Sweat Equity

When buying their first home, newlyweds Ryan and Erin Carter knew they wanted to live in their hometown. Ryan is a professional hockey player and spends half of the year away from home, so low maintenance was key. However, they never imagined that their unfinished backyard would be such an issue. Their house sits at the bottom of a steep hill. Ryan and Erin want to fix the landscape and the privacy issue. Plus they need to address a questionably dangerous egress window that seems to be just waiting for someone to fall into it. Ryan is handy and because it's the off-season he has time to spare, and plenty of friends willing to help. We know that a good landscape job can return 100-150 percent and if the Carters keep their project in check they're hoping to achieve that. With dreams of enlarging the backyard with a retaining wall, a patio, deck, fire pit other cool design elements, and the need to go low maintenance, will they go too far?