Harrison Avenue has been a working road on the west side of Cincinnati for a very long time. It carries traffic out past Cheviot and Dent toward the Indiana line, and along the way it collects the kind of businesses that keep neighborhoods standing: hardware, lumber, brick, block and stone.
Western Hills Builders Supply has been on that road for over a century. It opened in 1920, and the same family still runs it four generations later. Most homeowners find it the way people usually find a supply yard, which is in the middle of a project that has stalled. You need a flagstone that matches the steps out front. You need a wall block, and you need it in one color rather than three. You need a pallet of pavers and a straight answer about how much base to put under them.
This guide covers what Western Hills Builders Supply carries, what the yard is like to actually buy from, how to get there, and what a homeowner planning a patio or a wall should know before making the trip.
A Family Business That Started With Coal
The company was founded in 1920 and incorporated that October, beginning in a much humbler form than what stands on Harrison Avenue today. It started as a coal distributor and feed supply shop at a location on Ferguson Road, and grew from there into a building supply distributor serving builders across the Tri-State area.
It is now owned and operated by the fourth generation of the Ratterman family, and the business markets itself as woman owned and family operated. That continuity matters more than it might sound. Material knowledge in this trade is not written down anywhere useful. It sits with the people at the counter who have seen the same stone go into the same kind of west side house a few hundred times.
The full product range and sample requests run through the company’s own site, listed in the table below.
| At a Glance | Western Hills Builders Supply Co. |
| Founded | 1920, incorporated that October |
| Ownership | Fourth generation of the Ratterman family. Marketed as woman owned and family operated. |
| What it is | A stone, masonry and building material supply yard with a showroom |
| Address | 6801 Harrison Ave, Cincinnati, OH 45247 |
| Phone | (513) 574-6200 |
| Hours | Monday to Friday, 7:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Saturday, 8:00 a.m. to noon. Closed Sunday. |
| Website | whbs1920.com |
Location, Directions and Access
Western Hills Builders Supply Co. is at 6801 Harrison Ave, Cincinnati, OH 45247. The counter can be reached at (513) 574-6200.
Coming from Interstate 74
Interstate 74 meets Harrison Avenue at the interchange near Old Rybolt Road in Dent, where the exit is signed for Harrison Pike. Leave the freeway there and follow Harrison Avenue northwest. The yard sits on Harrison Avenue itself, so once you are on the road you are on the right approach.
Coming from Cheviot
Harrison Avenue runs through the center of Cheviot and continues northwest out of the city toward Dent. Stay on Harrison Avenue the whole way. The Green Township Administration building at 6303 Harrison Avenue is a useful landmark on the way in, since the street numbers climb from the 6300s to the 6800s as you continue northwest.
Parking and Access
- There is a private lot on site, so you are not looking for street parking with a load of stone.
- Staff load purchased material into customer vehicles rather than leaving you to wrestle a pallet alone.
- Jobsite delivery is available if what you are buying will not fit in whatever you drove.
- Saturday hours run only to noon and the yard is closed on Sunday, so a weekend trip needs to be a morning trip.
Hours and stock can change. It is worth a phone call before you drive out, especially if you are coming from the east side or across the river.
What the Yard Carries
This is a masonry and stone yard first, with a broader building supply operation attached to it. The published product range covers retaining walls, pavers, cultured stone, natural stone, patio stone, brick, stone and gravel, fireplaces, concrete supplies, steel and roofing materials.
For a patio, the two categories that matter most are the ones people think about least. The surface material gets all the attention, and it is worth understanding choosing between clay brick and concrete paving stones before you fall in love with a photo. But the sand, gravel and drainage aisle is where a patio is actually won or lost. If you are unclear on how water gets out from under a finished patio, that is the conversation to have at the counter, not after the first hard rain.
They Make Their Own Stone
One detail sets this yard apart from most suppliers in the metro. The company grew frustrated with late orders from outside stone fabricators and the disappointment that passed on to its customers, so it started its own stone company, Top Tier Stone and Veneer, and brought fabrication in house. The company now sources stone for its jobs from that operation.
For a homeowner, the practical takeaway is that questions about stone lead times and availability have a real answer here rather than a shrug pointed at a vendor three states away.
What Buying From a Supply Yard Is Like
A supply yard runs on a counter, not on aisles and self checkout. That is unfamiliar if the last building material you bought came off a shelf, but it is not complicated, and it usually gets you a better result. The trade off is that you are expected to arrive with information.
- Bring numbers. Square footage, wall height and a photo of the house do more for you than a description ever will.
- Look at material outdoors. Stone and concrete pavers read completely differently in daylight than they do on a screen or under fluorescent light.
- Ask for a written quote. It pins down quantity, unit of sale and what is actually included in the price.
- Ask about lead time. Some products sit in the yard. Others are fabricated or ordered in, and that difference decides your start date.
The last habit is the one that saves people the most grief. Order for cuts and waste, not for the bare area of the patio. Curves, borders and soldier courses eat material fast, and a second order weeks later can come from a different production run with a slightly different color. Working out the quantities before you order is a twenty minute job that prevents a very visible mistake.
From the Stone Yard to a Finished Backyard
Buying the material is the first half of the project. The second half is what happens in the yard behind the house, and that is where west side homeowners tend to run into the parts nobody warned them about.
Three questions come up over and over, and all three are easier to answer before the stone is on the driveway than after.
The first is whether the existing concrete slab can stay. Homeowners often assume it has to come out, and sometimes it does, but setting stone over an existing slab is a real option when the slab is sound and the drainage works. It changes the material list, so it is worth settling early.
The second is paperwork. A patio at grade and a raised deck are treated very differently, and townships around Hamilton County do not all read the rules the same way. Knowing what the local building office wants to see before anyone starts digging keeps a project from stopping halfway through.
The third is simply who does the work. Plenty of west side homeowners buy their own material and lay it themselves, and a good supply yard supports that. Others buy the stone and hand the installation to a contractor, or skip the yard trip entirely and let the installer source it. Platinum Deck and Patio builds paver patios, retaining walls and decks across the Cincinnati metro and can be reached at (513) 586-3107 if that is the direction you go.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a homeowner buy here, or is it contractors only?
Homeowners are welcome. The company describes serving both commercial clients and homeowners doing weekend work, and says its staff will help you figure out what you need if you are not sure.
Do they deliver?
Yes. Staff will load purchased material into your vehicle at the yard, and material can be delivered to a worksite instead if the load is too large for what you drive.
Are they open on weekends?
Saturday mornings only, from 8:00 a.m. to noon. The yard is closed on Sunday, and weekday hours run 7:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
What is Top Tier Stone and Veneer?
It is the stone company Western Hills Builders Supply started in order to fabricate stone in house rather than waiting on outside suppliers. The company sources stone for its jobs from that operation.
Can they help match brick or stone on an older west side house?
They carry brick, cultured stone and natural stone lines, which is the starting point for a match. Bring a loose brick or a clear photo in daylight if you have one, because matching is a visual job that nobody can do over the phone.
The Bottom Line
Western Hills Builders Supply is the kind of business that quietly holds up a neighborhood. A century on the same road, four generations of the same family, a yard full of stone and a counter staffed by people who know what goes into a west side house. For a homeowner planning a patio, a wall or a repair that has to match something already standing, that is a genuinely useful place to start.
The practical next step is small. Measure the space, take a photo of the house, and go out to Harrison Avenue on a weekday morning or a Saturday before noon. Call the counter at (513) 574-6200 first if you are driving any distance, because stock moves.
And take the long way home along Harrison. The west side wears its stone well, and once you have spent an hour looking at pallets you will start noticing it on every porch you pass.