Backyard Makeover- Progress

Hey, Friends! Hope you are having a great start to the week! I’m so excited to show you the progress that’s been made on our backyard! The construction phase is completely finished! Woot! Here’s what’s been happening!

It all started with demo! They ripped out the old retaining walls first, then removed the extra concrete pad. I couldn’t believe how fast and cleanly the Bobcat was able to tackle the concrete!

After everything was torn down, they had to break it all up into small pieces. There was so.much.debris to break down! The concrete debris became the backfill for the deepest part of the yard.

Next, they dug out the perimeter of the yard and started building the new retaining wall. (Remember, the area behind the garage is not ours.)

I don’t have many pictures of the wall construction on my phone, but Jeremy took a bunch of pictures and is going to try to make a video for you all! In the picture below, the wall around the perimeter is finished and they are digging out the spot for the upper wall and stairs.

Here, they are working on the upper wall. We could have raised our entire yard up to the same level as our driveway, but we would have needed an 8 foot wall in the back. That would mean paying for an architect, more blocks, more dirt… WAY more money. And, it would look like a fort from the back of the house and from our neighbor’s yard. We opted to split the difference and bring our yard down a couple feet at the top and up a few feet at the bottom. There are a couple steps now coming off the driveway to bring you down into the yard. I thought it was going to be more drastic, but it ended up only being a couple feet down into the yard. Visually, the yard and driveway still flow together nicely! This was the thing I was most nervous about, so I am really relieved it turned out so well!

Done! Here’s the view from upstairs! The yard has been seeded and now we’re just waiting for the grass to grow!

Here’s the view from the side of the house. Look at that flat area for the kids to play! Wahoo! That used to be a giant hill!

The only thing we requested they save from the previous yard was our fig tree that our friends gave us after Jeremy’s dad died. It made it through the construction and is doing well! Yay!

Next task, the fence! The ground is still settling a bit, but hopefully we will get the fence up soon!

To Do:

-Rip out existing retaining walls, vine, concrete pad, and planter.

-Level out the yard. To do this in the most cost effective and visually aesthetic way from the back, we are lowering the upper portion of the yard about 3 1/2 feet and raising the lower part of the yard about 4 feet.

-Build a new retaining wall around perimeter.

-Replace lattice under deck.

-Install a fence around perimeter of newly leveled yard.

-Add some landscaping and new grass.

-Get a small swing set!!!

I’ll update you again when we get some good grass going and figure out our fencing plans!