A backyard rarely fails all at once. A patio settles toward the house, one corner stays wet for days after rain, a wall starts to lean, and the planting that came with the house has outgrown its beds. Each of those can be patched on its own. A backyard renovation treats them as one project, with one plan and one order of work.
This page is about renovating an existing backyard in Wayne and the Main Line towns around it. It covers how we assess what is already there, why drainage and grading are settled before anything is built, how the work can be phased, and what a complete job involves from the first trench to the last plant. It also sets out which township’s rules apply to which address, what Pennsylvania law puts in your contract, and what we do and do not publish about cost.
We are Mex Landscaping, a design and build firm working in Wayne, Radnor, Villanova, Bryn Mawr, Gladwyne and King of Prussia. One team plans the yard and builds it, so the people accountable for the plan are the people accountable for the result. Our Google profile, listed under the category Landscaper, showed a rating of 4.9 when it was read on October 3, 2026.
Backyard renovation in brief
One plan covers the whole yard and one team builds it. Grade and drainage are settled first, because paving, walls and planting all sit on them, and the plan can then be built in stages. Permit rules depend on the township, and Wayne sits in three of them. We publish no price list for this work: every renovation is priced from a site visit.
Call us to arrange a site visit and talk through what your backyard needs.
What a backyard renovation is
A renovation starts from a yard that already exists, with its grades, its drainage habits, its old paving and walls, and whatever has been planted over the years. The job is to decide what stays, what is rebuilt and what is new, and then to build it in an order that does not undo itself. Our design page describes a complete design as coordinated, not piecemeal: planting, stonework, lighting, grading, drainage and outdoor living areas are planned together so they relate to each other and to the house.
That is the line between a renovation and a single job. A patio, a wall or a fire pit can each be built on its own, and the pages in the table below cover those jobs. A renovation is the case where they depend on each other, so the plan has to come before any one of them.
| If what you need is | Start with |
|---|---|
| A patio on its own, in a yard that already drains well | patio installation Wayne |
| A wall to hold a slope, or a failing wall rebuilt | retaining wall contractor Wayne |
| A fire pit, outdoor kitchen or seating area added to a sound yard | outdoor living contractor Wayne |
| A plan for the whole property, front and back | landscape design build Wayne |
| Several of these at once, in a backyard with water, slope or layout problems | This page |
Who a backyard renovation suits
- The yard holds water. Standing water, soggy ground and moisture against the foundation are the symptoms our drainage page lists. Paving over them sends the water somewhere else and leaves the cause in place.
- The ground is moving. A slope sheds soil, a wall leans or a paved area has settled. Our walls page names poor drainage and a weak base as the main causes of wall failure, and a new surface built over a fault inherits it.
- The yard was built in pieces. A patio from one owner, a walk from another and beds added around both, with levels and materials that do not meet.
- You want several things that touch each other. A patio, a seating wall, a fire feature, lighting and planting share a grade, a base and a set of trenches.
- You plan to build over more than one year. A phased build needs the whole yard drawn first, so each stage meets the next.
It is not the right frame for every yard. If the grade is sound, the water goes where it should and you want one thing, a single project is simpler, and the page for that job is the better read.
The assessment: reading what is already there
The first visit is a walk of the property with you. Our published process describes it plainly: we visit to assess what the property needs and to talk through what you want from it. On a renovation that walk covers more ground than on a single job, because every existing piece of the yard is a decision.
| What we look at | What it decides |
|---|---|
| Grade around the house and across the yard | Whether water sheds away from the foundation, and where regrading is needed |
| Downspouts and where they discharge | Whether roof water is being put against the house, and where it can be routed instead |
| Wet areas and earlier repairs | Whether past fixes treated the symptom or the source |
| The existing patio and its base | Whether it can stay and be tied into, or needs upgrading before anything is added |
| Existing walls | Whether a leaning or failing wall can be rebuilt or needs replacing, and what caused the failure |
| Slopes | Whether regrading, one wall or a set of terraces makes the ground usable |
| Light, soil and moisture in each part of the yard | Which plants suit which bed |
| Access for machines and materials | How the work is staged, and part of what it costs |
Keeping what is sound is part of the job. Our outdoor living page says we can often assess a current patio and its base and then add a fire feature, a seating wall, a kitchen or lighting that ties into it. Where the existing work cannot carry the new feature, it has to be upgraded first, and the assessment is where that is found out.
