Meet this month’s Hardscape Hero, Patrick McGrath of Affordable Hardscapes of Virginia in Virginia Beach.
Patrick and his partner, Sage, are supported by a skilled crew who specialize in design, installation and repair of outdoor living areas. In other words, all things hardscape! Through a combination of time tested workmanship, professional in-house engineering and knowledge of a wide variety of materials, Affordable Hardscapes of Virginia creates stunning transformations of homes throughout eastern Virginia.
At an initial consultation with the homeowner, the team collaborates on a goal-based concept as well as budget and design goals. “You can learn a lot about a person by sitting at their kitchen table and talking through the project,” says Patrick. It’s important to understand what’s important to the client, what aspects of the project are a priority and their vision of how everything should look and function.
To the Affordable Hardscapes of Virginia crew, every job is new and exciting because it presents an opportunity to apply a blend of art and science to problem solving. And with their years of experience, Patrick and his team can look deep into every aspect of the project and foresee potential snags before they become problems – just another way they make homeowners’ lives easier.
And speaking of challenges, their most recent project presented a challenge in the form of a lengthy decision process with the Home Owners’ Association. While the project design had a few challenges due to grade changes and multiple access points, getting buy-in from the committee took the right balance of imagination and communication. After that, in Patrick’s words, “once we had the green light, it went rather smoothly.”
Patrick’s Hardscape Planning Advice
“Be patient and allow the project to take its natural course. For example, we pay very close attention to the base work. We take our time to make sure their hardscape will be installed the proper way. After that, everything will come together faster than you think.”