Landscaping can raise what a home is worth, and a new patio comes close to paying for itself. National estimates in NAR’s 2023 Remodeling Impact Report: Outdoor Features put a new patio’s cost recovery at 95%, and a Virginia Tech review found good landscaping raised perceived home value by 5.5% to 11.4%.
Cost recovered isn’t profit, and none of these are St. Louis numbers. Below we compare a patio, a retaining wall and landscape design on what they recover, what they fix, and when we’d tell you to skip them.
The Short Answer
| Project | National estimate (source, year) | What it does for a St. Louis home |
|---|---|---|
| New patio | 95% of cost recovered at sale; Joy Score 9.9 of 10 (NAR, 2023) | Adds flat, usable space |
| Overall landscape upgrade | 100% of cost recovered (NAR, 2023) | Better first impression from the street |
| Retaining wall | 5% to 15% potential value increase | Can create usable yard space, control erosion, improve drainage, and protect the grade above the wall |
Retaining wall value depends heavily on the problem being solved. Based on our experience across St. Louis-area properties, the biggest value comes when a wall corrects an active issue such as erosion, drainage, a failing slope, or unusable grade. A wall that restores usable yard space or protects a patio, walkway, landscape, or other feature above it may have a stronger impact than a wall installed mainly for appearance. Industry estimates commonly place the potential increase around 5% to 15%, but the actual effect depends on the property, the surrounding space, the condition of the old wall, and the local housing market.
Realistically, the numbers come down to this for a homeowner.
- Cost recovered is not the same as value added. In NAR’s example, a $10,500 patio recovers about $10,000 at resale.
- St. Louis paver patio projects typically range from $5,000 to $10,000+ installed, including excavation and drainage where needed. Final pricing depends on the paver system, base preparation, site access, and the conditions around the patio.
Does a paver patio add value to a home?
A paver patio adds value mostly by adding usable space: NAR’s 2023 report estimates a new patio recovers about 95% of its cost when the house sells, which means it nearly pays for itself but doesn’t turn a profit. NAR’s example is an 18-by-16-foot concrete paver patio laid on a compacted gravel and sand base. It cost $10,500 nationally, and about $10,000 of that is estimated to come back at sale.
| NAR’s new patio example (national, 2023) | Figure |
|---|---|
| Project cost | $10,500 |
| Estimated value recovered at sale | $10,000 |
| Cost recovered | 95% |
| Homeowner satisfaction | Joy Score of 9.9 out of 10 (NAR, 2023) |
In the same NAR survey, 85% of homeowners who added a patio said they wanted to be home more, and 85% said they enjoyed their home more since it was finished. That’s where a patio earns its keep. You get years of dinners and evenings outside before the resale number ever matters.
The 95% figure assumes a patio built to last. A patio that sinks or heaves after two St. Louis winters won’t recover anything close to that, because a buyer sees a repair job, not a feature. That’s why our paver patio installation in St. Louis starts with the base under the pavers and where the water goes, before anyone picks a color.
Where a Patio Can Add Value
A patio adds the most value where a yard has room but nowhere flat and dry to use it. A strip of lawn that stays soggy for a day after every storm can’t hold a table, but a paver patio on a gravel base can. Giving that part of the yard one clear job is what makes the patio worth building:
- A dining table and chairs a few steps from the kitchen door
- A grill with room beside it to set down a platter
- Lounge chairs or an outdoor sectional facing the yard
- Chairs around a fire pit for cool spring and fall evenings
- A landing that connects the back door to the lawn below it
If you already have a patio that’s sound but too small, expanding it may be enough. Before you settle on a size, set the furniture you plan to use out on the lawn and trace around it with a garden hose, leaving room to pull chairs out and walk past. Size the patio to that outline, not to a round number.
Choose a Patio That Fits the Property
Pick the patio’s layout before its color. Where it meets the back door, how many steps it needs down to the yard, and whether it ties into a wall, walkway or existing deck decide most of the design. Once that’s settled, we narrow down pavers from Belgard and Unilock. Excel Landscaping is a Unilock Authorized Contractor, and both brands make several sizes and textures that can pick up the color of brick, stone or siding.
We build paver patios from the base up. Our crew removes unsuitable topsoil, installs and compacts a crushed-stone base, adds a thin bedding layer, sets the pavers with edge restraint, and finishes the joints with polymeric sand. The patio is pitched to move water away from the home, while the required base depth depends on the soil, slope, drainage, and how the space will be used. We evaluate those conditions during the free on-site assessment.
Does a retaining wall add value to a home?
A retaining wall adds value when it turns a slope into usable yard or stops soil from washing toward the house, but there’s no reliable national percentage for it, so be wary of anyone who quotes one. What the wall is worth depends on the problem it solves. A retaining wall can:
- Hold a slope in place so it stops creeping downhill
- Stop erosion and soil washing onto a patio, walk or driveway
- Create flatter ground you can mow, plant or walk on
- Make room for a patio, lawn or planting bed
- Replace an old railroad-tie or block wall that’s leaning or rotting
- Make a change in level easier to get across with built-in steps
On many St. Louis lots, the backyard drops off a few feet past the back door, leaving a narrow strip of lawn and a hill nobody uses. A wall set into that slope lets us fill and level the ground behind it, so the flat part of the yard gets wider. Changing the grade also changes where water runs, so drainage has to be planned with the wall, not after it.
Retaining Walls and Drainage Often Go Together
A retaining wall in St. Louis clay lasts only as long as the water behind it can get out. Clay holds water and gets heavier when it’s wet, so runoff that pools behind a wall pushes on it after every storm. Water running down an open slope also carries soil with it, which is how erosion starts eating into a yard.
