NEW BELGIAN BLOCKS AND PAVERS

Our outdoor improvements continued while I nursed my sore leg. See “Calling 888 Rapid Response Team,” dated September 8, 2026, and “I Feel So Naked,” dated September 15, 2026, at sharonmarkcohen.com.

We had a new driveway, edged with new Belgian blocks, and a new patio installed, and that was my entertainment for the weeks I sat elevating and icing my very sore leg during a soaring heat wave. Fortunately, we had central air conditioning installed at the end of last summer (see “Let’s Talk About Central Air,” dated September 9, 2025, at sharonmarkcohen.com).

The comfortable room temperature was a plus. I also had a bird’s-eye view of the work being done, just by lifting the blind over the windows in the den, where I was on the couch day and night for weeks.

Originally, we planned to have the intrusive root of our Sycamore Tree cut back where it was raising the patio pavers, smooth the soil, and return the pavers to a proper pitch so the rainwater would travel away from the house. That morphed into a major decision, and we agreed to have them install a totally new patio to replace the worn pavers.

I designed the trim for the new patio, alternating the very light and very dark gray pavers. Pavers utilizing the same pattern now grace the driveway apron. The contractor said that he had never used that pattern in ten years of doing this work, and he liked the idea so much that he was putting it on his website. Coming soon at https://www.pavecraftpavingandmasonry.com/

With that decision finalized, we went to the next add-on. We agreed to have our Belgian blocks removed, many of which had become level with the ground. Instead, a new trim of raised Belgian blocks graces the entire length of the driveway on both sides.

The contractor added additional Belgian blocks to make a large trim encircling a Maple Tree next to an area that had been used as a second patio of blue slate. He removed the slate and had his workers cut and lay the tiles, creating accent walls around the flower beds, shrubs, and trees. He suggested paving the area where the slate had been to be used as a turnaround and/or additional parking spaces.

We couldn’t do all that work without replacing some of the broken or worn sidewalk panels around our property. It was an added expense but worth every penny.

Sleeves placed under the new driveway easily allow new electrical wires to run through and connect to the power in the detached garages. Another sleeve was strategically placed to provide access to a water sprinkler system under the driveway, enabling the sprinklers to be used on either side of the property. See “Decisions, Decisions,” dated July 14, 2025, at sharonmarkcohen.com.

We finally made that decision and hired a local company, in business for decades, to install a watering system. Since it rained torrentially throughout the summer, we kept the system turned off until the new grass seed was planted.

To complete the patio/driveway project, the contractor’s team washed all the patio furniture, power-washed the steps, and sprinkled lawn seed where the grass had been torn up to do the work. Of course, to add to the backyard beauty, we then had the gas grill serviced and purchased a new cover for it.

With the project completed and me finally being up and about, we had our neighbors over to view the work. Roger, an architect, voiced his approval and said, the new, larger patio is like having another room in the house. Now that they extended the pavers across the width of the three garages, it’s as though we’ve added a few rooms.

The contractor said the project was the talk of the neighborhood. Quite true. Our newest neighbor, living in the house directly across from our driveway, whispered to me, “Are you selling?” I assured her we did the work for two reasons. One is to enjoy the improvements, and the other is to make the house more valuable and easier for our children to sell someday. Without a doubt, her house value just went up.

Our neighbors behind our house, college professors, were conveniently away at their apartment in Paris for the summer, and they allowed us to use their driveway in their absence. Since I wasn’t driving while my leg was healing, we kept one car in our garage, and my husband parked the other in front of our house during the day and in the neighbors’ yard at night, when cars are not permitted to be parked on the street in our town.

Between the brutally hot weather and the torrential rains, we stayed off the driveway for weeks. That gave the asphalt time to settle, and it prevented tire tracks. The most fun was keeping the entire project as a surprise for our children to find when they visited.

P.S. The new grass is growing in! Come see!!