Before the project started we knew what we wanted:

• to remove the shed in the back

• to level the yard by installing two retaining walls

• to install sod and a sprinkler system

• to make a flagstone porch up against the house with shade.

In phase I:

• we removed the shed

• demo'd a flower bed that was up against the house

• removed big plants and paths

• rebuilt a temporary path against the house

In phase 2:

• We built a pergola by pouring level-concrete tubes and assembling a pre-built pergola.

• We also paid to have the yard leveled and a lot of the big rocks and dirt removed.

• We also dug trenches for water systems and electrical lines so we could have lights and outlets on the pergola

Phase 3 was all about retaining walls:

• we build a retaining wall on the North and on the South end of the yard because our property is on a hill.

• retaining walls need up to a foot of gravel below them to provide a stable base for the walls.

• in the first picture, you can see how I leveled the patio space - lots of strings that were perfectly graded and dirt filled up to the strings.

In phase 4, we laid a flagstone patio:

• I hired this amazing man named Roberto to lay the flagstone. He took his time, set every stone carefully, graded the patio for water to flow downhill away from the house, and it looks fantastic!

• Throughout this project I did the vast majority of the manual labor myself while I hired specialists to do specific technical jobs: brick laying, stone laying, irrigation, and electrical.

Irrigation,planting, and sod laying happened during Phase 5

• Cody came over to help during sod laying, which turned out to be the most physically difficult part of the project for me. At one point, at about noon, we were half way done with laying about 1500 square feet of sod and I didn't think we'd make it as we were both so physically tired.

And this was the result!