How we build it: a perforated drain pipe at the base of the wall, clean gravel behind the block instead of the clay that was dug out, and a place for that pipe to empty, like a pop-up emitter or a spot where the yard drops away. Before we draw the wall, we look at where the water comes from, where it collects now, and where it should go. We also check what will sit above and below the wall, like a patio, walkway, lawn or planting bed, since that changes the load and the outlet.
Consider the Wall as Part of the Property
A retaining wall should look like it belongs with the house once the slope and drainage are handled. That matters most when it sits next to a patio, steps or a planting bed, because you’ll see the face of the wall every time you walk out the back door. Block color, a cap that matches the patio border, and steps built into the wall all make it read as part of the yard instead of a barrier.
A wall usually solves one part of a bigger yard problem. When the slope, the drainage and the patio all need work, plan them together so the wall ends up at the right height and in the right spot, the way we do on the walls we build on St. Louis slopes. Something as small as a downspout dumping water near the top of a wall can undo a good build, so we often bury downspout lines before the wall goes in.
Does landscape design increase home value?
Landscape design can raise what buyers think a home is worth, and the studies point to the quality of the design more than the number of plants. A Virginia Cooperative Extension review by Virginia Tech professor Alex Niemiera found that buyers in a seven-state survey valued well-landscaped homes 5.5% to 11.4% higher (Virginia Tech, reviewed 2023). A 1999 Michigan study cited in the same publication found a 12.7% difference between the least and most valued landscapes. Sales data from Greenville, South Carolina, showed price premiums of 4% to 5% for landscapes upgraded from average to good, and 6% to 7% from good to excellent.
Those are perceived values and sales from other states. They tell you design matters more than plant count, not what your St. Louis house will sell for.
NAR’s 2023 report adds a cost figure. Its example of an overall landscape upgrade cost $9,000 nationally, and NAR estimates 100% of that cost comes back at sale. Here’s how the numbers line up:
| Study (source, year) | What it measured | Finding |
|---|---|---|
| Seven-state survey (Virginia Tech, reviewed 2023) | Perceived home value, well landscaped vs. not | 5.5% to 11.4% higher |
| Michigan study (1999, cited by Virginia Tech) | Least vs. most valued landscapes | 12.7% difference |
| Greenville, SC sales (cited by Virginia Tech) | Average to good landscape | 4% to 5% price premium |
| Greenville, SC sales (cited by Virginia Tech) | Good to excellent landscape | 6% to 7% price premium |
| Overall landscape upgrade (NAR, 2023) | Cost recovered at sale, $9,000 example | 100% |
Where Landscaping Can Make the Biggest Difference
Landscaping makes the biggest difference in the parts of the yard a buyer sees first or can’t use now. That doesn’t mean adding more plants or redoing the whole yard. It might mean replacing shrubs that have grown over the front windows, finishing the bare dirt around a new patio, or planting a slope that’s too steep to mow. Start with these:
- Beds along the front of the house, the first thing a buyer sees from the street
- Overgrown shrubs and planting beds that hide the house or the walk
- Bare soil or patchy grass around patios and walkways
- Slopes that are too steep to mow safely
- Low spots where water sits and kills the lawn or plants
- Corners of the yard that were never finished after a build
If several of these apply, look at them together. A soggy low spot may need a drain before it can hold new plants, and a steep bank may need a short wall before it can hold a bed. Sorting that out first tells you what to do now and what can wait a season.
How These Three Projects Compare
For resale alone, a new patio and an overall landscape upgrade have the strongest national numbers, while a retaining wall has none. For everyday use, the better choice depends on what your yard is missing: flat space, stable ground or a finished look.
| Project | National value signal (source, year) | Where it usually makes the biggest difference |
|---|---|---|
| Paver patio | About 95% of cost recovered (NAR, 2023) | Flat, usable space for dining, grilling and sitting outside |
| Retaining wall | No reliable national figure | Slopes, erosion, changes in level and ground you can’t use |
| Landscape design | 5.5% to 11.4% higher perceived value (Virginia Tech, reviewed 2023); 100% of cost recovered for an upgrade (NAR, 2023) | The first impression from the street and the yard as a whole |
These percentages measure different things, so don’t rank the projects by them. NAR’s 95% and 100% are cost recovered at sale, based on what real estate agents estimate a buyer would pay. Virginia Tech’s 5.5% to 11.4% is how much more buyers in a survey said a home was worth, not what it sold for. All of them are national or out-of-state figures, and none of them is a quote for a St. Louis yard.
Which Project Makes the Most Sense for Your Property?
The project that makes the most sense is the one that fixes whatever is limiting your yard right now. If the backyard has room but no flat, dry place to sit, a paver patio is likely the right fit. If a slope, erosion or a failing wall is eating up usable ground, a retaining wall may need to come first.
These projects often depend on each other, and the order matters. Water problems get fixed first, because a patio or wall built on soggy clay won’t stay level. A wall may come next to create flat ground, then the patio goes on top and planting finishes the edges. Start with the part of the yard that needs the most help, and use the national percentages above as background, not as the deciding factor.
When we’d tell you not to do this for resale
If you’re selling in the next few months, a new patio probably won’t pay you back more than it costs: by NAR’s numbers it recovers about 95%, not 100%. Do it because you’ll use it, not to flip the house. And if water sits in your yard after rain, fix the drainage first. A buyer’s inspector will notice standing water long before they notice a nice patio.
The same goes for a retaining wall on a slope that’s stable. If nothing is washing out, the ground isn’t creeping and you can mow the hill, a wall built only for resale adds cost without fixing a problem a buyer can see. Spend that money on fresh mulch, trimmed shrubs and a clean bed edge out front, and save the bigger build for a home you plan to stay in.