Design-build is a way of running a project, not a kind of patio or wall. One company works out the plan for the yard and then builds it. The people who decided where the patio ends, how the water leaves it and which stone goes on the wall are the people who turn up to dig.
We are Mex Landscaping, and this is how we work on backyard and whole-property projects in Wayne and across the Main Line. This page explains the method itself: what happens in the design phase, how the decisions made on paper reach the crew, who you deal with, what to have ready before we visit, how this route differs from hiring a designer and a contractor separately, and which township rules a design has to allow for before anything is built.
It does not go through materials, bases or wall construction. Those belong to the pages for each kind of project, and they are linked where they come up. Where we have not published something about our design phase, this page says so and tells you what to ask.
Design-build in brief
One firm plans the yard and builds it. The design phase runs from a site visit to a layout, a scope and an itemized estimate, and nothing is built until the scope, schedule and price are in a signed agreement. In Wayne the design also has to fit the rules of whichever township the lot is in, and several of those rules are written in square feet.
Call us with the town your property is in and what you want the yard to do, and we will arrange a visit.
What design-build means on a backyard project
On mexlandscaping.com, our main website, we define it in one sentence: design-build means one company handles both the design and the construction of your landscape. You work with a single accountable team from concept to completion, and our own crews build the plan.
The practical effect is that the questions which normally sit between a drawing and a build are answered once, by one firm. A plan of ours considers how people move through the yard, the hardscape, the planting, grading and drainage, lighting, and how each area connects to the house. Because we do all of that work in-house, the patio, walls, plantings, lighting and drainage are designed to work as one system.
The result of the design phase is what our design page calls a practical roadmap. It can be built at once or in coordinated phases, and it can cover one entry or one garden bed as readily as a whole property.
What it is not
- It is not a package. There is no standard yard that gets fitted to every lot. Our Wayne page describes the homes here as settled and well treed, and says they call for a design-led approach and not a one-size-fits-all one.
- It is not described as a drawing service. Our pages present design as the first part of a build by our own crews. They do not say whether we produce a plan for another builder to work from, so if that is what you want, ask at the start.
- It is not a commitment from the first visit. The estimate carries no obligation, and an estimate is not a contract.
Design-build compared with a separate designer and contractor
The other way to run a project is to hire a designer, then find a separate contractor to interpret the plan. That can produce a good yard. The difference is where the joins are, and who is responsible when something on site does not match the paper.
| Question | Design-build with us | Designer and contractor hired separately |
|---|---|---|
| Who do you hire? | One firm, for the plan and the build | Two firms, each with its own agreement |
| Who prices the build? | The team that worked out the scope, in an itemized estimate | The contractor, working from a plan someone else produced |
| Who answers a question that comes up on site? | The team that made the decision in the first place | The question travels between the builder and the designer |
| Who is accountable for the finished yard? | One team, for the plan and the result | Each firm for its own part |
| Who checks the plan against the ground? | The team that will build it walks the property before the plan is priced | Depends on how early the contractor is brought in |
The left-hand column is how we describe our own work. The right-hand column is the arrangement our design page contrasts it with, and how well it runs depends on the two firms involved. If you are weighing both routes, ask each side one thing: when the drawing and the ground disagree, who decides, and who pays for the change?
How the design phase runs
Our published process has four steps: a consultation, an on-site visit, the build and the finished space. The design phase is everything between the first call and the signed agreement. This is what happens in it.
The call or the form
You call us or send the request form. The form on our main website asks for your town or ZIP code and the kind of work, and has optional fields for a budget range and a project timeline. Those four answers are enough for a useful first conversation. You do not need a finished brief.
Walking the property
We come to the property and walk it with you. The visit is where the design starts, because most of what shapes a plan can only be read on the ground. We measure the space while we are there.
- Grade and water. We assess the grade, the soil and the path water takes across the site.
- What is already built. An existing patio and its base, existing walls, and whether they can be tied into or need work first.
- Loads and limits. Anything that sits above or near a planned wall, such as a driveway, and how equipment and materials can reach the back of the property.
