxborough that usually means flat lots and heavy spring water, so the slope that sends water away is planned before any stone goes down. Without that, spring thaw sits on the patio instead of running off it.

Walkways on flat Foxborough lots need positive fall or they puddle, so the grade is set on the walk even when the yard looks level. On flat Foxborough lots the fall on a walk has to be built in on purpose, so the runs are set to shed even when the yard reads level to the eye.

The other thing that makes a walk look right is the fall. In Foxborough we set a positive slope on the run and a low point at the drive or the lawn so water leaves instead of sitting on the surface after a storm.

• Width and curve laid out around how you actually walk the yard
• Base built to the same depth as a patio, in the same lifts
• Steps and landings broken out and built to a comfortable rise
• Joints and edges detailed so the path holds its line
• Worked to Foxborough's grade and drainage, not a cookie-cutter layout