re: Landscape rec for Baton Rouge

I've had Drew do two paver jobs that I'm generally pleased with.

The first was a learning process for both of us because I wanted used clay brick and some herringbone pattern. I didn't know that used brick can be mixed sizes, inconsistently cleaned and have a high percentage of badly broken bricks. Drew didn't know this either. It would have been nice for the brickyard to have offered advice. Helpful vendors are great when you find one. Also, herringbone requires a lot of cutting.

The second job went much smoother because I stuck with modern cement pavers... highly uniform...0% waste. Finding what you want is complicated by brand mergers, name changes, etc. I bought from Jim Stone with Drew by my side.

A few things to think about.

1. Pavers on a gravel bed will eventually have weeds no matter how its grouted. Only alternative is mortared...expensive and hard to modify.

2. Solve drainage problems 1st... Drew's best advice.

3. Allow for irrigation and lights in the future. Have irrigation lines and electrical conduit laid under the compacted gravel base if you think you will want that in the future. Hooking pipe segments together and pulling exterior wiring later are easy DIY things. Of course, Drew can do that fully as well for a price.

4. If the new pavers abut your house like mine do, excavating for the base will probably void the insurance section of any termite plan you have. Check on that and see to it that the landscape modification is written into the contract. I really lucked out, Terminix fully retreated my whole house at no cost shortly after the 2nd job was finished. A new contract lists all mods. Baton Rouge is not the place to be casual about termite coverage.

Good luck...Have fun.