Hardscape Design & Installation in Metro Detroit

Retaining walls are part of Rohto's hardscape work. A well-placed wall can turn a slope into usable level ground, hold back soil beside a driveway or patio, terrace a yard into planted levels, or give a patio a built-in edge to sit on. Because a wall is holding something back, how it is planned and built matters as much as how it looks.

When a Retaining Wall Makes Sense

Homeowners usually start thinking about a wall when a slope is doing something they don't want: soil washing onto a patio or walk, a yard too steep to use, a grade change beside a driveway, or a bank where plantings won't stay put. A wall is often the right answer for:

• Creating level space for a patio, lawn or play area on a sloped lot
• Holding back soil where a grade change meets a driveway, walk or patio
• Terracing a hillside into planted or usable levels
• Framing planting beds or adding seating along the edge of a patio

It isn't always the only answer. A gentle slope can sometimes be handled with regrading, steps or planting, and sometimes the real problem is water rather than soil. Working out which situation you are in is part of planning. If you're weighing whether you need one and what it might cost, our guide to what retaining walls cost and when you actually need one walks through the decision.

Planning the Wall With the Rest of the Hardscape

A wall is rarely a project on its own. It changes the grades around it, so it affects where a patio sits, how steps climb between levels, where water drains and what can be planted above and below it. We plan walls alongside the patio, walkways, steps, planting and lighting so the heights, materials and drainage work together, and so the wall looks like part of the property rather than something added later.

Drainage Behind the Wall

Water trapped behind a wall is a common reason walls lean, bulge or crack. Clay-heavy soil holds water, and when that water has no way out it pushes against the wall, then freezes and expands through the winter. That is why our walls are built with proper base preparation and drainage behind the wall, and why the grading above and around a wall is planned so surface water isn't sent toward it. For background on local conditions, see how Detroit-area soil affects hardscape durability.

Materials and Appearance

The right wall material depends on the look of the house and the paving around it, and on what the wall has to do. We go through the options and trade-offs with you before anything is ordered — appearance, how the top of the wall is capped and finished, how the material handles curves and built-in steps, and how it holds up beside drives and walks where de-icing salt is used.

Building the Wall

Construction starts below grade. A retaining wall needs a prepared, compacted base, drainage behind it so water has somewhere to go, and geotextile fabric where the soil calls for it. None of this shows once the wall is finished, and it is the work that separates a wall that stays straight from one that starts moving after a few winters. For more on how walls are designed and built for Michigan sites, read retaining walls in Michigan landscapes and when a yard needs structural support.

Taller Walls and Bigger Grade Changes

Not every wall is a routine landscape wall. Taller walls, walls holding back a driveway, a structure or a steep slope, and projects with a large change in grade can need a different level of design and review, and local requirements vary between communities. When a wall reaches that point, we will tell you directly and advise you on the right approach rather than treat it as something it isn't.

Talking to Us About a Wall

Tell us what the slope or grade change is doing now and what you would like the space to become. The first conversation is free. From there we can walk the property with you, look at the conditions for ourselves, and explain how a wall would fit into the rest of the project.

Material choice shapes both the look of a hardscape and how it holds up. We help you choose among brick, concrete pavers and natural stone based on the design, the setting and how each area will be used, and we explain the trade-offs in plain language.

A formal front entry, a family patio off the kitchen and the surface around a pool rarely call for the same material, so we start with where the surface is and how it will be used. The things we look at together:

• How the material works with the color and style of the house
• The foot traffic, vehicles and furniture the surface will carry
• Exposure to de-icing salt near driveways and walks
• Comfort and footing around a pool
• How the patio, walkways, steps and walls will look side by side
• Upkeep over time

For more detail, see our guides to brick paver durability in freeze-thaw and de-icing salt and stone versus brick for walkways.

Hardscape is the part of a landscape that is hardest to change once it's built, so it works best when it is planned with everything around it. If you're starting with a whole property to rethink, landscape design lays out planting, hardscape, grading and outdoor living as one plan before construction begins. If you already know you want a patio, walkway, driveway or wall, we will talk through how much planning your project needs and coordinate the hardscape with the planting and residential landscaping around it.

Hardscape costs are driven by more than square footage. The size of the area and the material matter, but so do things you can't see in a finished photo: site access, excavation and base preparation, drainage work, and whether grade changes call for steps or walls. That is why two quotes for what sounds like the same patio can be far apart. For a closer look at what moves the price, read what hardscape projects actually cost in Metro Detroit.

You don't have to build everything at once. A plan can be installed all at once or in stages, with each stage following the same design so the finished property comes together as one.

The first conversation is free, and financing options are available. We will explain how pricing and estimates work for your hardscape project when we speak.