From a stream-fed koi garden in Chevy Chase to front steps and retaining walls on older city homes — District stonework lives inside tight lots, old foundations and city rules. We plan for all three before a stone is ordered.
Real projects, photographed on site. Every one hand-set by Edgar’s crew on a reinforced, drained base.
Watch: Stream, Koi Pond & Flagstone — a walk-through of our Chevy Chase, D.C. commission.
Trees. In the District, a tree measuring 44 to 99.9 inches around is a Special Tree and needs a permit to remove; a Heritage Tree, 100 inches and up, generally cannot be removed unless it is hazardous. If a patio or slab is planned near a large tree, we check its size before anything else.
Older walls, older problems. Much of our District work is restoration — leaning retaining walls, failing front steps, entries on homes built long before modern bases. A wall usually leans because of water pressure behind it, not the stone; so we rebuild on a proper footing with drainage, and the wall stays put.
We dig to solid ground and build a reinforced, drained base.
Each stone is measured and cut on the wet saw to its exact place.
Every stone is bedded in mortar, not sand — hand-fit and leveled.
Caps and edges set true by hand — the finish that locks it together.
A clean site, an honest timeline, and a five-year warranty in writing — ten years on the base.
If the tree measures 44 inches or more around, yes — it is a Special Tree. At 100 inches and up it is a Heritage Tree and generally cannot be removed. We measure on the site visit so there are no surprises.
Usually the right answer is to rebuild that section on a proper footing with drainage behind it. Patching the face of a wall that is being pushed by water only buys a season.
Yes. Many District jobs have no room for machines; we stage carefully, protect the property and neighbors, and carry stone in where we have to.
We also work in Georgetown, Capitol Hill, Chevy Chase, Dupont Circle and Northwest D.C. — and across D.C., Maryland and Northern Virginia. See our work in McLean · Potomac · Falls Church · Arlington
Edgar personally walks every site before a single figure is written. Estates are accepted by private consultation — a limited number each season.