Driveways

Tom Ralston concrete helped design this organic Sandwash hardscape replete with black Mexican pebbles that serve as dividers and a drain system. Shoreline Landscape designed the softscape and acted as a plant and features design consultant, while Cen Con Construction built a Kadu Batu raised deck, bench, gate, fence, and Jacuzzi surrounds.  

Drone video production and editing: David Levy • Levy Media Works

The Aptos driveway was a custom TRC design that was arrived at through an ebb and flow of ideas from Designer Bill Goff, our foreman and our client; The Pavers were a Calstone Quarry Stone in an Oak Barrel Gray Color with a herringbone pattern using the 9” x 12” size;

The walls and bands all used a TRC Organic Sand Wash finish with a Davis Sierra Color.

The Morgan Driveway was designed in the throes of The Great Recession circa 2010. After a driveway design was created by Tom Ralston Concrete the Morgan’s had some setbacks and had to postpone the project. The design was after simple elegance, perhaps as they say “Understated Elegance”.

We thought it would never happen...and then in January of 2018 we got a call from them saying that they wanted to consider the driveway again. We welcomed them back with open arms and both parties could not be any happier with the results of this beautiful new driveway. I said, "there is only one stipulation for this new concrete art piece of yours, you can never drive on it and it will be for show only.” Of course I was joking.

This concrete driveway and patio we poured with a 5447 Davis color and a special sized salt rock was randomly broadcast in various vein like casts.  The dividers were 6” wide and filled with mixed Mexican pebbles.

The Thorne Driveway is located on a hillside in Santa Cruz above the Monterey Bay. The owner asked TRC to design his driveway and wanted to use a combination of concrete and pavers. TRC used a CalStone paver with a Terra Cotta color and a light slate stamp for the concrete borders. The upper driveway has the same colors and is stamped with a Ashlar Slate Stamp. The arched bands in the driveway provide a serpentine flow of the driveway to the street below.

The Atherton Driveway located in Atherton CA was designed by Randy Thume and Associates and required a fairly complicated process for TRC installers. Prior to pouring any concrete many samples were made to achieve just the right look for both the client and the Architect.  TRC was up for the challenge and applied Sparkle Grain by Pacific Palette to give the driveway a light sparkle under the sun or night lighting.  6 samples were made to achieve the correct blend of charcoal color and sparkle.  After the driveway was poured, the concrete was saw cut, sealed, and a runway of Connecticut Bluestone was placed in the main entrance.

The Woods Cove Driveway is a custom paver concrete driveway that was conceived by Thomas Scherer and constructed by the TRC concrete and masonry crews. The layout for the driveway was tricky and had to be recalculated a few times before the concrete was poured. All of the pavers were placed on 4" thick 4000 PSI concrete and grouted like real brick. The earthtone concrete color was perfectly harmonized with the color of the pavers and the De La Torre home and the walls were stuccoed by TRC crews to match. The results, as the pictures will indicate, were stunning.

The Patterson Driveway was on a hillside that had an old broken asphalt driveway lifted in various sections by adjacent tree roots. There was an existing set of steps that needed upgrading also. TRC designed and installed them both. The bands on the driveway matched the bullnosing on the steps in color and texture. Being a steep drive, it was finished with a heavy Victorian Swirl texture.  An alternate color was chosen for the driveway to stand apart from the bands and blend with the pine tree surrounds.

This home used to belong to Carlos Santana and was purchased circa 2002. TRC was asked to design and build a driveway fitting for the house. Tom designed 3-types of driveways with various colors, textures and designs. The final design chosen was the one Tom hoped would be chosen with lots of meandering green bands and panels with offsetting colors and textures. The driveway also incorporated retaining walls and adjacent steps. All in all, the driveway and the other concrete work was a big hit with TRC's client and was a pleasure to build.

This Santa Cruz Harbor Project was unique in that it had an entire drainage and irrigation system incorporated into the slots of the driveway. The color was a Silver Grey and incorporated a sand finish texture that shows the sand aggregate in addition to the color. In addition, there were custom made Japanese style lights that flanked each side of the driveway. The driveway lights cast a light green hue and each light box looked like pieces of brass bamboo which were built by artisan/craftsman Roy Johnson.