Hardscape Contractor
Complete outdoor living spaces from one licensed contractor: pavers, flagstone, concrete, retaining walls, masonry, outdoor kitchens and fire features, built on a proper base with drainage.
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Hollister is the county seat of San Benito County, and the ground under it does not sit still. The United States Geological Survey reports that the Calaveras Fault creeps through downtown at about half an inch a year. That slow movement has offset curbs and sidewalks near Dunne Park and along Sixth Street. Clay soil adds to it, swelling with winter rain and shrinking in the dry summer.
Aguilar and Sons Construction is a licensed general building contractor based in Salinas. We drive over to Hollister for hardscape, concrete and masonry work. One contract covers concrete patios, driveways, pavers, flagstone, block walls and stone veneer, outdoor kitchens, pergolas and redwood decks. Call or text (831) 262-9943 for a free estimate.
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Hollister has been building houses. The Census Bureau counts 229 new homes permitted in the city in 2022 and 213 in 2023. Another 118 followed in 2024. All of those permits were for houses rather than apartment buildings.
A new house arrives with a graded dirt yard and a hose bib. There is no patio, no path to the side gate and no shade. That is most of what we get called for in Hollister. We lay out the patio first, then the walkways, then anything that needs a footing.
Most of those yards get poured concrete or paver patios and walkways. Pavers go down as separate units over compacted rock and bedding sand. If the ground shifts later, a paver field can be lifted and reset. Poured concrete cannot, so a slab gets more steel and more control joints.
The Calaveras Fault runs through the middle of Hollister. The USGS measures creep of about half an inch a year along it. Its field guide calls out the retaining curb on the north side of Sixth Street as markedly offset. The newer curbs and sidewalks on those blocks show the same pull.
The City of Hollister says its building code work carries special consideration for the city's location in a seismic region. Soil is the other half of the story. USDA soil maps for the Hollister area include heavy clay that swells with water. One clay series mapped here opens cracks two inches wide and more than two feet deep when it dries.
That ground is workable. It changes how the base goes in. We dig out the soft material, bring in rock and compact it in lifts. Then comes the steel, the saw-cut joints and a slope that carries water away from the house.
Hollister runs hotter and drier than the coast. NOAA's 1991 to 2020 normals for the Hollister station put the average August high at 81 degrees. The Monterey station sits at 69 degrees for the same month. Normal July rainfall in Hollister is zero.
A Hollister back yard needs shade before it needs anything fancy. A pergola or a solid patio cover over the seating area does more than an umbrella. Posts land on footings or stone column bases set into the ground. We put those footings in while the patio is still open dirt.
The nights cool right off. NOAA's normals put the average August low in Hollister at 54 degrees after an 81 degree afternoon. That swing is what a fire pit, a masonry fireplace or a built-in outdoor kitchen is built around. Each one wants a footing and a gas line planned before the concrete goes in.
Inside the city limits, the City of Hollister Building Division handles building permits. The city has adopted the 2025 California Building Standards Code. Its counter number is (831) 636-4355. For an address outside the city limits, San Benito County's building and safety counter is the one to call.
The state exempts some small work from a building permit. A retaining wall is exempt only up to four feet. That four feet is measured from the bottom of the footing, not from the ground. A wall showing three feet of face can already be over the line.
Decks are the same story. The exemption holds only under 200 square feet and under 30 inches high, standing free of the house. Cities can also write stricter rules than the state. Most real decks miss a test, so we confirm with the Building Division first.
Communities and areas we serve around Hollister: Downtown Hollister, San Benito Street, Dunne Park, Vista Park Hill, Valley View, San Felipe Road, Nash Road, Ladd Lane, Las Brisas, Ridgemark, Tres Pinos, San Juan Bautista.
Hollister ZIP codes served: 95023.
Free estimates throughout San Benito County and the surrounding area.
(831) 262-9943 Complete outdoor living spaces from one licensed contractor: pavers, flagstone, concrete, retaining walls, masonry, outdoor kitchens and fire features, built on a proper base with drainage.
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We set paver patios, walkways and driveways on excavated, compacted base rock with edge restraint on every open side. We lay tumbled, large-format and permeable concrete pavers, cut and fitted to the shape of the yard.
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We build concrete and concrete block retaining walls, low garden walls and planter walls with steps. The footing, the steel and the drainage behind the wall come first, then the stucco or stone veneer finish.
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We build outdoor kitchens as masonry: a block or framed island finished in stone veneer or stucco, with a stone, tile or poured concrete counter. The patio and footing under it come with the job, and we coordinate the gas, electrical and water runs.
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Stamped concrete gives a patio or walkway the color and texture of cut stone in one poured slab. We form it, set the steel, stamp the pattern and seal the finish.
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We build natural flagstone patios, walkways, steps and landings across the Monterey Bay area. The stone goes down mortar-set on a concrete slab or dry-laid on compacted base, with fitted joints and a cut stone border.
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Concrete block walls, stone veneer, columns, planters and masonry steps for homes across the Monterey Bay area. Footing, steel and drainage go in before the first block is laid.
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We build masonry outdoor fireplaces and gas or wood fire pits, set on a footing sized for the weight. Stone veneer or stucco finishes, cut stone caps and seat walls, with free estimates across the Monterey Bay area.
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We build wood pergolas and solid roof patio covers, freestanding or attached to the house. Posts land on poured footings and masonry column bases, and the frame is cut on site.
Learn MoreA few of the questions we hear most around Hollister. If yours is not here, call or text and ask.
Call or text (831) 262-9943, or send the form with a few details about the project. Photos of the area help, and we will set a time to come out and measure.
Tell us about the job. We will get right back to you.