GIVE YOUR PROPERTY THE GIFT OF GREENERY WITH LANDSCAPING SERVICES
Your property is more than just a “backyard” or “front yard;” it’s where you live. Why not decorate your property just like you would decorate the rooms in your home? It is, after all, a space where memories are made, pictures are taken, gatherings take place, BBQs are held, children laugh, and quiet moments are spent.
If you’re looking for professional landscaping services in East York, Belvedere Home Improvements Ltd. has you covered. Our staff can beautify your yard with retaining walls and other elements.
CUSTOMIZED LANDSCAPING PROJECTS
We can design and build any style of landscape to meet your needs and complement your home. We provide a guarantee on labour and materials. Our landscaping service portfolio clearly illustrates our experience and ability to meet a wide variety of consumer tastes. From conception, to construction, to completion, the professionals at Belvedere can help you create the outdoor environment you’ve dreamed of.
In business for over 50 years, Belvedere employs over 50 talented landscaping specialists who can help you design, construct, and maintain landscapes. We specialize in two areas: custom design and construction. Our services include:
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Patios
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Walkways
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Pool design
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Night lights
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Gravity walls
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Retaining walls
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Plant selection and arrangement
THE LANDSCAPING PROCESS
The process begins with your initial consultation, where we will inspect your grounds and sit down with you to present you with a comprehensive, step-by-step landscaping plan. We then develop a landscaping solution using landscape photo imaging that will turn your yard into a well-designed outdoor setting. Finally, we present you with renderings and upon your approval, we begin the work on your yard.
WORK EXAMPLES
In this particular project we installed a beautiful interlocking block retaining wall that uses a tongue and groove system to lock together. Interlocking retaining walls have several un-sealed connections that connect.
Interlocking retaining walls can shift easier than other types of retaining walls and even though they do not appear damaged, they can still exhibit all of the signs of water seepage. Interlocking retaining wall design is prone to expansive and soft soils, which can cause cracks and shifts in the foundation.
Drainage to remove hydrostatic pressure and to release the built up water weight in soft soils against interlocking retaining walls is crucial. Superseal dimpled membrane with drainage tiles are key for successful interlocking retaining walls. They allow the water to drain down to your drainage system and help remove the extra water weight from the wall.
RETAINING WALLS
Retaining walls are an important part of our landscaping services in East York. They prevent downslope movement and erosion while providing vertical support for grade changes.
The most important consideration in proper design and installation of retaining walls is that the retained material is attempting to move forward and downslope due to gravity. With a wide range of attractive stone products to choose from, retaining walls can become a defining feature of your exterior, admired by neighbours and passersby alike. We use Unilock paving stones for all of our work.
Belvedere can design and build any style of retaining wall to meet your individual needs and complement your home. We provide a guarantee on labour and materials.
GRAVITY WALLS
Gravity walls depend on the weight of their mass – stone, concrete or other heavy material – to resist pressure from behind and will often have a slight “batter” setback to improve stability by leaning back into the retained soil. For short landscaping walls, they are often made from mortarless stone or segmental concrete units (masonry units). Dry-stacked gravity walls are somewhat flexible and do not require a rigid footing in frost areas.
SHEET PILE WALLS
Sheet pile walls are usually used in soft soil and tight spaces. They are made from steel, vinyl or wood planks which are driven into the ground. The material is usually driven 1/3 above ground and 2/3 below ground, but this may be altered depending on the environment.
Taller sheet pile walls will need a tie-back anchor, or “dead man” placed in the soil a distance behind the face of the wall, that is tied to the wall, usually by a cable or a rod. Anchors are placed behind the potential failure plane in the soil.
CANTILEVERED WALLS
Prior to the introduction of modern reinforced soil gravity walls, cantilevered walls were the most common type of taller retaining wall. Cantilevered walls are made from a relatively thin stem of steel-reinforced, cast-in-place concrete or mortared masonry, often in the shape of an inverted T. Like beams, these walls cantilever loads to a large, structural footing, converting horizontal pressures from behind the wall to vertical pressures on the ground below.
Sometimes cantilevered walls are buttressed on the front, or include a counterfort on the back to improve their stability against high loads. Buttresses are short wing walls at right angles to the main trend of the wall. These walls require rigid concrete footings below seasonal frost depth. This type of wall uses much less material than a traditional gravity wall.
THE IMPORTANCE OF DRAINAGE
It is vital to have proper drainage behind the wall, as it is critical to the performance of retaining walls. Drainage materials will reduce or eliminate the hydrostatic pressure and will therefore greatly improve the stability of the material behind the wall, assuming that it is not being used for water.
ESTABLISHING CONNECTIONS
For this particular project, we installed a beautiful interlocking block retaining wall. Interlocking retaining walls connect via a tongue and groove system. They also feature several un-sealed connections that can also be linked together.
Interlocking retaining walls can shift easier than other types of retaining walls. Even though they do not appear damaged, they can still exhibit all of the signs of water seepage. Interlocking retaining wall design is prone to expansive and soft soils, which can cause cracks and shifts in the foundation.
BEAUTIFY YOUR YARD TODAY
Belvedere’s professional landscaping services in East York can bring out the best in any yard. If you’re looking to enhance your home’s exterior, please contact us today to request an estimate.