Landscaping and Hardscaping in Ancaster

That is the most common Ancaster job we quote. The patio is cut into the grade and held by a low retaining wall, or the yard is terraced into two levels joined by steps. The written quote shows the wall, the base and the drainage so you can see how the slope is handled before you say yes.

Yes. Steps in stone or block are set on a compacted base so each tread stays level through the freeze, with a landing where the slope changes and low walls at the sides where the grade needs holding. On a long hill, steps and a couple of terraces usually beat one steep path. Read about hardscaping.

Usually, yes. Natural stone walls and flagstone paths suit the Village and we source stone to sit beside what is already there rather than fight it. Stone is billed at cost with no markup, so you choose the material on its looks, not on our margin.

Builder's sod is often laid on a thin skim of soil over ground compacted by construction. Roots cannot get down, the lawn burns in July and thins out. The fix is to strip it, add real topsoil, grade for drainage and lay fresh bluegrass sod. Read about sod and lawns.

Turn it before it reaches the house. We regrade so the slope sends water around the house, add a swale or a French drain across the yard where the grade alone cannot do it, and keep the outlet on your own lot so the water does not become a neighbour's. Read about water draining toward the house.

No. Every quote is free and comes as a written scope and price, often worked out by phone, text or email, with a visit when the slope or the access needs a look. Materials are billed at what they cost us, with no markup, and the job carries a 1-year craftsmanship warranty.

By stage, not all up front. The first payment comes when the agreement is signed, the next ones as each stage is finished, such as the walls and then the patio, and the last on completion. Every payment is listed in the written agreement before anything starts.

You hear from us. We try to give a heads-up on any delays and let you know when we are coming, with as much notice as possible. On a slope we would rather wait for the ground to drain than compact a wet base, so a short delay protects the work.

Yes, and the height is measured from the top of the wall. Under Hamilton's Fence By-law 10-142, a fence on a retaining wall is measured from the top of the wall to the top of the fence, so the 2.0 metre limit starts there. The wall has to be built to carry the posts, so tell us at the quote if a fence is going on it.

Widening across the City boulevard needs access approval from Hamilton. Single approaches run 2.7 to 3.6 metres and double approaches 5.4 to 6.1 metres, and the boulevard parking program is not offered in Ancaster. We handle the approval as part of a driveway quote.

It can. Ancaster is one of three parts of Hamilton with its own private tree by-law, so a permit may be needed before work affects a protected private tree, and the City's driveway guide says a new or wider driveway within 1 metre of the dripline of such a tree, or of a City boulevard tree, needs written approval from City Forestry. We plan around the trees that stay; taking one down is an arborist's job.

The Hamilton Conservation Authority has an online regulated area map covering Ancaster, Tiffany and Sulphur creeks, and the Niagara Escarpment Commission maps its Area of Development Control. We check both for ravine and slope lots before quoting a wall, a grade change or a large patio, and we build the approval time into the schedule.

Plan on a few weeks. The HCA says service times vary with the season and can run upwards of four weeks, and its permit does not replace the City's building permit, any more than a City permit replaces the HCA's. On a ravine or slope lot we build that time into the schedule from the start.

Not always. In the NEC's Area of Development Control, a patio or deck next to the house can be exempt if all the decks, patios and porches on the lot add up to no more than 56 square metres, it meets the setbacks (1 metre to the side line, 7.5 metres to the rear and 10 metres to the front) and it sits at least 10 metres back from a rock-cliff brow. A retaining wall built to level the patio is not covered by that exemption.

If it needs more than 15 centimetres of fill anywhere, or changes how water drains onto a neighbour, yes: that goes beyond the landscaping exemption in Hamilton's Site Alteration By-law 19-286, and the City says a site alteration permit takes about four to six weeks. A terrace held by a wall is checked against the same limits, so we tell you which side of the line your plan falls on before we quote.

Sometimes. A wall over one metre in exposed height beside public property, a building entrance or a place the public walks is a designated structure under the Ontario Building Code and needs a permit and an engineer's design. Lower garden walls usually do not. If your lot is near a creek or on the escarpment, the Hamilton Conservation Authority or the Niagara Escarpment Commission may also need to sign off. We tell you before we quote.