PITTSBURGH

Saturday, August 21, 2010
By Kevin Kirkland, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Janet Davis wanted a natural-looking retaining wall and the soothing sound of a waterfall in her Aspinwall backyard. Dan Smith and Don Megahan wanted to entertain visitors to their new house in Cranberry in an outdoor area with the enduring quality of stone. All three homeowners found what they wanted in Rosetta Hardscapes (www.discoverrosetta.com), a new concrete wall system by Omni Precast Products and the skillful hands of Tony Sluka and his sons.

Mr. Sluka, head of OmniPro decorative paving installers, has many years of experience installing Omni-Stone pavers, Versa-Lok wall stones and other dry-cast concrete products made by Lampus Inc., a sister company of Omni Precast. But OmniPro had never built a waterfall from the larger Rosetta or an outdoor fireplace from the smaller-scale Belvedere -- until this spring and summer.

Ms. Davis discovered Rosetta before she found Mr. Sluka. She had been thinking about a water feature for her yard since seeing some at the Pittsburgh Home & Garden Show several years ago.

"I've always really loved nature and the sound of water. It's very soothing," she said.

She also thought a waterfall would be perfect for the steeply sloped backyard of her childhood home in Aspinwall, a 1950s ranch-style house her parents built.

READ MORE >>>

View a gallery of photos of these projects>>

Tony Sluka of OmniPro and Janet Davis, owner of a home in Aspinwall where a Rosetta stone waterfall was installed.

A raised bed was built with Belvedere concrete blocks in the backyard of Dan Smith and Don Megahan's home in Cranberry