- The house. The transition from the door to the yard, and the style of the building the work has to sit beside.
- How you live. How you want to use the yard, since a layout for quiet evenings by a fire differs from one for large dinners.
The layout and the scope
From the visit we work out a layout and a scope: what gets built, where, and how the pieces connect. Grading, drainage, planting and hardscape are considered together before construction begins, which is the point of keeping the design and the build in one firm. Where the project includes a fire feature or other work that township rules touch, we review what applies to the property during planning and confirm the scope before construction.
Materials
Materials are chosen during the design phase, not on delivery day. We walk you through samples and recommend surfaces that fit the style of your home, your budget and the way water moves across the yard. On a project with more than one element, we coordinate stone and finishes so the patio, the walls and any fire feature or kitchen belong together. Plants are matched to the light, soil, drainage and upkeep each bed offers, with room to mature without crowding.
Changes before the agreement
The design phase is the time to change your mind. Moving a seating wall or swapping a paver is a conversation at this stage and a rebuild later. Because our estimates are itemized, you can see what each element adds, take one out, or hold one back for a later stage, and see what that does to the figure.
The estimate and the signed agreement
After we have seen the space you receive an itemized estimate with a clear scope and price, and a timeline for your own project comes with it. The estimate is free and carries no obligation. It is also not a binding contract: the scope, schedule and price of any work are confirmed in a signed agreement before work begins.
What we have not published about the design phase
Our pages do not set out what form the plan takes for a given project, how many rounds of changes are included, or whether design is charged separately from construction. They say only that the cost of design depends on the size and complexity of the property and how much of it you want to address. Our patio page says we measure the space at the estimate visit, and no page says what is drawn from those measurements. So ask us three things at the visit: what you will be shown and whether it is drawn to measurements, how changes are handled before the agreement, and whether the design carries its own fee. Have the answers written into the estimate.
What to have ready before the first visit
None of this is required, and we will visit without it. Each item shortens the design phase, because it answers a question the plan depends on.
- The township, if you know it. A Wayne address can be in Radnor, Tredyffrin or Upper Merion township, and the rules differ.
- A plot plan or survey. Upper Merion asks for a plot plan showing property line setbacks with a patio application, and other townships may ask for one too.
- A list of what has been added to the lot. Additions, sheds, driveways and paving from earlier years. In Tredyffrin the count of new hard surface runs back to 2009.
- Photos or video of the yard in rain. Where water collects and how long it stays tells us more than a dry visit can.
- Old drawings or permits. Anything you hold for an existing wall, patio or drainage system.
- How you use the yard now, and how you want to. Cooking, dining, a fire, children, a quiet corner, a route to the door.
- A budget range. Our form uses brackets of $5k to $15k, $15k to $40k, $40k to $100k and $100k+, with an option for not sure yet. A bracket tells us what size of plan to talk about.
- Whether you want to build in stages. A plan drawn for phasing leaves the right things ready for the next stage.
- Pictures of yards you like. They are quicker than adjectives.
Call us to arrange the site visit. Bring the plot plan if you have one, and we will work from the yard if you do not.
Who you deal with
You deal with one team from the first walk of the property to the final detail. There is no handover from a design office to a separate building firm, so nobody has to re-explain what was agreed. Our promise on the main website is clear communication from the first conversation to the final walkthrough, and during the build we keep you updated as the work progresses.
We do not name staff on this site. At the visit, ask who your contact will be during the design phase and during construction, and whether that changes when the crew arrives. It is a fair question of any firm, and the answer belongs in the estimate.
Some parts of a project involve other parties whatever route you choose. The township reviews what its rules cover. Utility companies mark their lines after the 811 call. On an outdoor kitchen we coordinate gas, electrical, water and drainage during construction, so ask who makes each connection and under whose permit.
How the drawn decisions carry into construction
A plan is a list of decisions. Design-build earns its keep in how few of them are lost between the page and the ground. These are the points where a decision from the design phase turns into something physical.
- The agreement. Pennsylvania’s home improvement law requires a written contract that describes the work, the materials and a set of specifications, states the total price and gives approximate start and completion dates. That is where the design is written down, so check that the scope and materials in it match what you agreed.
