Protecting Ontario Shorelines: A Loughborough Lake Outcropping Success Story

The Challenge: Tight Lakeside Living, Tighter Construction Limits

Living on a lake isn’t exactly a one-way ticket to peace and relaxation. It can come with many headaches, such as an eroding shoreline and crumbling lakefront retaining walls. In this Ontario, Canada, project, Loughborough Lake homeowners understood that to protect their investment and preserve their shoreline from future erosion, they needed a solution that would complement rather than compromise their hard-earned views. It was time for a retention upgrade, and Rosetta’s Outcropping was the perfect solution for a tight construction footprint where a new wall needed to be constructed directly in front of existing structures.

The process to get the new Outcropping wall wouldn’t be simple–being on the lakeshore required close coordination with the local conservation area to approve the earthwork and construction, but with the right project team on their side, the Loughborough homeowners achieved their project goals and maintained compliance with local permitting authorities.

The Solution: Hardscapes that Complement, Not Compromise

With natural stone retaining walls creating an uneasy terrain, Landscape Designer and Installer Stone Edge Landscaping suggested building Rosetta Hardscapes Outcropping gravity walls in place of failing walls. One existing natural stone wall needed to be preserved during the process, so the new outcropping walls would need to be installed to complement the existing wall, and a machine-placed gravity wall solution would be the best option to install directly in front of it.

Matching the new walls to the old was simple, thanks to the realistic weathered stone faces of Outcropping blocks. Local Ontario-based Rosetta producer Brown’s Concrete Products precast the project’s Outcropping blocks in their regional color, “Manitou,” to complement the home’s existing hardscape elements, while still providing deep texture and aesthetic appeal.

Now completed, the project creates functional and inviting outdoor living spaces featuring:

• Over 1500 sq ft (139 sq m) of Outcropping retaining walls installed
• 6 ft (1.8 m) Dimensional Steps create a winding staircase to multiple entertainment levels, including an upper deck area and lower paver patio space
• Wood burning Dimensional Fire Pit Kit with a classic square shape and chiseled limestone texture
• Gravity and freestanding Outcropping blocks precast in Brown’s Concrete Products’ regional color palette, “Manitou.”
• Top of wall fencing to enhance the project’s safety features

With the Outcropping Walls looking this naturally good, it’s no surprise that the neighbors caught on and installed Rosetta Outcropping Walls on their property, too.

Outcropping projects are popular with Stone Edge Landscaping’s clientele, and the crews at Stone Edge enjoy installing the solution for its clean dimensions, preferring it over a natural stone product because of the anchoring on the back of the block, which simplifies machine-set installation and keeps installs moving along quickly.

Now over three years old, this project stands as a testament to the capabilities and looks that Rosetta Hardscapes solutions bring to hardscaping projects of all shapes and sizes, and the success a project can achieve with the right designers, installers, and producers behind it.

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