Planning next spring's patio or retaining wall in Omaha this fall

A patio, retaining wall or walkway built in the Omaha metro next spring will sit on ground you can look at right now. The clay under yards in eastern Nebraska holds on to water and shifts, and a fall rain will show you what yours does with it.

Every quote we give starts with Hunter standing on the property. In the fall he sees the spot before the ground closes, and you get the winter to settle the rest before spring.

What a fall rain shows us

If water is still standing where you want the patio long after the rain stops, the plan needs somewhere to send it. We note where every downspout lets out and whether the ground falls away from the house or back toward it. A downspout that empties onto the future patio, or grade that sends water back at the foundation, is a question to answer before any paver goes down.

On a slope where a retaining wall would go, we check where the water comes down the hill and whether the ground at the bottom stays soft. A walkway laid where water already runs through the yard needs a plan for that water too.

How this clay moves

The freeze thaw cycle works on the clay from Elkhorn to Papillion every winter, and what is already built on your lot can show some of that movement. A sidewalk slab lifted at a joint or a stoop pulled away from the door tells us something about the ground the new work will sit on.

A visit shows us the ground on the day we stand on it, and you are there to see what it does through the winter. After a thaw, notice where water sits and how long it stays there, especially where the new work would go. If an old step or slab rises over the winter and settles back in spring, tell Hunter before anything new goes in beside it.

Pick the project

The winter decisions start with the project. A patio, a retaining wall and a walkway can each go in on their own, but on a lot that slopes, a level patio may need a wall to hold it, and a walkway down the grade may need steps.

We do the design and planning along with the build, so a fire pit or a seating wall you might add in a later year can be planned now, with room left for it in the layout.

Where the cost comes from

Hunter tells you straight what the job costs and how long it takes to build after he has seen the lot. In a backyard, access moves the cost. Material that comes in through a wide gate keeps the job smaller than material that has to be brought around the house through a narrow side yard.

Slope means more digging and fill to level a patio. Drainage adds work when a downspout has to move or its water has to be carried past the new patio. A taller wall takes more block and digging than a short wall, and curved paver edges usually take more cutting than straight edges.

The paver or block you pick changes the cost too. The lot decides slope and access, but size, layout and material are yours to settle over the winter, and they are the part of the cost you control.

Material, size and layout

For a paver patio or walkway, the material decision is the paver and its color. For a retaining wall, it is the block and the cap on top. If the property has a wall or a walk you like, decide whether the new work should match it.

Measure the table and chairs you plan to keep on the patio, then add room to pull a chair back and walk behind it. A walkway has to be wide enough for whatever goes down it, like the mower or the trash cans.

Layout begins at the doors you use. A worn path across the lawn shows where people already walk. Mark the outline and look at it from inside the house before you decide.

Ask about the water off the roof

Stand with Hunter where the new work would go, and ask him where the water off that side of the roof will end up after it is built. Have him show you on the ground.