‘Landscape Renovation’ Articles at  Dream Retreats, Arizona’s Premier Landscape Contractor and Design

New construction has dropped off in virtually every region across the country.  The Phoenix area and its surrounding communities have been some of the hardest hit areas with the downturn of the housing market.   More and more homeowners are staying in their existing homes and seeking to renovate their backyard landscape and outdoor living space.

Beautiful Outdoor Kitchens in Arizona

Hiring an Arizona professional landscape company that specializes in landscape renovations will be the most important decision a homeowner makes.  While renovation projects may be smaller scale than new installations, they can also be more time-consuming and sometimes more challenging.  Backyard renovation projects will quickly show the value an experienced landscape contractor brings to the table.   Doing renovation work means taking more time to listen to the client. Renovation projects can be difficult because you’re often working with remaining structures.  With renovation projects you often have to work with existing materials or work around an existing layout that makes the job more   difficult to do.  Landscape remodel projects require more forethought and planning.  With landscape renovations, you can run into more logistical issues.  The importance of having a professional landscape company design and perform a backyard renovation is vital to the success and warranty of the job.

Backyard Firepit in Arizona

Dream Retreats, an Arizona premier landscape company, will ensure a successful outcome to all of our backyard renovation projects.  We’re an experienced landscape contractor with over 20 years of experience.  The majority of our business over the past few years has been backyard landscape renovations.  Renovation work challenges us to think outside the box and come up with a design and plan of attack on how to produce the outdoor living space the homeowner dream of.  At Dream Retreats Landscape and Design we listen to the homeowner and make sure we’re on target with what the homeowner wants.  We work one on  one with each client from the design phase all the way until the job is complete. Sometimes homeowners want to do the work in phases.  The first phase could be a landscape paver patio or paver pool deck.   Another phase an Arizona outdoor kitchen complete with an outdoor bbq and backyard firepit.  Still another phase could be an outdoor living space which could include a ramada, patio fireplace and seating area.  We want to make sure that the renovations being made only make our clients happier with the property in the end.  An Arizona backyard landscape renovation would offer “staycations” in your own backyard “Dream
Retreat.”

Arizona backyard kitchens continue to be a mainstay in landscape designs throughout the Phoenix area. Once only found in the most upscale backyards in Arizona, backyard kitchens are now considered an esstential element for anyone wanting to create a year round outdoor living space. Futhermore, a custom built
backyard kitchen will not only add beauty and functionality to your backyard
landscape but will also add value to your home. An Arizona backyard kitchen ranks among the highest priorities for resale homebuyers.

Arizona Outdoor Living by Dream Retreats

There are a number of options for construction materials and methods as well as equipment and accessories, so I have boiled it down to the best construction choices and most esstential elements when considering building a outdoor backyard kitchen.

First and foremost, I recommend having your outdoor kitchen custom
built, onsite, using masonry material and construction methods.  Although
there are a number of bbq stores out there offering pre- built bbq units
made from galvanized 2”x4”’s and pressboard nothing can match the quality and feel, not to mention the customization options possible with masonry
construction.  In addition the myth of portability of the pre built units (meaning you can take it with you if you move) is just that, a myth, unless you want to rent a crane!  There are endless options for finishing materials from natural stone veneer to granite tile countertops. Perhaps the best thing about a custom built masonry backyard kitchen is it will last a lifetime and cost no more than the prebuilt unit that can start falling apart after a few years of Arizona sun, heat and monsoons.

Arizona Backyard Kitchen by Dream Retreats

When it comes to equipment stainless steel is king in the Phoenix area. Two of the finest bbq units available in Arizona are the lines from Fire Magic and American Outdoor Grill. They are 100% made in America, come with great warranties and have local service people if anything goes wrong (although I haven’t had one bad unit or any complaints  in the past 12 years) Beyond the bbq the options are endless from side burners to bartending units you can customize your Arizona backyard kitchen to meet your lifestyle and budget.

With the current recession that plagues us; there is growing concern of the number of unqualified landscapers that are working within the landscape contracting industry.  Concern of unqualified landscape contractors is growing within many Homeowner Association Communities who are trying to uphold standards regarding landscapes within their communities to aid in maintaining home values in an already challenging housing industry.  HOA’s aren’t the only segment that this concern is growing among, many licensed, experienced landscape contractors and manufacturers of building materials are also being affected by unqualified “landscapers.” Professional landscape contractors are being undercut in bidding wars with these so called landscapers along with manufacturers are being affected by the bad name their product is getting because these “landscapers” will almost always blame the product not the installation when their work begins to turn bad.

There are numerous unlicensed, unqualified, uninsured landscape contractors within the Phoenix area that many homeowners are hiring to provide landscaping services especially in the area of concrete landscape paver installations for new driveways, patio’s, sidewalks and pool decks.

Dream Retreats landscape paver pool deck

Landscape pavers are an alternate to poured concrete surfaces that provide brilliant color, shapes and sizes that can provide “curb appeal” and value to homeowners.  There are currently several different manufacturers here in the Phoenix area that produce superior products at reduced prices due to the collapse of the building industry.

The success of any landscape paver project depends on the willingness of the installer to install pavers correctly.  This often seems to be  the big problem!  Almost all paver installations should be installed over 2″ of base material (referred to as ABC) that needs to be compacted with 1/2″ to 1″of finish sand over the ABC to provide a proper bedding platform on which the pavers rest.  To do otherwise results in project failure (heaving and shifting movements that look like ocean waves) that often gets blamed on the paver itself, when in fact it is the installation process.  If paver projects are installed correctly by a licensed, experienced contractor, they will provide a lifetime of beauty and functional service.

There are a flood of purported contractors that leave business cards on homeowner doors.  Many of these are people that have no business being in business.  The only attraction they present to the unsuspecting homeowner is the cheap price.  Many of the prices we see out there are below the cost of what a legitimate installer can charge, let along the idea of making a profit to enable them to stay in business.  Usually it takes a year or so for paver project failures to present themselves- by then the cheap-guy in long gone.  Try calling him to stop by to correct the problem – more than likely he is long gone and you are stuck with a mess.  The blame for these failures are then unfairly placed on the pavers themselves.

Dream Retreats landscape paver patio

Thankfully, there is an organization named “I.C.P.I. of Arizona” short for “Interconnecting Concrete Paver Institute” that can provide homeowners with certified and licensed contractors to call for bids.  Dream Retreats is a landscape contractor that serves the Phoenix  area that is ICPI Certified.  At Dream Retreats we have gone through the professional training and certification through the ICPI Institute.  We will provide to homeowners the professional proper installation of landscape pavers.