Removal: get it in writing
Our published pages describe stripping a failed lawn, rebuilding failing walls and, on driveways, removing an old asphalt or concrete surface before the new base goes in. They do not describe taking down trees. If your plan depends on removing a tree, an old slab or anything else, raise it at the visit and have the estimate say who removes it. Tree removal can also carry township rules of its own: Radnor, for one, has a shade tree ordinance, so ask the township before a tree comes down.
Drainage and grading come first
Water is often the reason a backyard needs more than a new surface. The National Weather Service’s climate normals for Philadelphia show rain in every month of the year: normal monthly precipitation at the airport runs from 2.75 inches in the driest month to 4.40 in the wettest. Whatever is built in a Main Line backyard is rained on all year, so the plan has to say where that water goes.
We settle that question in the plan, before construction begins. For drainage we assess the grade, the soil and the path water takes in a real storm, then design for the source and not the symptom. The tools are the ones on our drainage page: French drains to intercept water below the surface, dry wells to take concentrated runoff underground, swales and regrading to shed surface water across the yard, channel drains to catch it on paving, and downspouts routed underground to a safe outlet.
Some of that work can be left in view. One of our published projects used river-rock dry creek beds and stone-armored swales alongside French drains, so the route the water takes reads as part of the garden. One rule from the same drainage page applies to every plan: it should not simply move the problem onto a neighboring property.
What regrading looks like in practice
Another published project, at a house outside Wayne, shows the scale of the work. The ground around the house had no slope to carry storm water away, so rain collected against the foundation and the basement took on water whenever it rained. We installed a French drain and raised the grade about seven inches around the foundation, shaping a steady slope of at least two percent away from the house. The new surface was compacted in layers, the downspouts were directed to discharge onto that slope, and the area was seeded to hold it.
The same reasoning applies in a Wayne backyard. Grade is set first because everything else is measured from it: the pitch of a patio, the height of a wall, the level of a bed, the line of a path. Change the grade after those are built and they have to be rebuilt with it.
Slopes, walls and terraces
A sloped backyard is a grading question before it is a wall question. Where a wall is the answer, our walls page describes breaking a tall grade into terraces of planting beds or level landings, which often looks and performs better than one tall wall. A wall that is leaning or failing is assessed for rebuild or replacement, and the base or drainage fault behind the failure is corrected so it does not return. Wall types, reinforcement and engineering are covered on the retaining wall contractor in Wayne page.
What a complete backyard renovation involves
A complete renovation is every layer of the yard, built from one plan. The table below is drawn from the services on our own pages. A given project uses as many of them as the yard needs.
| Layer | What it covers |
|---|---|
| Grading and drainage | Regrading, French drains, dry wells, swales, channel drains, downspout routing and dry creek beds |
| Walls and steps | Retaining walls in segmental block, natural stone or boulders, seating walls, terraces, and stone or block steps |
| Paving | Patios and walkways in concrete pavers, flagstone and bluestone, travertine, clay brick or porcelain, on a compacted aggregate base |
| Outdoor living | Fire pits and fireplaces, outdoor kitchens, seating walls and water features |
| Planting | Specimen and shade trees, evergreens for screening, flowering shrubs, perennials and ornamental grasses, planted in amended soil |
| Lighting | Low-voltage LED path, step and accent lighting, with conduit run during construction |
| New lawn | Sod or seed over corrected grade and prepared soil |
What ties the layers together is what goes under them. Our hardscape pages describe the same build beneath every paved surface: excavation to the proper depth, a compacted aggregate base, slope so water sheds off, edge restraints and polymeric jointing. Lighting conduit goes in during construction so fixtures tie in cleanly. Where a plan includes an outdoor kitchen, we coordinate the gas, electrical and water during construction so they are built in and not retrofitted.
