Patio Design and Hardscape in Watertown, MA

American Elm Landscape has been building hardscape in this part of Greater Boston since 1989. Thirty-seven years. We're based in Medford, and Watertown is a straight run down Route 16 for us.

Watertown is dense. Two-families on 5,000-square-foot lots, driveways down one side, small back yards, and neighbors close enough to hear the compactor. We build in yards like that constantly. Small doesn't mean plain.

Where we work in Watertown

East Watertown — the blocks off Mount Auburn Street and Belmont Street toward the Cambridge line. Dense two-families, short back yards, driveways running the full depth of the lot. Most of our Watertown work is here.

Coolidge Square — Mount Auburn Street's commercial spine and the residential grid around it. Tight lots, good bones, back yards that get used hard.

Watertown Square and the Charles River side — closer to the water, flatter, and more sensitive to where runoff goes.

Bemis and the west end near the Waltham line — a bit more grade and a bit more room.

We also work the Oakley and Common Street neighborhoods and the streets around Filippello Park.

What we build in Watertown

Paver patios. The typical Watertown job is a 250 to 450 square foot rear patio in a fenced yard, with the grill, a table, and a clean path to the back door. We lay them out so you keep usable lawn or turf instead of paving the whole thing.

Paver and permeable driveways. Watertown driveways are narrow, long and often shared. Replacing cracked asphalt with pavers changes how the property reads from the street, and permeable paving handles the runoff a solid drive dumps into the road.

Drainage. Dense lots with short setbacks send water to each other. We pitch away from foundations, install drainage where there's a legal outlet, and use permeable systems where there isn't.

Retaining and stone walls. Watertown lots often step down two or three feet from the house to the back fence. A low wall recovers that space and makes it flat.

Walkways, steps and side yards. The side yard between a two-family and the fence is usually dead space. Done properly it's a walkway and a place the barrels live without being an eyesore.

Synthetic turf. North-facing back yards behind two-families get very little sun. Turf works where grass has never held.

Plus outdoor kitchens, lighting, courtyards, planting, and patio repair and rebuild.

What it costs

Our numbers are published. Most Watertown contractors will not put a price on a web page.

• Paver & brick patios, installed: about $38 per square foot. A 300 sq ft rear patio is roughly $11,400. Natural bluestone runs about $50 per square foot.
• Permeable paver driveway, installed: about $35 per square foot.
• Asphalt driveway removal and haul-off: about $5,300 for a typical 1,800 sq ft drive.
• Synthetic turf, installed: $15–$20 per square foot. Patches under about 300 sq ft price at the high end.
• Building permit: $250, at cost.

Price movers in Watertown: how we get material into the back yard, whether there's old concrete or asphalt to demo and haul, wall height, and whether the job triggers a stormwater filing (see below). Curves, borders and steps add cost over a plain rectangle.

Permits and rules in Watertown

This is the one Watertown homeowners get caught by, and it is worth reading twice.

Stormwater. Watertown's Stormwater Management and Erosion Control ordinance (City Code Chapter 98) requires a permit for land disturbance of 5,000 square feet or more over a two-year period, and — this is the important one — for a net increase in impervious surfaces of 500 square feet or more. Two things to know. First, the trigger is net new impervious area — tearing out a cracked driveway at a one- or two-family and replacing it in kind is expressly exempt, so a straight replacement doesn't put you in the permit. Second, 500 square feet of new surface is not a big patio. Add a patio and widen the driveway in the same season and you can cross it without realizing. We check the numbers before we quote, and where it makes sense we design in permeable paving so the net impervious increase stays where you want it. Verify the current thresholds with Watertown DCDP, since ordinances get amended.

Driveway and parking area paving. Watertown DPW requires a street opening permit for driveway and parking lot paving work, plus approval from the Zoning Enforcement Officer. Contractors have to carry insurance naming the City as additionally insured and post a bond. There's also a street opening moratorium from November 15 to April 15, and a second moratorium on streets that have been paved within the past five years — both affect scheduling on anything touching the public way. We plan around them.

Trees. Watertown states plainly that it does not regulate removal of trees on private property — that's the owner's responsibility. Public shade trees are a different story: they're covered by Massachusetts General Law Chapter 87, and only the Tree Warden or a designee may prune or remove them. The planting strip between the sidewalk and the street is City property. So if your project involves anything in that strip, that's a City conversation, not a contractor decision.

Retaining walls. State code (780 CMR 105.2) exempts retaining walls not over four feet measured from the bottom of the footing to the top of the wall, unless the wall supports a surcharge. Above that, permit and engineering.

Historic districts. Watertown has a Historic District Commission. If your property sits in a district, exterior work may need review. Check your address before ordering material.

What working with us looks like

Call (781) 859-5304. You hear back within 24 hours. Allan measures, looks at grade and drainage, and talks through what the yard needs to do for you.

You get a written, itemized quote with real square footage. Permits appear as a $250 pass-through line.

Access in Watertown is usually the driveway. We tell you exactly where the excavator and the material pile will sit, and for how long. Where the driveway is shared, we coordinate before day one rather than surprising a neighbor. Most patios take three to seven working days on site. Driveways and walls take longer.

Fully insured. 4.6 stars across 57 Google reviews. Allan runs the job.

Common questions

Does a patio in Watertown need a permit?

A patio at grade generally does not need a building permit, but Watertown's stormwater ordinance can apply once you add 500 square feet or more of net new impervious surface. Replacing existing pavement in kind at a one- or two-family is exempt. That's a real threshold on a small lot. We check it during the quote and tell you what filing, if any, the job needs.

Can I just pave over my cracked asphalt driveway with pavers?

No, and anyone who says yes is wrong. Pavers need a proper compacted base. Old asphalt gets removed and hauled — about $5,300 for a typical 1,800 square foot drive — then the base is built correctly. Laying over a failing surface guarantees the new surface fails too.

Will a permeable driveway actually drain in a Watertown yard?

Usually yes, and it's often the smartest option here because it reduces the net impervious surface you're adding. Whether it works depends on what's under the soil. We test and tell you honestly. If your subsoil won't take water, we say so and design a different solution instead of selling you something that won't perform.

My back yard is 22 feet deep with a fence on three sides. What's realistic?

A patio around 250 to 350 square feet, a defined walkway, and either a small planting bed or turf for the rest. That's a normal Watertown yard and it can look excellent. The mistake is paving corner to corner — it makes a small yard feel smaller.