- Levels and water. The grades set in the plan decide the pitch of a patio, the height of a wall and where drainage discharges. They are fixed first on site because everything else is measured from them.
- What goes under the surface. Conduit for lighting, footings for a seating wall or fire feature, and the lines a kitchen needs are placed while the ground is open. A plan that already shows them is what stops finished paving being lifted later.
- Materials. The stone, paver and finishes chosen in the design phase are the ones ordered. A change after that point is a change to the agreement.
- Later stages. If the plan is phased, the first stage is built to connect with the next, so the yard still reads as one design when the last stage is done.
- The walkthrough. We finish by walking the completed work with you, against what was planned.
The same law lets you cancel a home improvement contract without penalty within three business days of signing. The text is in section 517.7 of the Home Improvement Consumer Protection Act.
A site can still show something the visit could not, such as an obstruction below the surface. When that happens the people deciding what to do are the people who made the original plan, and you hear about it from the same team.
What local rules a design has to allow for
A design in Wayne is drawn inside rules as well as property lines. Wayne is an unincorporated community, not a municipality: 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. The township is the first fact a design needs, because it decides which of the figures below apply.
The table sets out design decisions against the published rules they can meet. It covers what a plan has to account for, not how to apply for a permit. The pages for each kind of project go further into their own rules.
| Design decision | Rule it can meet | Where it is published |
|---|---|---|
| Total area of new hard surface | Tredyffrin requires runoff to be controlled on new construction projects in excess of 499 square feet. Its application form asks for volume control above 500 square feet and adds peak rate controls above 1,000. | Tredyffrin Township’s stormwater and grading permits page and application form |
| Position of paving on the lot | Upper Merion asks for a plot plan showing property line setbacks with a patio application, plus a Class A stormwater permit and an impervious surface breakdown unless the patio is an exact replacement. | Upper Merion Township’s residential permits page |
| How much ground is disturbed | Tredyffrin requires a grading permit for land disturbance of more than 5,000 square feet, or 1,000 square feet on a steep slope. | Tredyffrin Township’s stormwater and grading permits page |
| Height of a wall and what sits above it | Pennsylvania’s Uniform Construction Code exempts a retaining wall from a building permit when it is not over 4 feet, measured from the lowest level of grade to the top, unless it supports a surcharge. | 34 Pa. Code 403.62 |
| Gas, electrical or plumbing in the plan | The same code requires a permit to install or alter one of those systems where the code regulates it. | 34 Pa. Code 403.62 |
| Work at a house in a historic district | Radnor has three historic districts, and the township has a Historic and Architectural Review Board. Ask the township whether the work in your plan needs its review. | Radnor Historical Society’s historic preservation page |
| Any excavation at all | State law requires a call to 811 at least three business days before digging starts. | Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission’s PA One Call page |
Adding up the hard surface across the whole plan
This is where a whole-yard design differs from a single job. Stormwater rules count area, and a plan with several elements has several areas to add. Take a 16 by 20 foot patio at 320 square feet, a 4 by 30 foot walk at 120 and a 6 by 12 foot kitchen pad at 72. Together they come to 512 square feet, which is past Tredyffrin’s 499 even though no single piece is close to it. Those sizes are an illustration, not a real property, and the township decides what counts toward its figure.
Tredyffrin’s form also has the owner confirm that no other new impervious surface built since 2009 takes the total past 499 square feet. That affects phasing. Building a plan in stages spreads the cost, but in Tredyffrin each stage adds to the same running total. The township’s stormwater and grading permits page links the form and a fact sheet for homeowners on small projects.
So we settle sizes early. A design that knows the count can trim a patio to stay inside a figure, or accept the stormwater measures and place them where they suit the yard. A design that finds out at the application stage has to be redrawn.
Upper Merion: the plan has to show where the water goes
Upper Merion Township takes in King of Prussia and the Montgomery County part of Wayne. Its residential permits page lists what a patio application needs, and its building permits page says the Class A stormwater permit covers new impervious surface under 3,000 square feet or land disturbance under 5,000. It also says any new impervious coverage must show best management practices on the plot plan. For a design, that means the drainage is drawn at the same time as the paving, on the same sheet.