Planting is drawn into the plan, not fitted into what is left over. We match each selection to the light, soil and moisture in that part of the yard and to how much upkeep you want. We include native trees, shrubs and perennials wherever they fit the design.
Lawn is the last surface to go in. Where drainage work has disturbed the ground, we restore the lawn, the beds and the grade once the system is in. A new lawn goes down as sod or seed over soil that has been graded to drain away from the house. One published backyard project of ours took a different route: a failed lawn was stripped, the grade corrected, a compacted aggregate base built and artificial turf laid on it.
The features people picture first, the fire pit, the kitchen and the seating wall, sit on top of all of this. They are covered in detail on the outdoor living contractor in Wayne page, and paving on its own is covered on the patio installation in Wayne page.
The order the work goes in
A renovation goes wrong when it is built in the order it was thought of. The sequence below is the reasoning behind the order, drawn from the methods on our service pages. The timeline that comes with your estimate sets out the order for your own yard.
- Mark the utilities. Pennsylvania law requires a call to 811 at least three business days before any digging or excavation, by homeowners and contractors alike, so underground lines are marked first. The Public Utility Commission explains the rule on its PA One Call page.
- Open the ground. Whatever the estimate says is coming out is removed, and the areas to be paved or walled are excavated to depth.
- Set the grade and the drainage. Regrading, drain trenches, pipe and outlets go in while the ground is open.
- Build what holds the ground. Retaining walls, footings and steps go in with their compacted base, drain pipe and free-draining backfill.
- Place what goes under the paving. Lighting conduit, and whatever gas, electrical or water supply the plan calls for, is in place before the base.
- Lay the base and the paving. Compacted aggregate first, then patios and walks with their edge restraints and jointing.
- Build the features. The fire pit or fireplace, the kitchen, the seating walls and any water feature.
- Plant. Soil is amended, and plants go in at the proper depth with room to reach their mature size.
- Light and lawn. Fixtures are connected to timers or photocells, and lawn areas are graded, prepared and laid as sod or seed.
- Walk it. The job ends with a final walkthrough of the finished yard with you.
Phasing: one plan, built in stages
Not every renovation is built in one go, and it does not have to be. Our design page says we can draw a full master plan and then build it in stages over time. The reason it gives is the one that matters: designing the whole yard first makes each phase connect cleanly with the next, so a yard built in stages still reads as one.
Phasing works when the first stage carries what the later ones depend on. That means the grade and drainage for the whole yard, the walls that hold that grade, and conduit under any paving a later stage would otherwise have to cut through. Our outdoor living page describes a common split, with the patio and fire feature built first and the kitchen or other elements added later.
- Ask for the plan to show which items are in which stage.
- Ask what is left ready for the next stage, such as capped conduit or a compacted base where a kitchen will stand.
- Ask for each stage to be priced on its own line, so the budget can be set a stage at a time.
- Ask what happens at the edge of a stage, where finished paving meets ground that is still to be worked.
How a project runs with us
Our company site sets the process out in four steps: a consultation, an on-site visit, the build and the finished yard. On a renovation, the plan and the estimate get a step of their own between the visit and the build.
- The call. Tell us the town, what the yard does now and what you want from it. If you have a plot plan or survey of the property, keep it to hand, because a township permit application may ask for one.
- The site visit. We walk the yard with you, look at grade, water, existing paving and walls, and talk through materials and layout. That visit is what the scope and the price are built from.
- The plan and the estimate. You receive a clear scope and price. Our patio page describes the estimate as itemized, and says a timeline specific to the project comes with it.
- The build. One team carries the work in the order set out above and keeps you updated as it progresses.
- The walkthrough. We finish by walking the completed yard with you. Our promise on the company site is clear communication from the first conversation to the final walkthrough.
