Fire Pits, Patios & Walls in Cary, NC

Hardscaping in Cary, NC

Cary homeowners tend to care about how the back of the house looks and feels, and the neighborhoods show it. In communities like Amberly, West Lake, Carpenter Village and Lochmere, we see attractive homes with backyards that do not live up to them: a small builder-grade slab, a slope that eats up usable space, and nowhere comfortable to sit in the evening. Summit Exterior Services is based in Holly Springs, so Cary is a short drive for us, and Ben Bell is on every job. Many lots in Cary also back onto open space or greenways, which makes privacy and layout part of the design conversation.

Like the rest of the Triangle, Cary sits on red clay. It holds water, swells and shrinks with the weather, and drains slowly, which is hard on anything built on top of it. A fire pit, patio or seating wall needs a properly compacted gravel base, and a retaining wall also needs drainage behind it. We pay close attention to grading too. Many yards slope toward the house, and a new hardscape has to move water away from the foundation, not add to the problem. We plan the surface, the base and the drainage together. Cary lots vary a lot in size and shape, so we never copy one design onto another yard. Clay is also slow to dry out, so we plan the base and drainage with extra care on lower parts of the yard.

A very common project in Cary is a fire pit with a seating wall, set on a paver patio that extends the existing slab. It turns a bare yard into a place people actually want to be. We also build retaining walls that flatten a sloped backyard, walkways that connect the driveway to the patio, and French drains that fix a soggy corner. Many Cary homeowners ask for a design that ties these together, so the patio, the wall and the fire pit feel like one space. A good design leaves clear walking paths and enough room around the fire pit so the space is comfortable for a group, not just a couple of chairs.

Cary has a lot of HOA communities, and most want to approve patios, fire pits and walls before anything is built. North Carolina generally requires a permit for retaining walls over 4 feet, and fire pits often have their own placement guidelines. We do not state exact rules, because they vary by lot and neighborhood. Instead, we help you check with the town and your HOA, and we can provide a clear design for your submission. The first step is a free on-site estimate. Cary architectural committees often look for clear dimensions and materials, and we bring those details so the process goes smoothly.