Hardscaping Contractor in Gig Harbor, WA

Gig Harbor work starts with a bridge crossing for our crews, who come from our office in Yelm and work across Pierce County. Once on the peninsula, the job is shaped by two things: a soil that holds water in winter and lots that slope toward the water or the ravines feeding it.

We have 19 years in the trade and more than 425 completed projects, with a 4.7 Google rating. Every person on site is an ND employee. Below is what we look at on a Gig Harbor property before we draw anything.

On a grid of points across Gig Harbor and the nearby peninsula in USDA soil survey data, Harstine gravelly ashy sandy loam was by far the most common map unit, on slopes from flat to 30 percent. The Harstine series is moderately deep to a dense layer, found about 20 to 40 inches down. Water moves fairly well through the soil above it and slowly through the dense layer itself.

USDA records a perched water table in Harstine soil about 2 to 3 feet down at times from January through April. For a paver patio, that means the bottom of the base can sit close to standing water in late winter. On a flat lot the fix is a drain path out of the base. On a slope, the water also moves sideways along the dense layer, which is why seeps often appear at the toe of a cut or behind a wall.

Closer to the harbor, the survey maps Kitsap silt loam on 15 to 30 percent slopes. Kitsap formed in old glacial lake sediments and carries a seasonal water table 1 to 3 feet down from December to May. Some steeper sandy slopes are mapped as Indianola loamy sand, which drains fast.

Many Gig Harbor homes were sited for a view, which puts the usable yard on a slope. The usual request is a level patio or outdoor kitchen off the main floor. That takes a retaining wall, a raised patio on fill, or both.

Three rules guide our wall designs here. Keep heavy loads, like a driveway, parking pad, or hot tub, back from the top of a wall, because that load is surcharge and changes both the engineering and the permit path. Give water behind the wall a way out, with drain rock and a pipe to a legal outlet, because Harstine and Kitsap soils deliver water to the back of the wall all winter. And split a tall grade change into tiers with real space between them, rather than stacking one tall wall.

The City of Gig Harbor's Stormwater Management and Site Development Manual uses a flow chart based on the state model. A project that creates 2,000 square feet or more of new plus replaced hard surface, or disturbs 7,000 square feet or more of land, falls under the first set of minimum requirements. At 5,000 square feet of new plus replaced hard surface, all of the minimum requirements apply.

The chart starts with a different question, though: does the site already have 35 percent or more impervious coverage? If yes, the project follows the redevelopment path. Many smaller downtown and harbor-front lots, with a house, garage, and driveway on a tight footprint, can be close to that line. A big patio or driveway replacement on one of those lots is worth checking before design.

Gig Harbor's building permit page lists only a few exemptions by name, such as decks less than 30 inches above grade. For walls, grading, and work near the shoreline or a critical area, we confirm with the city for the specific address.

NOAA's 1991-2020 normals at the Tacoma Narrows Airport, on the Gig Harbor side of the bridge, show 42.02 inches of precipitation a year. A volunteer station about 7 miles west-northwest of Gig Harbor averages 54.66 inches, with more than 22 inches falling December through February. The gap between those two stations shows how much totals vary across the peninsula, so we plan drainage for the wetter end of the range.

Gig Harbor requests lean toward outdoor living and slope work.

Slope jobs on the peninsula start with three measurements: the total drop across the yard, the distance from the planned patio to any slope edge, and the route water will take off the site. Those go into the free 3D design, which shows wall tiers and steps at true height. The free quote then breaks out what drives cost on a hillside lot: wall length and height, base depth, soil, equipment access down the slope, drain pipe and outlets, demolition, and any engineering or permit time. Our own employees build every tier.