Hirsch Brick and Stone Company

Hirsch Brick and Stone Company Hirsch Brick and Stone Co is a full service Landscape Masonry Company serving northern Illinois

A patio is the most heavily used piece of hardscape on most properties, and the easiest place to spot corners that got c...
09/03/2026

A patio is the most heavily used piece of hardscape on most properties, and the easiest place to spot corners that got cut.

Joint stability, proper slope for drainage, and consistent base compaction all decide whether a patio holds up or starts shifting within a few years.

The best patios are boring in the best way. No sinking, no cracking, no yearly repairs. Just a surface that holds.

Comment PATIO to talk to our team about a project on your property.

Fall is when outdoor kitchens and fireplaces actually earn their place in a backyard.Cooler nights, shorter days, and th...
09/01/2026

Fall is when outdoor kitchens and fireplaces actually earn their place in a backyard.

Cooler nights, shorter days, and the season built for fire features. A well built outdoor kitchen or fireplace should hold up through Chicago winters, not just look good through one summer.

If you've been thinking about extending your outdoor season, now is the time to plan it.

Comment KITCHEN to talk to our team about a project on your property.

A retaining wall is holding back soil, water pressure, and grade all at once. This is structural engineering, not stacke...
08/28/2026

A retaining wall is holding back soil, water pressure, and grade all at once. This is structural engineering, not stacked stone.

Drainage behind the wall matters as much as the face of it. Skip that and even a beautifully built wall will eventually fail from the inside out.

Comment WALL to talk to our team about a project on your property.

08/26/2026

Not every job is a full rebuild. Sometimes it's four days of resetting bluestone and repointing stoops before guests walk the property.

Greg Hirsch on prep at the Winnetka home that hosted a Powerhouse Smart hard hat tour with Chalet Landscape.

Comment MAINTAIN to talk to our team about a project on your property.

Stepping stone paths look simple. They're actually one of the more deceptive installs to get right.Each stone has to sit...
08/24/2026

Stepping stone paths look simple. They're actually one of the more deceptive installs to get right.

Each stone has to sit level, spaced for a natural stride, and set into a base that won't shift under foot traffic or frost heave over time.

Done right, a stepper path reads effortless. Done wrong, it becomes a tripping hazard within a season.

Comment SPECIALIST to talk to our team about a project on your property.

08/21/2026

A serpentine wall doesn't come out of a straight line. Every stone gets set on a curve.

Greg Hirsch walks through the completed Winnetka estate project, the same site Chalet Landscape hosted a hard hat tour for this summer. Rebuilt driveway, new steps and lighting, and a curved limestone-capped serpentine wall as the final touch.

Comment PROCESS to talk to our team about a project on your property.

A walkway gets walked on more than almost anything else on a property, and it shows the fastest when it's built wrong.Un...
08/19/2026

A walkway gets walked on more than almost anything else on a property, and it shows the fastest when it's built wrong.

Uneven settling, shifting joints, and cracked pavers usually trace back to inconsistent base prep along the path, not the materials themselves.

Comment PATTERN to talk to our team about a project on your property.

A driveway takes more structural load than any other hardscape on a property.Vehicles, freeze and thaw cycles, and const...
08/17/2026

A driveway takes more structural load than any other hardscape on a property.

Vehicles, freeze and thaw cycles, and constant compaction from tires all work against a poorly prepared base. That's where most driveway failures actually start.

A properly built driveway is engineered underneath, not just paved on top.

Comment DRIVEWAY to talk to our team about a project on your property.

08/14/2026

This stoop didn't fail from age. It failed from the footings up.

Greg Hirsch walks through a full stoop rebuild on a residential project in Evanston.

The concrete had failed and the footings had given way completely. The stoop had separated from the house. A full rebuild, not a patch.

New landing treads are two inches thick with a chiseled rock face front edge.

Matching the original brick on a house this old is nearly impossible to do well. Instead of forcing a brick match, we pulled Lannon stone accents already around the front door and tied the whole stoop into that instead.

Behind the new stoop sits ice and water shield, installed during the pour to keep moisture from working its way between the concrete and the face brick. That gets trimmed away once everything cures, leaving clean brick and clean stone with no trace of the waterproofing behind it.

This is what separates a stoop that lasts one winter from one that lasts fifty.

Save this if your stoop is showing signs of separating from the house.

Comment REPAIR to talk to our team about a project on your property.

A stoop takes more abuse than almost any other part of a home's exterior.Constant freeze and thaw, foot traffic, and wat...
08/12/2026

A stoop takes more abuse than almost any other part of a home's exterior.

Constant freeze and thaw, foot traffic, and water runoff all concentrate on one small structure. When the footings shift or the concrete fails underneath, the whole thing has to come out and get rebuilt from the ground up.

A well built stoop should outlast the paint job on the front door by decades.

Comment INSPECT if you're not sure whether yours needs a look.

Address

3510 Washington Street # 100
Park City, IL
60085

Opening Hours

Monday 8am - 4pm
Tuesday 8am - 4pm
Wednesday 8am - 4pm
Thursday 8am - 4pm
Friday 8am - 4pm

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