What we have not published
We do not publish a build duration for a backyard renovation, because no two have the same scope. The one duration on our company site is for a paver driveway: roughly one to two weeks of on-site work, depending on size, removal of the old surface and any drainage or grading. That is a single surface, and a renovation has several, so your timeline is worked out for your project. Pennsylvania law requires the contract to state approximate start and completion dates, which puts the dates you are given in writing.
Township rules: which ones apply to your yard
Wayne is not a municipality. It is an unincorporated community whose center is in Radnor Township, in Delaware County, and it extends into Tredyffrin Township in Chester County and Upper Merion Township in Montgomery County. Two houses with a Wayne address can answer to different township offices. A backyard renovation is the kind of project those offices regulate, because it moves earth and adds hard surface.
| Town | Where it sits |
|---|---|
| Wayne | Radnor Township at its center, extending into Tredyffrin and Upper Merion townships |
| Radnor | A community that straddles Delaware and Montgomery counties, so check the township for the address |
| Villanova | On the border of Radnor Township and Lower Merion Township |
| Bryn Mawr | Lower Merion Township, with portions in Haverford and Radnor townships |
| Gladwyne | Lower Merion Township |
| King of Prussia | Upper Merion Township |
Tredyffrin Township
Tredyffrin Township’s engineering page sets out two triggers. Its stormwater ordinance requires residents to control runoff from new construction projects in excess of 499 square feet. A grading permit is required for land disturbance of more than 5,000 square feet on regular grades, or 1,000 square feet on a steep slope. Where a project needs a building permit as well, the Township says the plans can be reviewed at the same time, and its stormwater and grading permits page has the forms.
For scale, a patio of 20 by 25 feet is 500 square feet. A renovation that adds a patio, a walk and a seating area can pass the 499 square foot figure, and regrading on ground the Township classes as a steep slope can pass the 1,000 square foot figure by itself.
Upper Merion Township
In Upper Merion the paperwork follows the hard surface a renovation adds. For a patio, the Township’s residential permits page lists a building permit application with a plot plan showing property line setbacks. It also lists a Stormwater Class A permit and an impervious surface breakdown form, unless the patio is an exact replacement. The Township’s stormwater FAQ counts patios as impervious surface, along with rooftops, driveways and sidewalks, and says every property with at least 500 square feet of impervious area is charged a stormwater user fee.
Radnor Township
Radnor adopted an updated stormwater management ordinance in 2022, in effect from October 13 of that year, and a regional Realtors’ association notes that the Township has charged a stormwater management fee on all properties since 2013. We have not printed Radnor’s grading and stormwater thresholds on this page. They should be read from the Township at the time of your project, not from a contractor’s website, so ask the Township what applies to your address before a design is final.
Radnor also has three local historic districts: North Wayne, South Wayne and Louella Court. Proposed changes to properties in them go before the Township’s historic review board, known as HARB. If your house is in one of the three, find out early whether the backyard work needs review, because a review is a step that has to fit into the schedule. The Radnor Historical Society notes that buildings outside those districts are not protected just for being historic.
Lower Merion Township
Gladwyne, and the Lower Merion parts of Bryn Mawr and Villanova, answer to Lower Merion Township and its own rules, which we do not summarize here. The same advice holds: get the rule for your address from the Township, in writing if the project is close to a threshold.
Our company site says we know the local requirements and handle what a project needs, and for retaining walls it says we handle the engineering and permitting the wall requires. At the site visit, ask which permits your renovation needs, who prepares each application and whose name is on it. Have the answer written into the estimate.
What a backyard renovation costs: what we publish
We do not publish a price list for backyard renovation, and there is no per-square-foot figure on this page. Our design page gives the reason: cost depends on the size and complexity of the property and on how much of it you want to address. A focused plan for one area is modest, and a full plan with hardscape, planting, lighting and drainage is a larger investment.
What we do publish is a set of budget ranges, on the request form on the contact page of our company website, mexlandscaping.com. The form offers four: $5k to $15k, $15k to $40k, $40k to $100k and $100k+, with a fifth choice for not sure yet. They apply to every kind of project we take on. Treat them as a way to tell us the scale you have in mind, not as a quote for a renovation.
