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Here’s the reality most contractors don’t talk about: a small backyard in Sharon Hill isn’t a problem to work around it’s a space to design intentionally. The rowhomes along Elmwood Avenue, Felton Avenue, and Tribbett Avenue have rear yards that are often 10 to 20 feet wide. That’s not a lot of ground, but a thoughtfully designed 10×14 paver patio with a built-in seating wall can turn that strip of dirt into the outdoor space your family actually gathers in from April through October.
What makes the difference isn’t just the surface it’s what’s underneath it. Delaware County goes through 40 or more freeze-thaw cycles every year, and most of Sharon Hill’s housing stock was built between 1940 and 1969. Older soil, older drainage, older foundations. A patio that doesn’t account for all of that will settle, crack, or worse push water toward your foundation. The right installation slopes away from your home, starts with a properly compacted aggregate base, and uses materials that can handle what Pennsylvania winters actually do to the ground beneath them.
When it’s done right, you stop thinking about your backyard as a maintenance problem and start using it. That’s the outcome worth paying for.
We’re based in Delaware County not a regional chain that added Sharon Hill to a dropdown list. Our crew has worked across the dense boroughs of this county for years, including the neighborhoods right next to Sharon Hill in Folcroft, Collingdale, and Glenolden. That experience matters because the conditions here tight rear yard access, older homes, clay-heavy soil are genuinely different from a sprawling lot in Chadds Ford or a new build in Concord Township.
Every project runs with one experienced crew from excavation to final cleanup. No subcontractors rotating in and out, no one showing up who doesn’t know your project. Renato Spennato puts his name on every job, which means there’s a real person accountable for the outcome not an anonymous LLC that becomes unreachable after the deposit clears.
If something comes up after your patio is installed, you call the same number and reach the same people. That’s not a policy it’s just how we run the business.
It starts with a real conversation about your space. We come out, measure your yard, look at drainage, check how you access the rear of your property, and ask how you actually plan to use the space. In Sharon Hill, that last part matters more than people expect a yard that’s 12 feet wide needs a different design conversation than one that’s 30 feet wide, and the access question is real when equipment has to reach a rowhome rear yard through a narrow side passage or through the house itself.
From there, you get a written estimate with a clear scope of work and a transparent price range before anything begins. Pricing runs $15 to $50 per square foot depending on material, and most projects in Sharon Hill given the typical lot sizes fall between $3,500 and $7,000 for a quality paver installation. No surprises mid-project, and no vague “we’ll figure it out as we go” approach to scope.
Installation begins with excavation and base preparation the part most homeowners never see but that determines whether your patio lasts five years or twenty-five. The compacted aggregate base, drainage slope, edge restraints, and joint sand all go in before a single paver is set on top. When we’re done, we clean up and walk you through what was built and why. You’re not left guessing.
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Pavers are the most practical long-term choice for Sharon Hill’s conditions. They handle freeze-thaw cycles better than poured concrete because they flex slightly with the ground rather than cracking across a solid slab. And if one section does settle after a hard winter, individual pavers can be lifted, the base re-leveled, and the surface reset invisibly, without tearing out the whole patio. For homeowners working with a real budget and a property they plan to stay in, that repairability matters.
Concrete is a viable option for smaller budgets, and we install it properly with the right base depth, drainage slope, and sealing to give it the best chance against Pennsylvania winters. Stamped and brushed finishes can look sharp in a compact space. The honest answer is that concrete will eventually crack in this climate, and when it does, your repair options are limited. Understanding that tradeoff before you decide is important.
Flagstone and Pennsylvania Bluestone are popular choices for homeowners who want a more natural look, and they work especially well in smaller yards where the irregular shapes can be cut to fit tight corners and unusual dimensions. Covered patio structures pergolas, shade sails, solid-roof additions are also available and particularly worth considering in Sharon Hill given the proximity to Philadelphia International Airport. A covered structure creates a sense of enclosure that makes a compact outdoor space feel genuinely private. Whatever direction you go, you’ll understand exactly what you’re getting and why before any work begins.
Yes and honestly, smaller yards are where good design makes the biggest difference. Many Sharon Hill rowhome backyards run 10 to 20 feet wide and 20 to 30 feet deep, sometimes less. That’s a real constraint, but it’s a workable one. A 10×12 or 10×14 paver patio with a built-in seating wall or clean edge restraints can fill that space in a way that feels intentional rather than cramped.
