As you can see below in the before pictures - our previous backyard (at the time of move-in) was sloped to a point that there was no possibility of a terrace.  The severe slope made it difficult for the dogs to play, and we enjoy being outdoors and wanted to have an area to entertain and have plantings.


We decided to divide the area into a level (walk-out) terrace and a lower terrace.

 
 

before pics

Here are some pictures of the process...

 
Comments Widget

The addition of the five sets of french doors in 2005, meant that we would at some point add a terrace at that level.  Jim Mier from Pavers, Walls & Waterfalls of Marietta explained to us that we could build a retaining wall extending a further distance out from the house than what we initially planned, and therefore allow for planting beds and a border of shrubs at the edge of the wall - and even have a grassy area if we liked at that walk-out level.

We were fortunate to be able to use a vacant lot still owned by the builder that we have access to via our next door neighbors almost finished backyard project of their own.  Initially we had 9 tandem loads of dirt delivered.. we expect to need more... 

neighbors backyard retaining walls

This project began as a do it yourself “er” - which after the dirt was delivered, and the Bobcat was put to use for three days moving the dirt around and beginning to shape the backyard - it became evident that a strong well built retaining wall needed to be done by a professional. On 4/17/08 Jimmy Mier, owner of “Pavers, Walls & Waterfalls, LLC” was recommended by a local company “Stone Forest” which supplies various landscape materials to contractors and individuals.  


Jimmy Mier was terrific, he was able to come over and view our project amidst the dirt, and determine what our goals were and what we truly needed.  As I mentioned above, he explained to us the best way to make it work and explained the entire surface did not need to be patio area, but that we could have planted areas as well.. He took us that morning to two jobsites where we were able to see various projects he had completed, and we got to met the homeowners who spoke highly of him.


We agreed to turn the project over to him that morning and he was able to secure materials and begin work within a few days.   
Keep in mind when viewing the pictures below that I began the project and moved the dirt to the lower portion of our yard and began to “build up” the terrace.. It wasn’t done correctly, and was only 1/2 the size of the terrace we wanted, so luckily he is able to use the location of the dirt to his advantage, is is pushing it into its new location and correctly compacting it..

original backyard