Whenever a homeowner makes the jump and renovates a landscape, it can feel like a major push into the future. Yet with that feeling, there’s always a sense that something older is being altered or even thrown away, whether it’s the older style of the space or the wildness of the natural environment. Even with the advent of modern masonry technologies, expert masons work to preserve what works in a landscape. Here are five ways a mason modernizes old-world charm to create a grand outdoor space in the Newton, MA area.
Related: OUT WITH THE OLD, IN WITH THE NEW: HOW A MASON CAN REFRESH YOUR NEWTON, MA AREA LANDSCAPE
Craftsmanship Meets Modern Living
You know quality when you see it, especially in masonry that’s several decades or even several centuries old. That kind of craftsmanship is worth its weight in gold as it always adds a charming presence to a landscape and home. Whether you’re adding to an existing hardscape or starting from scratch, it’s all in the details: the way individual stones or pavers are set, the laying patterns, and even the quality of the mortar work.
Integrated Outdoor Lighting
Today, people spend much more time outdoors after dark than in the past. Part of this is because landscape lighting is so much better. Lighting a landscape requires many components beyond the light fixtures themselves, including hundreds of feet of wiring, one or more transformers, and steel frames to hold the lights in place. This may sound like it will have quite a visual presence in the landscape, but masons have a few tricks up their sleeves. They can completely hide the landscape lighting infrastructure within the masonry structures themselves. As a bonus, integrating lighting into masonry will highlight the beautiful textures of the retaining wall or other vertical structure.
Integrated Outdoor Sound Systems
Much like landscape lighting, outdoor sound systems also require a considerable amount of infrastructure. The subwoofers and even the smaller speakers of a sound system can take up quite a bit of space. Masons can place the speakers and their wiring within the bounds of your masonry features, giving you the perfect outdoor soundtrack for all your gatherings and moments of solitude.
Intelligent Building with Veneers
Materials such as natural stone can dramatically improve the look of your outdoor living space but natural stone isn’t always the ideal material if the design is complex, simply because of the labor costs of cutting and shaping stone. If you want a curved retaining wall, for example - one that follows the contours of the land - you’ll enjoy faster installation and more design options with a veneer. Masons will build the majority of the structure with concrete blocks and employ a stone veneer of your choice on the face, while providing a quality structure for generations to come. Veneers are also a way to tie elements together: for example, a veneer can be added to the home’s foundation to match the home with a new patio complete with an outdoor kitchen, retaining wall, and water feature that use the same veneer.
An Eye for Style
Expert masons really know how to construct a hardscape feature out of gorgeous materials. And, they know how to blend the old and the new. You may want to add a brick driveway to your contemporary home, but you’re not a fan of “brick red.” No problem. A mason can guide you to color selections including steely grays and charcoal that will give your driveway a fresh yet familiar look. Or, a mason may recommend large format pavers to breathe new life into a dated patio that feels cluttered because of the small pavers that were originally installed.
Related: INTERIOR MASONRY IDEAS: WHAT'S INVOLVED IN CREATING AN EYE-CATCHING FIREPLACE IN NEWTON, MA
