Below is the range of work Golden Hills takes on across the East Bay. Full project write-ups — city, challenge, materials, before-and-after photos and the finished result — are published here as each homeowner approves their photographs, so nothing on this page is borrowed or invented.
Walnut Creek, CA · Contra Costa County
What started as a fence and retaining wall repair turned into a full backyard rebuild: a 14' x 17' paver patio with a gazebo, a pressure-treated wood retaining wall with a built-in bench seat, replanted hillside and steps that make the steep slope safe to walk.
See the full project →Vallejo, CA · Solano County
The backyard was dry lawn, patchy shrubs and an aging slab that nobody used. We cleared it, corrected the grade, installed a paver patio and walkway, set decorative rock, ran a new irrigation system and finished with fresh sod.
See the full project →
Milpitas, CA · Santa Clara County
A cracked driveway was demolished and replaced, with new concrete flatwork wrapping the house, a patio at the back door, turf with cobble borders and a redwood screen fence closing off the side yard.
See the full project →
Driveways get a deeper excavation and a thicker compacted base than patios, positive slope away from the garage and house, and edge restraint on every open side. Where water collects, we add a drain line before the base goes in rather than trying to fix it later.
Concrete moves. We control where it cracks with correctly spaced control joints and isolation joints at fixed edges, keep the slab thickness right for the load, and make sure the subgrade is compacted and draining before anything is poured.
Patios get a slight fall away from the house so rain sheets off instead of pooling at the slider. Where a patio sits below grade or against a slope, we run drainage under it before the base goes down.
Every wall gets drain rock, filter fabric where needed and a drain outlet so hydrostatic pressure has somewhere to go. Taller walls and walls carrying a load above them may require engineering and a permit; we tell you when that applies before work starts.
Drainage gets designed with hardscape, not after it. When a patio, driveway or wall is going in, the drain lines go in first so the finished surface never has to be opened up again.
Lines that cross under new hardscape get sleeved during construction so future repairs never require cutting concrete or lifting pavers.
Steps fail when treads are set on uncompacted fill or when water runs under them. We cut into native soil, compact every tread base, and drain the run so the stairway does not creep or wash out.
A full renovation only lasts if the layers under it are right. Every phase we build starts with the base, the grade and the drainage, which is why we sequence demolition and underground work before anything visible goes in.
If Golden Hills built something at your property and you’re happy to have it shown here, call (925) 437-4446 or email us — we only publish projects with the owner’s approval.
Whether you’re planning a new driveway, patio, walkway, retaining wall, drainage system or complete outdoor renovation, Golden Hills can help you understand the right next step.
