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.
Learn More
Monterey packs a city into 8.62 square miles, with ground from sea level to 683 feet. Back yards here are rarely flat. Lots near Del Monte Beach sit on old dune sand, and hillside lots in Skyline Forest sit under Monterey pines. The city calls its housing everything from historic adobes to mid-century modern homes.
Aguilar and Sons Construction is based in Salinas and drives over to Monterey for this work. We are a licensed general building contractor, CSLB license #787101, licensed since 2000. Here we build hardscape: paver patios and walkways, concrete patios and driveways, retaining walls and steps. We also build stone veneer and block work, outdoor kitchens, fire features, pergolas, fences, gates and redwood decks. Estimates are free, so call or text (831) 262-9943.
Tell us about the job. We will get right back to you.
Most of Monterey was built long before back yards were treated as another room. Downtown is a National Historic Landmark District. The city keeps master historic lists by neighborhood, including Old Town, Alta Mesa, New Monterey and Oak Grove. Lots on those blocks are often narrow, and the driveway is the only way in for a machine.
Older homes come with older concrete, and that shapes the work. We tear out tired slabs and re-pour at the right thickness over a rebuilt base. A tight side yard gets a walkway sized for a wheelbarrow. A sloped back yard gets steps, a landing and a low wall.
Replacing a cracked concrete driveway on an older street is its own job. The old slab comes out and the base gets rebuilt and compacted. The new pour has to meet the existing sidewalk and gutter line. Work in the public right of way needs an encroachment permit, which the city lists at its permit center.
Inside the city limits the City of Monterey permits the work, not the county. Building permits go through the Community Development Department and its Building and Safety Services division. The Planning Office covers architectural review, historic permits, fence heights and variances.
The city publishes a fence standards handout with the numbers. In the residential districts a fence in a front setback is held to 4 feet. Interior side and rear fences can reach 6 feet. A retaining wall plus a separate fence on a property line is capped at 8 feet combined. Heights change by zoning district, so we confirm the standards for your address with the Planning Office.
A retaining wall over 6 feet in a required yard takes a use permit. A fence over 7 feet takes a building permit. In the H-1, H-2 and H-D historic overlays, exterior changes need a historic permit, and that includes fencing. Monterey also requires a permit to remove a private tree 6 inches or more in diameter. We plan patios and footings around the pines and oaks already on the lot.
Parts of Monterey sit in the California Coastal Zone. The city has coastal land use plans for Cannery Row, Del Monte Beach, Laguna Grande, the harbor and Skyline. In the coastal zone, work generally cannot start until a coastal development permit is issued. It comes from the local government or the Coastal Commission, so a shoreline project starts at the planning counter.
The city's Skyline plan calls steep slopes the most noted natural hazard up on the ridge. It asks that new development be sited to limit runoff, erosion and sedimentation. That matches how we build on grade. Retaining walls get a footing sized to the load, steel in the wall and gravel behind it. Every wall drain gets an outlet where the water can go.
Down at Del Monte Beach the ground is old dune sand. Sand drains fast, and it still has to be excavated, replaced with base rock and compacted in lifts. Salt air and damp are the other local pressure. The city puts its average summer temperature at 59.5 degrees and rainfall at 18.33 inches a year. Shaded stone stays wet longer in that air, so texture and sealing get picked for the spot.
Monterey back yards are usually small in footprint and long on detail. One project can carry a patio, two steps, a low seat wall and a side path. Materials get picked to sit with the house. That might be a stucco site wall, stone veneer, tumbled pavers or mortar-set flagstone.
An outdoor kitchen here has an extra step. The Monterey Peninsula Water Management District runs its own water permit. It covers setting a meter or intensifying water use on an existing connection. Adding an outdoor sink can pull in that permit on top of the city permits. We check it before the island is laid out.
Hardscape, concrete, masonry, carpentry and iron work come under one contract. One licensed contractor runs the whole outdoor project. Our crew does the excavation, base, forming, steel and finishing. We drive over from Salinas, look at the site and put the plan in a written estimate. Call or text (831) 262-9943 to set up a free estimate.
Communities and areas we serve around Monterey: Old Town, New Monterey, Monterey Vista, Alta Mesa, Oak Grove, Skyline Forest, Deer Flats, Casanova Oak Knoll, Del Monte Grove, Del Monte Beach, Villa Del Monte, Aguajito Oaks.
Monterey ZIP codes served: 93940, 93943, 93944.
Free estimates throughout Monterey 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.
Learn More
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.
Learn More
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.
Learn More
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.
Learn More
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.
Learn More
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.
Learn More
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.
Learn More
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.
Learn More
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 Monterey. 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.