Bid to Broom: Inside Our Build Process

Most homeowners have never had a landscape crew on their property before, and the uncertainty is genuinely stressful: How long will equipment be here? Will they need access to the house? What happens if it rains? Is it normal that nothing seems to have happened on day three?

This is our process, described honestly—including the parts that are loud, dusty, and slower than anyone would like.

Before Anything Starts

Site Visit and Design

We walk the property, take measurements, look at drainage patterns, check access, and talk about how you actually use the space—not how a catalog says you should. We photograph everything. If the project involves a shade structure, we note sun angles at the times of day that matter to you.

Proposal and Scope

You get a written scope with material specifications, base depths, and a line-item breakdown. If a bid you're comparing doesn't state base depth and product names, that's a signal.

Approvals

HOA submittal first, permits second. This is the phase most likely to add calendar time and it's largely outside our control—budget 30 days as a realistic default for HOA review.

Blue Stake

Arizona 811 utility locating is required before excavation, and the ticket has a mandatory waiting period. This is non-negotiable and it's part of why work doesn't start the day after you sign.

On Site: A Representative 14-Day Build

This is a full backyard renovation—demolition, drainage, paver patio, turf, and a shade structure. Timelines scale with scope.

Days 1-2: Demolition and Excavation

The loudest, dustiest phase. Existing concrete comes out, vegetation is removed, and we excavate to design depth. Expect a dumpster or haul-off trailer, a skid steer or mini excavator, and a yard that looks dramatically worse than when we started.

This is the point where clients most often get nervous. It's supposed to look like this.

Days 3-4: Grading, Drainage, and Utility Rough-In

Subgrade compaction, drainage lines and basins, and any conduit or sleeving for future lighting, gas, or irrigation. Everything that has to happen while the ground is open happens now, because reopening it later is expensive.

Still nothing that looks like progress from the kitchen window. This is the phase that determines whether the project lasts.

Days 5-6: Aggregate Base

Class 2 base placed in lifts, moisture-conditioned, and compacted. Plate compactors run for extended periods—this is the second-loudest phase. By the end of it the shape of the finished yard is finally visible in the grade.

Days 7-9: Paver Installation

Screeding the bedding course, laying the field, cutting the perimeter, setting borders, installing edge restraint. Saw cutting is loud and produces dust; we wet-cut where practical to control it.

This is where visible progress accelerates sharply and clients start sending photos to family.

Days 10-11: Structure

Footings, posts, beams, roof. If a permit inspection is required on footings, the schedule pauses until the inspector clears it—inspection scheduling is a common source of a lost day.

Days 12-13: Turf and Planting

Turf base is finished separately from hardscape base, weed barrier goes down, turf is laid, seamed, secured, and infilled. Planting, gravel groundcover, and irrigation follow.

Day 14: Details and Cleanup

Joint sand and final compaction, lighting fixtures and aiming, irrigation testing and controller programming, full cleanup, and a walkthrough with you.

What to Expect as a Homeowner

• Hours: Crews typically start early—6:30 or 7:00 AM in summer—to work before peak heat. We keep to municipal noise ordinances.
• Access: We need gate access and usually a water spigot and an exterior outlet. We do not need interior access.
• Pets: Keep them inside during work hours. Gates get propped open and equipment moves constantly.
• Dust: Real and unavoidable during demolition and cutting. Close windows on the work side.
• Parking: A truck and trailer will occupy street frontage. We give neighbors a heads-up on tight streets.
• Staging: Material pallets need somewhere to sit—usually the driveway. Plan vehicle parking around that.

Where Schedules Actually Slip

We'd rather set the expectation than defend a missed date:

• Weather. Monsoon storms stop work and can require re-compaction of a wetted base. Extreme heat days shorten crew hours for safety.
• Inspections. Scheduling is the city's timeline, not ours.
• Unknowns underground. Caliche, an unmarked irrigation line, buried construction debris from the original build.
• Material lead times. Specialty pavers and custom structures can carry weeks of lead time. We order early and tell you the date.
• Change orders. Mid-project additions are welcome, but they extend the schedule. We'll tell you by how much before you approve.

"Days one through six are the ones that determine whether you're happy in year ten, and they're the ones where it looks like nothing is happening. That's not a coincidence."

After the Walkthrough

You get care instructions specific to what we installed, warranty documentation, and product information for everything specified. We check in after the first monsoon season, because that's the real test of drainage work—and if anything moved, we'd rather find it than have you find it.