Where should I start with my walk ways?


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Old 10-30-16, 03:56 PM
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Where should I start with my walk ways?

I have a home that sits on a slope. It's an older home (1926) and I don't know how long its been since this stuff has been fixed but I need to do something about it.

It's higher in the backyward than the street in front. I think I want to put in a retainer wall to level the front yard then replace the steps and walk way. Is this the right idea or should I just deal with the slope and fix the walkway?
 
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Old 10-30-16, 04:01 PM
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Old 10-30-16, 05:23 PM
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I think a retaining wall and a semi level yard would look good, I admire older homes like that around here.
 
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Old 10-30-16, 11:35 PM
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Looks like it's been that way for many years. Your down south so maybe the slope is not a issue in the winter, that was my first thought being from Michigan.

Adding the retaining wall and leveling the walkway is feasible but a lot of work depending on what type of wall you are considering. I've built many boulder walls for landscape that were relatively low and they did not require a lot of footing or drainage but I suspect you would be looking at some type of brick/paver wall and that will take more work.

Other thing to consider, how will it blend into the neighbors yard? You may have to just work with the area around the steps and leave the rest of the yard alone. You might be able to do running steps, ones that start closer to the house and run for a few feet to level out that top section.
 
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Old 10-31-16, 02:57 AM
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how will it blend into the neighbors yard
That is my concern as well - how well would a retaining wall blend and look next to your neighbor's yards. Were you wanting to duplicate what the neighbor 3-4 houses down has?
 
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Old 11-01-16, 09:29 PM
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It's hard to see in the photo but the neighbor on down has a retaining wall that is falling down, so I want to avoid that.

I was going to go to the edge of my property and do a 90deg corner to stay with the property line then kind of fade it in to the hill if that makes sense. Or maybe a do a sweep inwards at the edges a little narrower and then the extra part of the yard between the wall and the sidewalk plant a shrub or bush of some sort.

Somewhat like this: Imgur: The most awesome images on the Internet (Ignore my art skills)

I was going to go with a redish block to match the porch or maybe a gray. I haven't gotten that far yet lol.
 
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Old 11-02-16, 03:29 AM
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Because of the pressure behind the wall [dirt/moisture] all retaining walls are subject to lean over time. The better the wall is built the less that chance is.
 
 

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