Outdoor Site Work, Not Just Yard Cleanup: Renova Contractors LLC looks at water, slope, access, old concrete, retaining edges and usable space before pricing landscaping or hardscaping work.
Patios, Walkways, Walls & Yard Remodels: We help plan patios, pavers, walkways, retaining walls, rockeries, grading, drainage and outdoor living areas when the scope fits the property.
Clear Scope Before Materials: The quote should say what is demo, hauling, prep, drainage, hardscape work, planting, finish material, owner-supplied material and what still needs confirmation.
This Seattle basement started with a leak. The finish work mattered, but the heavier scope was outside the wall: trenching, exterior waterproofing, rigid foam, dimpled membrane, French drain work, and remediation before flooring or paint came back.
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We review scope, site conditions, allowances, and selections before work starts. You get a practical estimate with clear assumptions and coordination notes.
Ready to Start Your Project? Request a Detailed Project Estimate
Defined scope with inclusions, exclusions, and allowances
Detailed estimate tied to site conditions and selected finishes
Organized coordination for materials, trades, permits, and inspections
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Before anything gets priced, we check where the water goes, how the yard slopes and whether equipment can even reach the work.
Tear-out, disposal, excavation and base prep are planned up front, because that hidden work is usually where the budget really goes.
Pavers, stone and concrete surfaces built on a compacted base with edge restraint and a plan for water, not just a finished top layer.
Walls and rockeries handled as built scope, with height, soil, slope, drainage and permit questions checked before the work is priced.
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DrainagePatios, walls and yard grades should not be planned without knowing where the water is going.
HardscapePavers, walkways, retaining walls, rockeries, steps and concrete areas need prep, base, access and material planning.
ScopeAn old patio, wall, edge or walkway may be repairable, or it may need demo and rebuild once the base condition is known.
WrittenThe estimate should separate demo, hauling, grading, drainage, hardscape work, planting, material and owner-supplied items.
Outdoor work starts by reading the site, not picking a paver. On most Seattle lots water speaks first: it is either moving away from the house, pooling in the wrong spot, or running toward a wall, patio or the neighbor.
Access speaks second. If a machine cannot reach the back, or demo has to leave by wheelbarrow through a side gate, the labor changes before anything is installed.
Only then does it make sense to split what is built from what is planted. Hardscaping in Seattle is the patios, pavers, walkways, steps, retaining walls and rockeries, while the landscaping side is grading, soil, planting and cleanup. Most yards are a mix of both.
The reason we walk it first is that finishes sit on conditions. A patio over poor drainage will move. A wall built without a water plan is not really finished. A tired surface can mean a worn top layer or a base that is already gone, and those are very different fixes.
A useful scope names the parts: demo, hauling, access, grading, drainage, hardscape, planting and whatever is still unconfirmed. Once those are separated, the number behind the yard finally makes sense.
Answers about scope, estimates, scheduling, and project coordination
Hardscaping is the built, load-bearing part of a yard: patios, pavers, walkways, steps, retaining walls, rockeries, concrete and stone. Landscaping covers the softer side, like grade, soil, planting areas, finish material and cleanup. Most projects are a mix, and how much of each you have is what drives the scope and the price.
Anything built and structural in the yard. Patios, paver and stone surfaces, walkways and steps, retaining walls, rockeries, and concrete areas are all hardscape. Because they carry weight and deal with water and soil, a Seattle hardscape job needs excavation, a compacted base and drainage planning, not just a finished surface.
Yes. Patio installation in Seattle, paver work and walkways are core hardscape scopes for us. We focus on the prep underneath, the base, edge restraint and drainage, because that is what keeps the surface from sinking or shifting later.
Yes. We handle retaining walls and rockeries as built scope. Sometimes a wall can be repaired; sometimes the base or the drainage behind it has failed and it needs a rebuild. As a retaining wall contractor in Seattle, we look at height, soil and slope first, since those can raise structural and permit questions.
Almost always. For most hardscaping in Seattle, if water has nowhere to go, a patio or wall built over it will move or fail. We review downspouts, runoff and grade before the surface goes in, so drainage is part of the base scope rather than a fix later.
It depends on access, slope, how much gets demoed and hauled, base prep, drainage, the hardscape itself, planting and material choices, and whether the work is a repair, a replacement or new construction. We do not give a flat per-foot number, because the site conditions decide the real cost. We price after a site visit and write the scope out so you can see what is included.
