JR Anderson Concrete Hints | Richmond, VA

Hardscaping Hints

Why limit your living space to your indoor rooms when you can add a beautiful area outside to enjoy with family and friends? Hardscape design can enhance your home aesthetically and add value and function to your outdoor living spaces. Hardscape design elements are the backbone of every outstanding landscape design! With some ideas from HGTV, JR Anderson has compiled a number of great tips on creating and installing a successful hardscape design.

Choose Material that Reflects Your Personal Style - Will you have casual gatherings, formal parties, or a quiet personal retreat? JR Anderson helps match your hardscape materials to your personal style. Choose a few materials that complement your home’s interior and exterior to bring multiple colors and textures into the space. Your materials should look natural with the elements around the design, as well as with the design construction. Your materials should also fit the natural lines of your home and outdoor living space.
Rely on an Expert’s Expertise – Your vision and our plan combine to create your perfect outdoor living space. HGTV suggests having a focal point in your hardscape project. This focal point draws your eyes to the new, extended living space from the interior of your home. Once you have chosen your design plan, JR Anderson prepares a plan for draining issues and for insuring the structural integrity of your project. JR Anderson also properly prepares the site. While addressing drainage and structural concerns we still project your style into the design!
Use Landscaping To Create a ‘Finished Look’ - HGTV suggests always combining ‘vegetation in relationship to hard surfaces’. We agree wholeheartedly! There are plants, vegetation, and flowers that can thrive in any weather or habitat. JR Anderson provides tips on what plants thrive best in your area. Finally, complete your new hardscaped area with the softening texture and color of greenery and/or flowers.

Look at JR Anderson’s portfolio of actual hardscape projects completed over the years! Make all of your summers “a summer to remember” by creating your perfect outdoor living space through hardscape design.

Drainage Hints

One of the most important decisions when landscaping is regarding drainage. Improper drainage can lead to erosion, puddles of standing water, and even property damage. The last thing you want to do is have your yard ruined by standing water, turning it into a muddy mess!

One of the best times to see how your yard drains is after a heavy rainstorm. If you find standing water and drenched beds, JR Anderson recommends that you install a drain line or two to help alleviate the problem.

A “channel drain” is ideal for keeping any patio rain runoff from flooding the nearby landscaping. The channel drains are installed into the concrete to guide water away from the house and into a pipe that sits below the concrete level. Yard debris is kept out of the pipe by a protective grate that sits along the channel. The channel drain is connected to another pipe, which guides water away from the house. Channel drains are also recommended for pool owners to help keep chlorinated water away from the house foundation and off of the lawn.

French drains are another popular option. French drains are simply trenches lined with pipes or gravel. French drains are best for sloping yards, or for yards that have excess water runoff from neighboring properties. The ideal location for such a drain would be an out-of-the-way area with sandy soil where the water could collect harmlessly.

If you have a downspout tie-in on your roof gutter system, you may want to consider a catch drain. This type of drain is usually connected to a catch basin, which is a concrete or plastic drain that is tied into a larger, underground drainage system. The advantage to this system is that excess water doesn’t build up around your home’s foundation.