Blakeborough Hardscapes

Burning that late night oil before the rain starts

Merry Christmas from our family to yours!

Circling back around for another finished wall post of our MLPS river wall project. This one had many challenges and we are very thankful to our great crew for all the long and hard hrs put in on this one. While we mostly prefer to install big block modular block walls this project didn’t quite have the budget or staging space for that so we did the project with small block. Due to the parking lot mostly shedding runoff over the wall and the proximity to the river we decided to use a solid core small block with a pin system. While it was a lot of block to stack in a short timeframe we were able you get this whole project done in 1 month. Even with the added work of swapping out 150 plus loads of unsuitable backfill with select granular! Our tilt rotators made a huge difference on this project and it would be hard to go back to working without them. Thank you for setting us up with great equipment and attachments. We used the engcon grab to take out and load most of the old bridge timbers on this project and our grapples for all the hidden chunks of concrete we found behind the wall.

Flashing back a few months to a big block wall we did in WI. It’s been a busy season and we fell behind on posting some finished wall pictures. Just started to wrap up our wall work for this season and reminiscing on past projects. This was our first and it turned out great! Thank you to for manufacturing and supplying a great product! It went together very well and the aesthetics of the ledge-stone face texture look amazing. Looking forward to installing the next one!

Our three tiered big block wall at Countryside Elementary in Edina, MN has come to a finish!! The curves made for a cool look but wasn’t so fun cutting all the caps. 🥴 Now off to a new big block wall in WI where we get to install a new product, Magnum Stone block! Stay tuned, this is an exciting one for us!

Happy Labor Day to everyone! Big thank you to all our hardworking crew members who have been pushing hard this season to get our jobs done. We finally wrapped up all the boulders walls on our Birch Bluff Road Project last Friday! There were lots of changes, adds, and some challenges with this one but we made it all happen in the timeframe to keep the road project on schedule. We are looking forward to seeing this project fully complete! It should be a huge improvement to all the residents on that road. It was a pleasure working with NLC (New Look Contracting) and on the project. We also couldn’t have done the job without our specialized boulder equipment provided by and

A sincerely thank you to Lano and their team for making this day a special one for all of us! The “big” bosses are excited to each have their “own” Doosans! 😉

While Big Joe is on a project in WI, Little Joe is keeping things in line for a paver project in MN!

Had a productive lunch meeting with the big boss! We’re excited for another busy year ahead!

Feeding cattle and moving snow in PJ’s at -20 below with Rueben this morning…. Life in Mn doesn’t get much better than that! Stay warm today everyone!

For some Saturday fun Joseph & Reuben took a trip down to their favorite equipment dealer today and got to test out the new dozer! After a quick test drive they gave it a 👍 and a coupe big smiles 😄Then since they can’t get enough of the we took that out the to clean up the cow yard at home! These 2 sure love their

Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas from our family to yours!

Another big block wall in the books! This one was done with and stained by our own crew a few weeks ago. did an awesome job on the 2 color highlight. Unfortunately we didn’t get all that many action photos on this one but here are a few from start to finish.

From Timbers to Limestone! Here are a few pictures of the job we did a few weeks back. The new Limestone walls turned out to be quite the improvement from the failing old timber walls, and the homeowners are much happier with their new widened driveway and terraced walls vrs the skinny tunnel feel they had before.

A few finished wall photos from last weeks job. It’s always fun to be a part of a school renovation. Norwood Young America is going to have a really cool new track and field when gets done with it!

Flash back to a boulder project we finished up a couple weeks ago. It was a fun and interesting project putting this wall in for a new rail expansion…. We learned a lot about rail road work and had to get a little creative to make things work with tight restrictions on property line locations. Hard work and creativity paid off to help get this job done! Our crew also really enjoyed running the DX250 front end loader to help move material around the site. We were really glad that we rented it on this job as our boulder supplier must have had a flexible tape measure since we asked for 3’ boulders and got shipped 4’-6 footers. We were also impressed with the engcon and its ability to set and wrestle some of them in place!

Just checking to see what the future holds for him at the . Only 18 more years!

All wrapped up with the 3 Hardscapes stages of the Lakewinds project! New big block and boulder walls were put in to replace the old rotting timber walls and 3,500 sq ft permeable pavers installed to meet impervious surface requirements.

Momma Mae, the loader operator of the day! 💪

A few or recently built new walls constructed with new/added technology. Adding the to our Dx140 has been a huge improvement this year. Digging flat footings at all angles and having the ability to backfill and compact no mater how the machine is positioned has been great! Thanks for getting this set up and for the help with the bottom half grapple!

JT & Reu decided they wanted to take a break from working on Friday afternoon so we took a trip back to one of our job sites from a few years past. They wanted to play on the playground we helped build at Whitetail Woods Park! Everyone had a blast! It was really cool to see how all the kids were enjoying the natural limestone playground we helped make. This was one of our favorite projects from 2020 and it is really cool to see it in use. We are very thankful to have had the opportunity to be involved in such a fun project. If your looking for a fun place to take your kids in the summer or winter make sure to check it out! That’s right, I said winter…. They have a huge public sledding hill right next to the playground that JT and Reuben can’t wait to test out!

Shopping for new equipment can be hard work…. So many cool things! JT and Reuben had to come with the make sure dad was looking at the right ones! They sure love their and Who knows what they might want to get next…..

Happy National Women in Construction Week! Here’s to all the amazing women kicking butt and breaking barriers! Special shout-out to our very own Megan! Kudos to her for putting up with us men and busting butt in the field!

Between MN’s cold weather and snow falls, we’ve been fortunate to stay busy this winter working on a big block wall for a residential home owner. With a few finishing touches to do this Spring, the wall will be a nice addition to their new pool area!

It’s a merriest of Christmas at the Blakeborough household when you get a Doosan!

On behalf of Blakeborough Hardscapes, we’d like to extend our gratitude to the men and women who served and continue to serve our country. Thank you for your bravery, courage and dedication.

We’d also like to recognize all the military families for their support and resilience. We stand behind you.