Stone walkway installation in Franklin, 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 Franklin that usually means deeper frost and wet springs, so depth and compaction decide whether it is flat in ten years. Wet ground also means the base has to be built dry, which changes the schedule.

Franklin walkways are set on a deeper base where the frost moves hard, and landings are placed to catch drift before the door. Franklin walks also get a wider base trench than the frost alone would demand, because the wet spring ground needs to drain as well as hold.

The other thing that makes a walk look right is the fall. In Franklin 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 Franklin's grade and drainage, not a cookie-cutter layout