Question
Hi


We will be purchasing a home with a small backyard that is about 45 degrees sloped.  The slope isn't bad but at the moment, pretty unusable.  We have 2 young kids and wanted to put a play structure and a play house.  The backyard backs to a greenway.  I'm wondering if flattening a sloped yard is possible and if so, how much it would run.

Thanks, Helen

Answer
Helen,
Well there are several ways to go about this.
I would say the less expensive route would be to bring in soil to even up the terrain. You can ask around at nurseries and construction sites to get in contact with someone that hauls soil. This would be dumped on your site and spread out as evenly as possible and you could finish the rest of it which would be raking the soil and getting out the big clumps and making the lawn level with your slope.
It needs to be rolled over and packed down to get an even elevation. Then you need some good quality top soil put on top before spreading grass seed and bring out the sprinklers for the lawn to get started.
You can also use sod,which is grass rolls laid down for an instant lawn.This would be quite more expensive than seeding.
Another way is to hire an excavator to bring in a backhoe and slice into the slope and distribute the soil or chunks of lawn onto the lowest part and work it out evenly.This would be quite a bit more I would think because of the big equipment used and the skill involved using it.
Most established excavators get paid about $70 to $100 an hour or maybe even more. You can always ask for a free estimate.I would think any company would give free estimates on larger jobs such as this.
You didn't mention how much flat yard you had at the bottom of the slope if any.Would that be enough room for the play equipment or is most of the yard on the slope?
If you want to ask any more questions feel free.
Good luck with your new home!