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We are based in Lynnwood, WA and work throughout Snohomish and King County. If your town is not on this list, call us anyway — we will tell you straight away whether we can get a crew there.

It depends on the city and on what you are building. Most jurisdictions around here let you put in a residential fence under a certain height without a permit, but retaining walls past a set height, work in a critical area or steep slope, and anything that changes drainage usually do need one. Rules differ between Lynnwood, Edmonds, Bothell, Kirkland and unincorporated county land. We will tell you what your project needs before we start, and you should confirm with your local building department.

A straightforward backyard fence is often a one to two day job. A paver patio with proper base prep usually runs several days. Full landscape builds that involve excavation, drainage, irrigation and planting are measured in weeks. Weather, access to the yard and what we find once we start digging all move the number, so we give you a realistic window at the walkthrough rather than a best-case one.

Yes. Our season runs year-round. Some work is actually easier in the wet months — drainage problems are obvious when it is pouring, which makes them easier to diagnose and fix properly. We will push a day when conditions would hurt the quality of the work, such as setting posts or compacting base in saturated ground.

Standard practice is to set the fence a few inches inside the line so that digging post holes and setting concrete never encroaches on your neighbour’s property. If the exact line matters — a disputed boundary, a shared fence, a tight lot — we recommend a survey before we start. Moving a fence afterwards is far more expensive than locating the line first.

That is almost always “checking” — a natural process in solid wood, not a defect. As the post dries it releases moisture unevenly and the surface opens along the grain. It relieves internal stress and does not weaken the post or shorten its life. Nearly every solid wood post does it, and it is most noticeable in the first year.

Not for the fence to survive — cedar has natural oils that resist moisture, rot and insects, and left alone it weathers to a silver grey. Staining is about the look you want and about slowing that colour change. If you do plan to stain, let the wood dry out first; fresh cedar holds too much moisture to take a finish properly, and a stain applied too early will not bond. Follow the stain manufacturer’s guidance on timing.

Ground movement. When soil takes on water and freezes it expands, which can lift driveways, walkways and posts by a small amount. A gate with normal summer clearance can end up dragging in January and swinging freely again by spring. If it rubs year-round, that is a different problem — usually a post that has shifted or a sagging gate frame — and it should be looked at.

Standing water is usually one of three things: the grade sends water toward the house instead of away, the soil is heavy clay that will not absorb it, or there is a compacted layer under the lawn. The fix depends on which. Re-grading, a French drain or catch basins, amending soil, and moving downspout discharge away from the foundation are the common answers, often in combination. We look at where the water comes from before recommending anything.

It is a gravel-filled trench with a perforated pipe running through it that collects water underground and carries it somewhere it can safely discharge. It works well for a saturated lawn, water pooling against a foundation, or runoff coming down a slope toward the house. It is not the right tool for every wet yard — sometimes the real problem is grading or a downspout, and a drain would just be an expensive way to move the symptom.

Pavers settle when the base under them was too thin, not compacted properly, or was never allowed to drain. The pavers themselves are rarely the problem. We excavate to depth, build up compacted crushed rock in layers rather than all at once, and make sure water has somewhere to go beneath the surface. That base is most of the labour on a patio and it is the part that decides whether it is still flat in ten years.

Yes. Broken heads, cut lines, leaking valves, zones that will not fire and controllers that have lost their schedule are routine work for us. On an older system we will also tell you honestly when repairing it repeatedly is costing more than replacing a zone properly.

Before the first hard freeze — typically late autumn here. Water left in the lines expands when it freezes and splits pipe, heads and backflow devices, and those repairs cost far more than the winterisation would have. If you are not sure whether your system was ever blown out, it is worth checking before the cold arrives rather than finding out in spring.

Yes. Site prep, utility trenching, grading and small-scale demolition are handled by our own crew rather than subcontracted out. That matters because the groundwork sets up everything above it — if the grade and the base are wrong, no amount of good finish work will save the project.

Usually, yes. Low-voltage lighting can often be run through existing beds with minimal disturbance. It is easier and tidier when it goes in during a build, because the runs can be buried alongside the irrigation before the planting and hardscape go down — but a retrofit is very doable if the landscape is already in.

Call (425) 648-9443 or send the form below. We will set up a walkthrough, look at drainage, access and grade with you, and talk through what is realistic for the property and the budget. You get a clear scope of the work before anything is scheduled.