The key is designing for how you actually use the space. Where does the table go? How do you move between the back door and the seating area? Is there room for a small grill station along one wall? These questions matter more in a tight yard than a large one, because every square foot has to earn its place. We measure your specific yard, look at access, drainage, and the orientation of the space, and design around your real life not a generic template.
The biggest practical difference comes down to what happens after the first few winters. Delaware County experiences 40 or more freeze-thaw cycles per year, which means the ground beneath your patio is constantly expanding and contracting. Poured concrete handles this as one rigid slab when it moves, it cracks. Individual pavers handle it differently because each unit can shift slightly without transferring stress to the whole surface.
When a paver patio settles after a hard winter, the repair is straightforward: lift the affected pavers, re-level the base underneath, and reset them. Done correctly, the repair is invisible. When a concrete patio cracks, your options are patching which shows or full replacement. For a Sharon Hill homeowner who’s making a real investment in a property they plan to stay in, that long-term repairability is worth factoring into the decision. Concrete costs less upfront; pavers tend to cost less over time.
It’s one of the most important questions to get right, especially in Sharon Hill. Most of the borough’s residential housing stock was built between 1940 and 1969. Homes of that age often have older drainage infrastructure, compacted clay soil, and foundation walls that weren’t designed with modern drainage standards in mind. A patio that doesn’t account for this can actually make existing water problems worse directing runoff toward your foundation instead of away from it.
Every patio we install is graded to slope away from the home’s foundation typically a minimum of one inch of drop per eight feet of run. The base layer is also evaluated for the specific soil conditions beneath it, because clay-heavy soil drains differently than sandy or loam soil and requires a different approach to compaction and base depth. If your yard already has low spots or you’ve dealt with basement water issues, that gets flagged during the consultation not discovered mid-project. Getting drainage right upfront is far less expensive than fixing it after the fact.
For most Sharon Hill projects which tend to run 100 to 200 square feet given the typical lot sizes an experienced crew can complete a paver patio installation in two to three days. That includes excavation, base preparation, compaction, paver setting, edge restraint installation, joint sand, and cleanup. Concrete installations on a similar footprint can sometimes be completed in one to two days, though the concrete itself requires curing time before use.
The timeline can shift depending on a few factors specific to Sharon Hill properties: rear yard access, existing drainage conditions, and whether any grading work is needed before installation begins. If equipment access requires moving through the home or through a narrow side passage, that affects how materials are staged and delivered. All of this gets assessed during the consultation so the timeline you’re given at the start is realistic not a best-case estimate that expands once the crew is on-site.
Concrete pavers and natural stone particularly Pennsylvania Bluestone and flagstone hold up best in Delaware County’s climate. Both materials can be installed with proper base depth and drainage slope to minimize the impact of ground movement during freeze-thaw cycles. Concrete pavers have the added advantage of being repairable at the unit level, which matters after a hard winter causes localized settling.
Poured concrete can work well when installed correctly meaning a proper aggregate base, adequate thickness, correct drainage slope, and sealing to reduce water infiltration. Concrete will eventually show stress cracking in Pennsylvania’s climate regardless of installation quality. Stamped or decorative concrete is particularly vulnerable because surface cracks are more visible against a finished pattern. For a long-term installation in Sharon Hill, pavers or natural stone are the more resilient choice and over a 15 to 20 year horizon, often the more economical one too.
For a ground-level paver or concrete patio, many municipalities in Delaware County do not require a permit but the specific threshold varies by borough, and Sharon Hill’s requirements are handled through Borough Hall at 250 Sharon Avenue. The general rule across Pennsylvania under the Uniform Construction Code is that ground-level patios without structural elements typically fall below the permit threshold, while covered structures like pergolas, solid-roof additions, or retaining walls above a certain height do require a permit.
The safest approach is to confirm directly with Sharon Hill Borough before breaking ground, and our team is familiar with the local process and can help navigate that conversation. If your project includes a pergola or any covered structure which is worth considering in Sharon Hill given the airport proximity and the value of a defined outdoor room in a dense neighborhood permit requirements apply and should be factored into the project timeline from the start. Handling permits correctly upfront avoids the far more disruptive situation of being asked to modify or remove work after it’s already been completed.
