Who doesn’t dream of transforming their spaces at some point? One local homeowner got an amazing backyard transformation recently. Todd Ihrke of Custom Retaining Walls and The Treehouse shares the story of the work.

The before was just a grassy hillside, sloped quite a bit which made the backyard space less usable and difficult to maintain. The homeowners wanted to create a more usable space, as well as a flat lawn area for recreation. We excavated a lot of hillside to accommodate a terraced retaining wall that wraps around the entire back and sides.

The existing backyard also had a wrought iron-style fence which was installed inside the property line quite a bit. This made the yard feel a lot smaller than it actually was. We took the fencing out, and after the retaining wall was installed and the new landscape installed, the backyard is open in feel and appearance.

The homeowners also wanted a more modern-looking patio. We removed the conventional concrete patio and replaced it with a more modern-style concrete paver brick patio with concrete steps leading from the sliding patio door to the new patio.

Off the patio, we installed a decorative rock walkway with a firepit and seating area. Final steps were adding some landscape plantings and sod to bring back the lawn areas that were damaged due to construction. The backyard also has a Sport Court basketball court installed by an outside contractor. 

Ihrke and his team also hired Davis Woodscapes to install a custom modern-style wood pergola over the patio.

Overall they gained a lot of usable lawn space, a larger and more modern-looking patio, shade for the patio and new landscaping along the back of the house.