1st Street NE Old Northeast Courtyards

1st Street NE is the first quiet residential street east of 4th Street North in Historic Old Northeast. Courtyards here sit behind Craftsman bungalows and Mediterranean houses, often with a live oak in the middle of the only flat ground.

PaverForge Hardscapes builds those courtyards so the surface can take oak-root heave, afternoon sheet flow toward the alley, and foot traffic from a side gate that is the only way in. A thin sand bed on native sand will rock after the first wet season.

What the courtyard has to survive

• Narrow side-yard access, so base stone is staged by the load, not dumped on the hexagonal sidewalk

• Live-oak roots that need a root-aware excavation, not a blind cut through the feeder roots

• Granite curb and brick street at the front, so the courtyard drain cannot dump onto the public sidewalk

• Salt air that rusts cheap steel edge restraint within a few seasons

How we build the field

We excavate to a stable sand grade, compact a crushed-stone base sized for a patio load, screed a bedding layer, and lock the field with polymeric joint sand and a non-rusting edge. Where the alley is the low point, a channel or area drain is set before the pavers so water leaves the courtyard instead of sitting against the house.

Call PaverForge Hardscapes at 727-490-9798 for a 1st Street NE courtyard layout, or start from the services page at paverforge.com/services.