Patios · Walkways · Retaining Walls · Outdoor Kitchens
Hardscaping in Collingwood & Georgian Bay
Stone patios built for decades of summer dinners, retaining walls that turn sloped lots into usable ground, and driveways that set the tone before anyone reaches the door.
Your Home Is Finished. Your Outdoor Space Isn't.
You have a property worth enjoying and an outdoor space that does not yet live up to it. Maybe the interlock that went in decades ago has settled and cracked. Maybe a slope leaves half the yard unusable, or the back door opens onto bare grass and a barbecue on a concrete pad. Whether it is a Blue Mountain estate or a classic Collingwood lot, the issue is the same: the hardscaping was either never done right or never done at all.
Outdoor projects are easy to postpone, and the surfaces rarely wait. Settled pavers keep shifting, cracks widen with every freeze, and water that should run away from the house starts running toward it. Each season you put it off is a season you do not spend actually using the space, plus a little more repair added to the eventual project.
Good hardscaping is what turns a yard into outdoor living. A patio becomes a room. A retaining wall creates level, usable ground. A walkway becomes a route through the garden instead of a line across the grass. When all of it is designed together as part of the landscape, rather than bolted on by a separate trade, every surface belongs to one plan.
What We Design & Build
Patios & Walkways
Natural stone patios in flagstone, granite, and limestone, plus interlocking paver patios for dining, entertaining, and everyday outdoor living. Walkways from the front entry to a winding garden path, in natural stone, interlock, or stepping stone. We choose materials rated for Ontario's freeze-thaw cycle, not discount pavers that lift and crack after a couple of winters.
Retaining Walls
Structural and decorative walls that hold soil, level out garden beds, control erosion, and frame outdoor rooms, from low borders to engineered walls over four feet. For any wall that needs a municipal permit, we handle the application as part of the design-build scope, so you never have to deal with the building department yourself.
Outdoor Kitchens & Fire Features
Built-in grills, counters, pizza ovens, and fire pits made for real Georgian Bay outdoor living. Stone, brick, or custom masonry finishes matched to the rest of the landscape, with gas or wood-burning fire options. A well-placed outdoor kitchen and fire feature stretch the usable season well past summer, into the cool, clear evenings the area is known for.
Driveways
Permeable paver driveways and decorative stone entries that manage stormwater while lifting curb appeal. Interlocking pavers laid in herringbone, basketweave, or running bond, set on a base engineered to last. A permeable driveway handles runoff on the property instead of sending it to the street, which matters on larger lots and on land close to the water.
Designed as Part of Your Landscape, Not Added as an Afterthought
When the team that designs your hardscaping is the same team that builds it, every element works toward the whole. A retaining wall does more than hold soil, it creates a level bed for planting. A patio does more than give you a flat surface, it frames the view into the garden. A walkway does more than connect two points, it leads you through the space in a deliberate sequence. That only happens when it is all drawn on one plan.
Retreat's 30-person team includes designers, project leads, masons, carpenters, and horticulturists, so the person who designs your patio works alongside the people who build it. There is no handoff between a design firm and a separate contractor, and no gap where the original vision gets lost in translation. It is also why most of our hardscaping happens as part of a larger project, and why even a single patio benefits from a designer's eye.
Why Choose Retreat for Hardscaping
Award-Winning Craftsmanship
Landscape Ontario Award of Excellence in 2023 and 2025, plus an Award of Merit in 2025. These are peer-judged recognitions of craft and quality, not pay-to-enter badges.
Built for Georgian Bay Winters
Ontario's freeze-thaw cycle is hard on cheap materials. We specify natural stone and pavers rated for this climate, set on a properly engineered base with drainage designed to prevent frost heave.
One Point of Contact, a Full Team Behind It
Your dedicated project lead owns the timeline, the crew, and the updates, backed by a full team of designers, masons, carpenters, and horticulturists.
Drainage First, Stone Second
We solve the structural problem before we lay the beautiful surface. One client described how Patrick and his team "excavated first and added much needed drainage," leaving them "one of the only lots that doesn't flood in the neighborhood."
Client Testimonial
We had our entire property transformed by Retreat Landscaping. They updated the 30 year old interlock with beautiful stone paving, added a water feature that provides much needed hydration for all the wild birds that visit the property. The trees and shrubs planted were all healthy and now well established. Patrick and his team excavated first and added much needed drainage, we are one of the only lots that doesn't flood in the neighborhood. Absolutely loved working with Retreat and highly recommend.
Common Questions About Hardscaping
Concrete patios typically run $20 to $80 per square foot. Interlocking pavers land around $17 to $35 per square foot installed, and natural stone like flagstone or granite sits at the higher end. A 20 by 20 patio can range from roughly $3,200 for basic concrete to $12,000 or more for natural stone on a properly engineered base. Most of our hardscaping is part of a larger landscape project, so the only honest way to get a real number is a site visit, where slope, drainage, access, and materials all factor in.
With proper installation, meaning an engineered gravel base and real drainage, interlocking pavers last 25 to 50 years. The base matters more than the paver. Cheap installs skip the base work, so the pavers shift, weeds move in, and the surface goes uneven within about five years. We grade, excavate, and engineer the base before a single paver goes down.
In most Ontario municipalities, yes, once the wall is over two feet tall. Both Collingwood and Blue Mountain require a building permit above that height. We handle the permit application as part of the design-build process, so you do not have to deal with the municipal office yourself.
A typical residential retaining wall runs $25 to $65 per square foot, or roughly $3,500 to $8,000 for a standard wall. Engineered walls over four feet that need structural design sit at the higher end. Material (natural stone versus segmental block), height, drainage, and site access all move the number.
Hardscaping is the structural, non-living part of a landscape: patios, walkways, walls, driveways, and outdoor kitchens. Softscaping is the living part: plants, trees, shrubs, garden beds, and turf. A good landscape weaves them together, so the patio frames the garden, the wall creates level planting beds, and the path leads you through. That is exactly why we design both at once.
No. Interlocking pavers usually cost more than poured concrete up front. They also last far longer (25 to 50 years versus 10 to 25 for concrete), are easier to repair since you can lift and replace individual pavers, and handle Ontario's freeze-thaw cycle better. On a premium property, interlock is almost always the better long-term investment.
Related Services
Ready to Build the Outdoor Space You've Been Imagining?
We design through the winter and build through the spring. If a patio, retaining wall, outdoor kitchen, or driveway is on your mind, this is where the conversation starts.
Spring construction books up over the winter, so the best time to start the design conversation is now.