After: concrete paver stepper walkway set in shadow rock along a driveway, with new sod and a river rock tree ring in a Wolf Creek front yard

Project · Wolf Creek, Far West San Antonio

Wolf Creek Paver Stepper Walkway, Sod & River Rock

An eroded front lawn and a strip of packed dirt along the driveway, turned into a clean paver stepper walkway, fresh sod and river rock tree rings.

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Veteran-ownedMilitary discipline on every job

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Free estimatesWritten quote after we see your yard

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Built to lastProper base prep, edging and grading

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From bare dirt to a clean front yard

A front-yard job in Wolf Creek on San Antonio’s Far West Side: a concrete paver stepper walkway along the driveway, new sod, and river rock borders around two trees.

The problem
Before & after
How we built it
Finished details
Review

The problem

Phillip was tired of his front yard. The lawn had eroded, and dirt kept washing out onto the driveway. Along the edge of the driveway, where everyone stepped out of their vehicles, the ground was packed so hard that grass couldn’t grow there at all.

He wanted a front yard that looked finished, a clean place to step out of the car, and no more dirt on the driveway.

What we installed

Paver stepper walkway: large square concrete steppers along the driveway, set in shadow rock between black edging, over a compacted gravel base
New sod across the front yard
River rock borders around two trees, filled with fresh black mulch

The steppers give people a solid spot to step out of their vehicles, so the strip along the driveway no longer gets trampled into bare dirt.

Before & after

The step-out strip

Along the driveway

Before: thin, eroded front lawn with patchy weeds and bare dirt beside the driveway — Before: an eroded lawn with dirt washing toward the driveway

The front lawn

During: pallets of sod staged on a graded front yard with fresh black mulch around two trees — During: yard graded, sod staged, mulch rings in

After: new sod across the front yard with a river rock tree ring and the RedMill Landscapes truck at the curb — After: new sod laid across the front yard

How we built it

Concrete steppers only stay flat if the ground under them is right. Here’s how this walkway went in:

Dig out and edge: we cleared the strip along the driveway and set black edging to hold the shape.
Base and compaction: we spread a gravel base and ran a plate compactor over it.
Set the steppers: we laid the paver steppers to string lines and checked them with a level as we went.
Shadow rock: we filled around the steppers with shadow rock, inside the edging.
Sod, rock and mulch: we prepared the yard, laid new sod, and built river rock rings with fresh black mulch around the trees.

During: compacted gravel base between black edging along the driveway, ready for the paver steppers — Compacted gravel base inside black edging

During: RedMill crew member running a plate compactor over the gravel base for the stepper walkway — Plate-compacting the base before any steppers go down

During: setting the first concrete paver steppers on the base with string lines and a level — Setting the first paver steppers to string lines

During: close-up of the first square paver steppers placed on the compacted base, with string lines and spacer boards — Checking spacing and line on the first steppers

Finished details

With the walkway in and the sod down, river rock rings and fresh black mulch finished off the two trees. We rinsed everything off before we wrapped up.