In my latest of my At Home with LOM series, today I’m talking about re-building a retaining wall in our front and side yard! This project was much needed as our old one was fully falling apart and the old, painted wood was literally break apart little by little each day. Our contractor re-built the retaining wall with pressure treated wood to stand up to weather and made it more even and level to complete the look of the exterior of our house.
Step 1 : What Material to Use
When we first moved in, I thought we might want to redo the retaining wall at some point in red brick to match our fireplace chimney. Once I looked into it and saw what the price for that would be, I decided that was definitely not in the cards. Fast forward a year later when we knew it really needed to be replaced this year due to the existing wood rotting away, we made the decision to keep it wood, but to use pressure treated wood in a natural reddish-tone to match the brick fireplace. That way we got the best of both worlds: a pretty warm color that matches the brick and a mid-level price point that we were comfortable with.
Step 2 : If you can’t do it well yourself, hire someone who can
We knew early on that this wasn’t a project we’d be able to do ourselves so we reached out to our contractor and had him take on the project for us. I’m a big believer in hiring people to do projects when you can’t do them yourselves and his expertise building the retaining wall was a huge benefit.
The BEFORE’S
The AFTER’S
In the end, this new retaining wall around our front and side yard was a huge leap forward for the exterior of our house. It not only cleans everything up but it adds a beautiful warmth to the exterior that wasn’t there before when everything was painted white.
