Atherton paving contractor
Yes, we build across Atherton
Atherton sits in San Mateo County between Redwood City and Menlo Park, with El Camino Real (CA 82) and the Caltrain line down its eastern side and Alameda de las Pulgas running along the west. The ground is flat to gently rolling, the lots are large, and the tree canopy is old. You notice that last part the moment you start digging.
Big level lots mean big paved areas: a drive that sweeps in from the road and circles back out, a motor court at the front door, a terrace and a pool deck at the back. Those are the jobs we are called for here. We only work in interlocking pavers and natural stone, which is the right choice on an estate lot, because a large field of pavers can be laid to a proper fall, repaired in one small section years later, and built right up to a tree without sealing the ground over. The San Carlos team that builds them works Atherton all year.
Working around Atherton's oaks and rules
The trees come first. Heritage oaks put their feeding roots out wide and shallow, right where a driveway wants to go, and they do not forgive a trench cut through them or a compacted base spread over the whole root zone. So we hand dig near the trunk, keep machinery off the root area, float the build over the roots instead of cutting into them where we can, and use open jointed or permeable sections so water and air still get down. A paver field can be shaped around a trunk and a root flare in a way a poured surface simply cannot.
Then there is the paperwork. Atherton has large minimum lot sizes and strict design and tree protection rules, so paving, walls and pool deck work here normally needs planning review and permits before anything starts. We build to the approved drawings, protect what the arborist tells us to protect, and keep the site clean because you still have to live there while we work. When you are ready, set up a free estimate and we will come and walk it with you.
What we handle here
What we build in Atherton
Driveway Paving
Atherton drives are long, and a lot of them are circular or come in through a gate and turn in front of the house. That means a big field of paving, a lot of cutting on the curves, and a base built to take delivery vans and turning wheels without rutting. We lay the pattern so the joints run true around the sweep, set the fall so water leaves the surface, and hold every edge with a proper restraint. Our work on drives this size is built to ICPI specification.
Pool Deck Paving
Pavers are the sensible surface around a pool. They stay cooler underfoot than a slab, the joints drain instead of holding a sheet of water, and if the deck ever settles near the coping we lift that section, fix the base and reset it. We cut the coping line clean around curves and pitch the deck away from the water so splash and rain both run to the right place. See how we build a paver deck around a pool.
Hardscaping
On a large lot the paving is rarely one surface. It is a motor court, a path through the side garden, a terrace, a set of steps down to the lawn and a wall holding a raised bed, and it only looks right when the materials, the borders and the levels all agree with each other. We plan the whole thing as one build and phase it so the house stays usable. That is what our whole property hardscape work covers, in pavers and natural stone.
Outdoor Kitchen Construction
An outdoor kitchen is masonry sitting on a surface that has to carry it, so the paving and the structure get planned together: footing where it needs one, block built true, veneer and counter set level, and utilities run before the field goes down rather than cut in afterward. We build the cooking platform, the bar seating and the surround as one piece with the terrace it sits on. Here is more on our outdoor kitchen work.
Why Atherton calls us
Why Atherton homeowners call Exterior Designs
Because a large property is a lot of surface to get right, and it only works when one company builds all of it. Exterior Designs is family owned and operated out of San Carlos, and we only work in interlocking pavers and natural stone, so the drive, the motor court, the walkways, the pool deck and the terrace can be planned as one piece of work with the materials, borders and levels agreeing from the gate to the back fence.
Todd Chandler is an ICPI Certified Paver Installer, a Belgard Master Craftsman and an Allan Block Certified Installer. Every installation is built to ICPI specification and carries a 20 year warranty, and because the surface is laid rather than poured, any section can be lifted and reset years later without a patch line showing. We work with your arborist and your drawings, estimates are free, and you can see more of this kind of work on our page on the wider hardscape builds.
Where you will see us around Atherton
El Camino Real (CA 82) and the Caltrain line run down the eastern side of Atherton and that is how we get here from San Carlos, with US 101 further out on the bay side. Alameda de las Pulgas runs along the west, and Interstate 280 and Skyline Boulevard (CA 35) sit up on the ridge beyond it. Redwood City is to the north, Menlo Park to the south, and the ground in between is flat to gently rolling with an old oak canopy over most of it.
That is why almost every job here is a big one. Drives arrive from the road and sweep in front of the house, courtyards and terraces run wide, and pool decks and outdoor kitchens sit at the back of the lot under the trees. We plan the access and the tree protection before anything is dug, and we phase the work so you can still get in and out. Our crews work the flatter, tighter lots on the Menlo Park side of the line.
Where we work
Paver work we build in Atherton
We are in Atherton all year and on the same run for Menlo Park to the south and our Redwood City customers to the north, all out of our shop on El Camino Real in San Carlos.
Ask a paver installer
Straight answers about paver installation on the Peninsula
Do you work in Atherton regularly?
Yes. We are in San Carlos, so it is a short run south down El Camino Real or US 101, and we are in town most weeks. Coming out to look at the job and giving you an estimate costs nothing.
Can you pave near a heritage oak without hurting it?
That is the usual brief in Atherton. We keep machinery off the root zone, hand dig close to the trunk, float the build over shallow roots instead of trenching through them, and use open jointed or permeable sections so water and air still reach the soil. Where the design would harm a tree, we say so first.
Do I need permits for a driveway or pool deck in Atherton?
Usually. Atherton has large minimum lot sizes and strict design and tree protection rules, so this kind of work normally goes through planning review and permits before it starts. We build to the approved drawings and work with whatever the arborist report requires.
How do you keep a long Atherton driveway from looking like a parking lot?
With borders, banding and the right unit size. A soldier course along the edges, a contrasting band where the drive turns or meets the motor court, and a paver that suits the house all break up a large field. We lay out the pattern on site before we start cutting.
Can you match the stone that is already on the property?
Often, yes. We lay Belgard, Calstone and McNear and we also set natural stone, so we can get close on color, texture and unit size. We will bring samples and put them down next to what you already have before anything is ordered.
What happens if part of the paving settles later?
We come back. Every installation carries a 20 year warranty, and the repair on a paver surface is straightforward: lift the affected units, correct the base, reset the same pavers and re sand the joints. Todd is an ICPI Certified Paver Installer and a Belgard Master Craftsman, and every job is built to that specification.