Radnor: confirm the figures with the Township
Radnor Township holds the center of Wayne. Its stormwater management ordinance took effect on October 13, 2022, and the township has charged a stormwater fee on all properties since 2013. We print none of Radnor’s square-foot thresholds on this site, because we want you to read them from the township and not from a contractor. Its Engineering Department has a grading permits page, and that is the place to start.
Radnor’s three historic districts are North Wayne, South Wayne and Louella Court, as the Radnor Historical Society sets out. If your house is in one of them, the design phase is when to ask the township whether the planned work needs review, because a review has to fit into the schedule before materials are ordered.
Walls, slopes and engineered drawings
A design that changes levels has to check wall heights before it settles them. The International Residential Code, which Pennsylvania’s code adopts with amendments, calls for an engineered design where a retaining wall that is not supported at the top holds back more than 48 inches of unbalanced fill. A township can also set requirements of its own. Whether one tall wall or a set of terraces suits the slope is a design decision with a rules side to it, and our retaining wall contractor Wayne page covers both.
Towns outside the three Wayne townships
Gladwyne and parts of Villanova and Bryn Mawr are in Lower Merion Township, which has rules of its own, and part of Bryn Mawr is in Haverford Township. We do not summarize either here. During planning we review which requirements apply to your property, and the township’s answer for your address is the one that counts.
Our Wayne page on the main website says we know the local requirements and handle what your project needs. It does not list which applications that covers, so ask at the visit which permits your plan needs, who prepares each one and whose name is on it.
Designing once and building in stages
You do not have to build the whole plan at once. We can create a full master plan and then build it in stages over time. Designing the whole of it first matters because it makes each phase connect cleanly with the next.
For the design, phasing changes what the first stage has to carry. Grades and drainage for the whole yard, the walls that hold those grades, and conduit under any paving a later stage would otherwise cut through all belong in stage one. Ask for the estimate to show each stage on its own lines, and for the plan to say what is left ready for the next.
What the design phase costs: what we publish
We publish no price for design and no price list for construction. Our design page says the cost of design depends on the size and complexity of the property and how much of it you want to address. A focused plan for one area is modest, and a full-property master plan with hardscape, planting, lighting and drainage is a larger investment.
The only figures we publish are the budget ranges on the estimate form on the contact page of mexlandscaping.com: $5k to $15k, $15k to $40k, $40k to $100k and $100k+, with a further option for not sure yet. They are brackets you pick to tell us the scale you have in mind. They are not prices for a plan or for a yard.
What you receive after the visit is a project-specific estimate, itemized so you can see what each element adds. The estimate is free and carries no obligation.
Which page covers which kind of project
This page is about the method. Each kind of project we design and build has a page of its own, with the materials, the construction and the rules that go with it.
| Page | What it covers | Start there if |
|---|---|---|
| Outdoor living contractor Wayne | Outdoor kitchens, fire pits and fireplaces, and seating walls, planned as one outdoor room | You want to cook, sit and have a fire outside |
| Patio installation Wayne | Paver and natural stone patios, their base and drainage, and patio permits township by township | The project is the paving itself |
| Retaining wall contractor Wayne | Retaining and seating walls in block, stone and boulders, with drainage, reinforcement and engineering | A slope has to be held, or a wall is failing |
| Backyard renovation Wayne | An existing backyard assessed and rebuilt as one project, with grading and drainage settled first | Several parts of the yard need to change at once |
For the firm as a whole and the towns we work in, see our home page for landscape design Wayne PA and the about page.
What to ask any design-build firm, us included
- What will I be shown before I sign, and is it drawn to measurements?
- Is the design charged separately, and if so, what happens to that fee if I go ahead with the build?
- How are changes handled before the agreement, and after it?
- Is the estimate itemized, so I can see what each element adds?
- Which township is my lot in, which of its rules did the design allow for, and who applies for each permit?
- Who is my contact during design, and who during construction?
