Outdoor projects in Town & Country often involve more than one feature. Grade changes, aging retaining walls, decks, steps, drainage, and backyard access all influence the final plan, and our crew brings 25+ years of hands-on experience coordinating those elements into one cohesive project.
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Replacing an aging retaining wall can solve the immediate structural problem, but the surrounding yard still needs to function once the work is finished.
In this Town & Country backyard, the project became an opportunity to coordinate the wall with the outdoor living area and the connection between the home and yard. That meant thinking about the retaining structure, deck, staircase, grade, and access as parts of the same space rather than separate improvements.
Working with retaining walls and changing grades has shown us that the visible slope is rarely the oA retaining wall or hardscape project rarely exists in isolation. On established residential properties, the surrounding grade, outdoor access, existing structures, and local requirements can all influence how the work needs to be planned.ly thing that matters. How homeowners access the yard, where water moves, what sits above and below the grade change, and what they eventually want to do with the space can all affect the plan.
Older railroad-tie and timber walls can deteriorate over time, especially where the wall remains in constant contact with soil and moisture. When replacement becomes necessary, the project is an opportunity to evaluate the grade and drainage behind the wall instead of simply swapping one visible material for another.
Where a deck, patio, staircase, or lawn meets a change in elevation, those elements need to work together. The retaining wall should support the grade without making the rest of the backyard harder to access or use.
Steps and transitions matter just as much as the larger structures around them. A finished wall or deck should make movement through the property easier, not create awkward elevation changes that have to be corrected later.
Town & Country’s current building guidance includes specific greenspace requirements, with minimum permeable-surface percentages based on lot size. That means new hardscape, patios, decks, and other property improvements may need to be considered within the larger site plan—not only as standalone features.
Our retaining-wall experience includes aging wall replacements, tiered slopes, walls beside decks and patios, integrated steps, drainage conditions, and grade transitions across St. Louis and surrounding communities.
Before focusing on the finished block, we look at:
A retaining wall may hold back soil, but its long-term performance is closely tied to how water moves behind and around it. Saturated soil increases pressure on the wall, while uncontrolled runoff can contribute to erosion, settlement, and movement around the finished structure.
Because our crews also install French drains, drain boxes, underground piping, downspout drainage, and other water-management systems throughout the St. Louis area, we approach retaining walls with the entire drainage path in mind. We look at where water is coming from, how it moves across the grade, and where it needs to go before the wall, patio, deck, or landscape around it is finalized.
Town & Country sits within a strong central-west St. Louis County cluster, with communities such as Chesterfield, Creve Coeur, Ladue, and Des Peres nearby.
The projects below show different ways our crews have approached slopes, landscaping, drainage, patios, and other outdoor improvements across that surrounding area.
Yes. Our project portfolio includes work throughout nearby communities such as Chesterfield, Ladue, Des Peres, Ballwin, and other areas across St. Louis County.
Yes. Drainage is a critical part of most retaining-wall systems because water trapped behind the wall increases pressure on the structure and can contribute to movement, settlement, erosion, and premature failure. At Excel Landscaping, we don’t look at the wall separately from the property, we consider the slope, runoff, soil conditions, and where water needs to discharge before deciding how the drainage should be handled.
Replacement becomes more practical when the timbers are deteriorating throughout the wall, sections are leaning or separating, or the wall no longer provides reliable grade support. The condition of the base, drainage, and soil behind the wall should also be considered before deciding between repair and replacement.
