How we take the guessing out of your project
A complete outdoor living project should not start with a guess. It should start with a plan. Here's exactly how we take you from first conversation to finished space, step by step.
From first conversation to final walkthrough, here's the path.
Every project follows the same four-phase path. Your project manager is your single point of contact throughout, regardless of which specialist is on site that day.
The Backyard Oasis Roadmap
We call this planning phase the Backyard Oasis Roadmap. A paid design engagement, not a free estimate. Site visit, concept plan, real budget from comparable Hamilton County projects, material selections, and timeline. The fee credits in full to your build.
Design & engineering
We refine the Roadmap into construction-ready drawings, coordinate structural engineering for Indiana wind and snow loads, and handle the permits, if necessary, along with any HOA approvals. You never visit a permit office.
Build
One project manager coordinates a vetted network of specialists, the right certified installer for every phase. Weekly photo updates, daily site cleanup, direct phone and text access from first shovel to last screw.
Final walkthrough
Every fastener, joint, gas connection, and circuit checked. You receive a project-specific care guide, warranty documentation, and direct contact with your project manager. We follow up at 30 days and one year.
Your complete outdoor living plan before you commit to a build.
A paid design engagement, not a free estimate. Most homeowners tell us it's the single best investment they made in the entire project.
Set by your project scope and credited in full to your build upon contract signing. 5 spots per month.
- On-site design visit
- Concept renderings
- Detailed scope document
- Project budget
- Material selections
- Project timeline
- Master Plan binder
- Planning fee credited to your build
- AVision & discovery
We visit your property, walk the space together, and have a real conversation about how you want to live outdoors. Sun and shade, architecture, existing hardscape, utility access, HOA and municipal context. A design conversation, not a sales pitch.
- BScope, budget, feasibility
We develop a concept with real scope for every element, patio, deck, structure, kitchen, fire, lighting, landscaping, and a real budget range from comparable Hamilton County builds. We flag anything affecting feasibility before it becomes a change order.
- CBuild prep & selections
You receive your Master Plan binder: concept renderings, a project budget, a project timeline, and material selections. Yours to keep whether you build with us or not. If you move forward, the planning fee is credited in full.
“If the plan does not fit what you had in mind, we revise it. If it still is not right, we refund the planning fee.”
From approved plan to construction-ready, we handle the details you shouldn't have to.
Design development refines your Roadmap concept into construction-ready drawings, with material selections finalized before we break ground. For structures like pergolas, patio covers, and pavilions, we coordinate structural engineering drawings built for Indiana wind and snow loads.
We handle the permits your specific municipality requires, if necessary, including building, gas, electrical, and plumbing. Carmel, Fishers, Westfield, Noblesville, and Zionsville each have their own requirements, and you never have to visit a permit office. If your subdivision has architectural review, we prepare and submit the HOA application.
Before construction begins, we walk the approved plan with you on site and confirm the layout, materials, and timeline.
Your project is coordinated by one team, on your timeline, with weekly updates.
Every project is managed by your dedicated project manager, who coordinates a vetted network of specialists, the right certified installer for every phase (excavation, framing, masonry, electrical, gas), all working to our standards and schedule.
We manage the site like it's our own property. Materials are staged neatly, the work area is cleaned at the end of each day, and we communicate proactively about anything affecting the timeline: weather delays, material lead times, or scope adjustments.
- Patio (pavers or stone)1–3 weeks
- Deck (composite or wood)2–4 weeks
- Pergola or patio cover3–7 days after footings
- Outdoor kitchen2–4 weeks
- Fire feature3–10 days
- Full outdoor living build6–10 weeks
Every detail inspected. Every system tested. Then we hand you the keys.
When construction is complete, your project manager walks every element with you: patio surface and grading, deck boards and railing, structure framing and roofing, kitchen appliances and connections, fire feature operation, lighting, and drainage. We check every fastener, joint, gas connection, and electrical circuit before we call it done.
You receive a care guide specific to your project, warranty documentation for every warranted element, and direct contact information for your project manager, not a call center. The same person who managed your build is who you call if you ever need anything.
We follow up at 30 days and again at one year. The 30-day check confirms everything has settled as intended. The one-year check catches anything that developed over a full cycle of Indiana weather: freeze-thaw, settling, drainage patterns.
Why we charge for design, and why our clients say it's the best money they spent.
Most contractors offer free estimates because they're selling you a price, not a plan. A free estimate is a number on a page, often inaccurate and always incomplete. You don't know what you're actually getting until the build is underway, and by then, change orders and surprises have already inflated the cost beyond the original quote.
The Roadmap exists because a project of this scale deserves a real plan before a single dollar is committed to construction. You get a site-specific design, a detailed scope, a project budget, material selections, and a project timeline, all before you decide whether to build. The flat planning fee buys the design time your project deserves, and it's credited in full to your build when you move forward.
If you decide not to build with us after the Roadmap, you keep the Master Plan binder and can take it to another contractor. We're confident enough in our work that we don't need to lock you in. Most homeowners who complete the Roadmap build with us, because by that point they've seen the quality of the thinking and the plan.
30+ years, 525+ reviews, one team from design to done.
What people ask before they book the Roadmap.
The Roadmap is our paid planning phase, and it gives you a complete outdoor living plan before you commit to a build. It includes a site visit, a concept design, a detailed scope document, a project budget based on real Hamilton County project data, material selections, and a project timeline, compiled into your Master Plan binder. The fee is credited in full to your build upon contract signing, and if the plan does not fit what you had in mind, we revise it, and if it still is not right we refund the fee.
Your outdoor living space starts with a conversation. Let's have it.
Tell us what a perfect Saturday sounds like out here.
We'll listen first, then sketch. Every project starts with a paid planning phase, so you know what you're getting and what it costs before we build anything. The planning fee credits to your project when you build with us.