Not always. Retaining walls and rockeries may not need a construction permit when they meet Seattle SDCI conditions, including height limits, environmentally critical area status and no damage to adjoining properties. Grading and land-disturbing work still has to be handled carefully because slope, erosion, drainage and the neighboring property matter. We check the actual scope and conditions rather than assume either way, and this is not legal advice.
It should separate demo, hauling and disposal, grading, drainage, the hardscape work, planting, finish material and anything you supply yourself. It should also flag allowances and anything still unconfirmed. A cheaper bid is often missing demo, hauling, prep, drainage or access, so the line items matter more than the bottom number.
Yes. A backyard remodel is usually several scopes at once, such as grading, drainage, a patio or walkway, a wall and some planting. We treat it as exterior construction, sort out what is built versus planted, and price the parts so you can see where the budget goes.
Compare scopes, not just totals. Look at whether each bid includes demo, hauling, base prep, drainage, access and material, and whether repair versus replacement is spelled out. The clearer the written scope, the easier the comparison, so a strong Seattle landscaping bid will put it in writing and let you tell exactly what you are paying for.
Remodeling has moving parts. We define scope, document assumptions, and coordinate each phase so you know what is happening from consultation through final walkthrough.
Request an estimateOutdoor pricing follows the site rather than one flat rate. For early Seattle planning, paver patios may run about $15 to $35 per square foot installed, walkways about $18 to $40 per square foot, and retaining work about $40 to $120 per square foot of wall face depending on height and structure. Drainage needs its own scope. These are market ranges, not a Renova quote.
The top layer is rarely the only cost. Excavation, disposal, compacted base, edge restraint, access, grading and a workable water path sit underneath the finished patio or wall. Once an old surface is removed, failed base, trapped water or damaged structure can change the repair plan.
The estimate should separate demolition, hauling, base work, drainage, hardscape, planting, engineering or permit assumptions and conditions that cannot be confirmed until excavation.
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Send the details, call, text, or message us. Renova Contractors LLC reviews the scope, site conditions, timing, materials, and next steps before turning it into a quote.
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Open daily, 9am-9pm. Call or text for urgent scheduling questions.Most outdoor projects do not start with a design. They start with a problem: a yard that floods, a patio that has sunk, a wall that is leaning, a slope nobody can use, or a backyard that has never really worked. The finishes and plants come later. What the site is actually doing with water, grade and access usually decides the scope first.
It is easy to plan a yard from a picture. It is harder to build one that lasts on a real Seattle lot. Two homes on the same street can need completely different work depending on how the ground drains, how steep the back is, and whether a truck or machine can even get to it. When people search for landscaping services in Seattle, they are usually picturing the finished look. We start a step earlier, with the conditions that will either hold that look up or pull it apart. That is the difference between landscape construction in Seattle and a quick refresh.
Hardscape is anything built and load-bearing: patios, pavers, walkways, steps, retaining walls, rockeries, and concrete or stone areas. These are closer to construction than to gardening. A paver patio in Seattle is only as good as the excavation, the compacted base and the edge restraint under it. A retaining wall is holding soil and water back, not just looking like a wall. This is why a hardscape contractor in Seattle has to think about base, drainage and movement, not only the surface pattern. Hardscape installation in Seattle lives or dies on the prep nobody sees.
Water is the part that gets skipped on cheap bids. If you do not know where the water goes, you cannot really price a patio, a wall or a regrade. We look at roof runoff, downspouts, the grade toward the house, and where water sits after a storm. Yard drainage in Seattle is not an upgrade you bolt on at the end; it is part of the base scope. A wall built in front of a drainage problem just becomes a more expensive version of the same problem.
A lot of calls are about something that already exists and is failing. An old walkway has heaved, a patio has settled, a wall is bulging, an edge has crumbled. Sometimes that is a repair. Sometimes the base is gone and it needs demo and a rebuild. We have seen this on exterior work plenty of times: what looks fine on top is sitting on something that already failed underneath. So we say it plainly, repair and replacement are not the same quote. If a section gets opened up and the base is bad, that gets documented before anyone commits to a final number. A full backyard remodel in Seattle is really several of these decisions stacked together.
The estimate is where most confusion starts, so it should be specific. It should separate demo, hauling and disposal, grading, drainage, the hardscape work, any planting, finish material, and anything you are supplying yourself. It should also say what is still unconfirmed and what is an allowance, because not every line can be deducted dollar-for-dollar. A cheaper bid is often cheaper because it quietly dropped demo, hauling, prep, drainage, access or material. When you compare landscaping contractors in Seattle, that is the real comparison, not the bottom number, but what each scope actually includes. Good landscape contractors in Seattle will write it down so you can check it.
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