- What is your Pennsylvania home improvement contractor registration number? Contractors who perform at least $5,000 of home improvements a year must register with the Attorney General’s Office, and the registration page links to the search. The office says registration is not an endorsement of a contractor’s competency or skill.
Before any digging, the 811 call has to be made. The Public Utility Commission’s PA One Call page explains the three business day rule, which applies to homeowners and contractors alike.
Call us to start the design phase for your property in Wayne or elsewhere on the Main Line.
Questions people ask
What does landscape design build mean?
It means one company handles both the design and the construction of your yard. You do not hire a designer and then find a separate contractor to interpret the plan. At Mex Landscaping the team that works out the layout, the drainage and the materials is the team whose crews build it, so one firm is accountable for the plan and for the finished result.
How is design-build different from hiring a landscape designer and a contractor separately?
With two firms you have two agreements, and a question that comes up on site travels between the builder and the designer. With design-build, the people who made the decision are the people building it. Either route can work. Ask both the same thing: when the drawing and the ground disagree, who decides and who pays for the change?
What happens at the first site visit?
We come to the property and walk it with you. We look at the grade and the path water takes, anything already built and its condition, access for equipment, and how the yard meets the house. We talk through how you want to use the space, the materials and the design ideas. The layout, the scope and the estimate are all built from that visit.
What should I have ready before you visit?
The township if you know it, a plot plan or survey if you have one, a list of anything added to the lot in earlier years, photos of the yard in rain, and a rough budget range. Tell us too if you want to build in stages. None of it is required, and we will visit without it, but each item answers a question the plan depends on.
Do you charge separately for the design?
Our published pages do not set out a separate design fee. They say the cost of design depends on the size and complexity of the property and how much of it you want to address. The estimate itself is free and carries no obligation. Ask us at the visit whether design is charged separately for a project of your size, and have the answer written into the estimate.
Will I get a drawing, and can I change it?
The design phase produces a layout, a scope and an itemized estimate. Our pages do not say what form the plan takes for every project or how many rounds of changes are included, so ask what you will be shown and whether it is drawn to measurements. Changes are easiest before the signed agreement, and the itemized estimate lets you see what adding or removing an element does to the price.
Who will I deal with during the project?
One team, from the first walk of the property to the final walkthrough. There is no handover from a design office to a separate builder. We keep you updated as the work progresses. We do not name staff on this site, so ask at the visit who your contact will be during design and during construction.
Which township rules does a design in Wayne have to allow for?
It depends on the township, because Wayne lies in Radnor, Tredyffrin and Upper Merion. Tredyffrin requires runoff to be controlled on new construction projects in excess of 499 square feet. Upper Merion asks for a plot plan showing setbacks and a Class A stormwater permit with a patio application unless it is an exact replacement. For Radnor, read the current figures on the township’s grading permits page. We review what applies to your property during planning.
Why does the total area of paving matter at the design stage?
Because stormwater rules count square feet, and a whole-yard plan has several areas to add. A patio, a walk and a kitchen pad can pass a figure together when none does alone. Tredyffrin’s form also counts new hard surface built since 2009, so earlier work on the lot and later stages of a phased plan go into the same total. Settling sizes early avoids redrawing the plan.
Can the plan be built in phases?
Yes. We can create a full master plan and then build it in stages over time. Designing the whole of it first makes each phase connect cleanly with the next. Tell us at the start, so the first stage carries the grades, drainage and conduit that later stages rely on and finished work does not have to be lifted.
Is the estimate a contract?
No. An estimate given through a website or by phone is not a binding contract. The scope, schedule and price of any work are confirmed in a signed agreement before work begins. Pennsylvania law requires that agreement to be in writing, to describe the work, the materials and a set of specifications, and to state the total price, and you may cancel without penalty within three business days of signing.
Can you design and build only one part of the yard?
Yes. We work at the scale the property needs, from one entry or one garden bed to a whole-property redesign. A plan for one area still looks at grade, drainage and how that area connects to the house, so it does not get in the way of anything you add later. Tell us if more is likely to follow, and we can plan the first piece with the next one in mind.