The same site says estimates are free and carry no obligation, and our patio page describes the estimate as itemized. On a renovation, ask for the itemizing to follow the layers above, so drainage, walls, paving, planting, lighting and lawn each carry their own line. That makes a phased plan easy to price and two quotes easy to compare.
- How much of the yard is addressed. A plan for the whole backyard is a larger job than a plan for one corner of it.
- Slope and drainage. Our hardscape page names both as site conditions that move cost. Drainage work is priced on the size of the area, the type of system, the length of pipe, the trenching and where the water is routed.
- Walls. Height, length, material, excavation, reinforcement and drainage all count, and taller walls that need engineering cost more.
- Materials and shape. Pavers generally cost less than natural stone, and a simple level patio costs less than one with curves, walls, steps or a fire feature.
- Access. How machines and materials reach the backyard.
- Planting. The number, size and species of plants, and the soil and bed preparation they need.
- Lighting. The number of fixtures, the size of the property and the wiring.
- Lawn. Square footage, sod or seed, removal of old turf and any grading.
Pennsylvania law also limits the deposit. On a home improvement contract of more than $5,000, a contractor may not take a deposit above one third of the contract price, or one third plus the cost of special order materials named in the written contract.
None of the five other contractors’ Wayne pages read for this site printed a price range when they were last checked, on October 4, 2026. Neither have we, for the reason above. What we can do is say so plainly, show the ranges on our own form, and set out below what the law requires in your contract.
Call us with your town and a description of the yard, and we will arrange a site visit to price it.
What to check before you sign
These checks apply to any contractor you are considering for a backyard renovation, us included.
Registration
Pennsylvania requires contractors who perform at least $5,000 of home improvements a year to register with the Attorney General’s Office. The law’s definition of home improvement names patios and applies where the total price of the work is more than $500. The exclusion it gives certain landscapers does not extend to patios, lighting systems, retaining walls or drainage systems at a private residence, so work of that kind is covered.
Ask for the registration number and check it through the Attorney General’s contractor registration page. The Attorney General’s Office states that registration is not an endorsement of a contractor’s competency or skill. It is a first check, not the only one.
The contract
Under the Home Improvement Consumer Protection Act, a home improvement contract has to be in writing, legible and signed by you and by the contractor. Among other things, it must include the following.
- The contractor’s registration number
- The date of the transaction and the approximate start and completion dates
- A description of the work, the materials and a set of specifications
- The total price
- The down payment and any amount advanced for special order materials
- The names, addresses and phone numbers of subcontractors known when you sign
- The contractor’s liability coverage, which must be at least $50,000 for personal injury and $50,000 for property damage
- A notice of your right to cancel
You may cancel the contract without penalty within three business days of signing it.
Questions worth asking
- Which township is the property in, and which permits does this plan need?
- Where does the water go when the job is finished, and where is that shown on the plan?
- What stays, what is rebuilt, and who removes what comes out?
- How deep is the base under the paving and behind the walls? Our pages say the proper depth without giving figures, so ask for them in writing.
- Who performs the gas and electrical work for a kitchen or a gas fire feature, and under which permit?
- What written promise comes with the work and the plants once the job is finished, and how long does it run? Our published pages set out no such terms, so ask for them in writing.
- If the work is phased, what is left ready for the next stage?
- Who is my contact during the build, and how will I be kept updated?
For a plan that takes in the front of the property as well, see landscape design build in Wayne. There is more about who we are on the about page.
Call us to book a site visit for your backyard in Wayne or the nearby Main Line towns.
Questions people ask
What does a backyard renovation include?
It depends on the yard, but a complete renovation works through every layer: grading and drainage, retaining walls and steps, patios and walkways, outdoor living features such as a fire pit or kitchen, planting, low-voltage lighting and new lawn. We plan them together so they work as one system, and you decide how many of them go into your project.
How much does a backyard renovation cost in Wayne, PA?
We do not publish a price for it, because the cost is set by the site: size, slope, drainage, access, materials and how much of the yard you address. The request form on our company website offers budget ranges of $5k to $15k, $15k to $40k, $40k to $100k and $100k+ as a way to tell us your scale. A firm price follows a site visit and comes as an itemized estimate.
How long does a backyard renovation take?
We do not publish a standard duration, because scope varies too much for one figure to be honest. You get a timeline specific to your project with the estimate, and we keep you updated as the work progresses. Pennsylvania law also requires a home improvement contract to state approximate start and completion dates, so the dates are in writing before work begins. Township permit review, where it applies, comes on top of build time.
Do I need a permit for a backyard renovation in Wayne?
It depends on which township the lot is in and how much ground and hard surface the project involves. In Tredyffrin, runoff must be controlled on new construction over 499 square feet, and a grading permit is required for land disturbance over 5,000 square feet, or 1,000 on a steep slope. Upper Merion lists a building permit application and a Stormwater Class A permit for a new patio. Radnor and Lower Merion set their own rules, so confirm with the township.
Why does the township matter for a backyard renovation in Wayne?
Because Wayne is an unincorporated community, not a municipality, so a township sets the rules. Its center is in Radnor Township in Delaware County, and it extends into Tredyffrin Township in Chester County and Upper Merion Township in Montgomery County. Each township sets its own grading, stormwater and permit rules, and a renovation moves earth and adds hard surface, which is what those rules cover. Give us the property address when you call, and confirm the township with its office.
Can a backyard renovation be built in phases?
Yes. We can draw a master plan for the whole yard and build it in stages. Designing everything first matters because it makes each phase connect cleanly with the next. The first stage should carry the grading, drainage and conduit that later stages rely on, so finished work is not lifted afterward. A common split is the patio and fire feature first, with a kitchen or other elements added later.
Why do drainage and grading come before the patio?
Because everything else is measured from the grade. A patio’s pitch, a wall’s height and the level of a planting bed are all set from it, and drain pipe has to go in while the ground is open. In one of our published projects, the grade around a house was raised about seven inches to give a slope of at least two percent away from the foundation before the surface was seeded.
Can you keep my existing patio or walls?
Often, yes. We assess the current patio and its base, and where they are sound we can add a fire feature, a seating wall, a kitchen or lighting that ties into what is there. If the existing work cannot support the new feature, it needs upgrading first. A leaning or failing wall is assessed for rebuild or replacement, and the drainage or base fault that caused it is corrected.
Do I have to call 811 before backyard work in Pennsylvania?
Yes. Pennsylvania’s Public Utility Commission says homeowners and contractors must call 811 at least three business days before starting any digging or excavation project, as the law requires, so underground lines can be marked. A backyard renovation involves excavation for drainage, walls and paving, so the call comes before any of it. Ask whoever is doing the digging to confirm the request has been made.
What must a Pennsylvania home improvement contract include, and how large can the deposit be?
It must be in writing and signed by both sides, and it must include the contractor’s registration number, approximate start and completion dates, a description of the work and materials, the total price and the down payment. You can cancel without penalty within three business days of signing. On a contract of more than $5,000, the deposit cannot exceed one third of the price, plus the cost of special order materials named in the contract.
How is a backyard renovation different from installing a patio?
A patio is one element on one base. A renovation is the whole backyard: grade, drainage, walls, paving, planting, lighting and lawn, planned together because they depend on each other. If your yard drains well and you only want a patio, the patio installation page is the place to start. If the patio is one of several changes, or the yard has water or slope problems, plan it as a renovation.
Which towns do you cover for backyard renovation?
Wayne, Radnor, Villanova, Bryn Mawr, Gladwyne and King of Prussia. Those towns sit across several townships, including Radnor, Tredyffrin, Upper Merion, Lower Merion and Haverford, and each township sets its own rules. Tell us the address when you call, so the right township’s requirements are part of the conversation from the start.