I cannot tell where the deck (that you're standing on in the picture) is relative to the steps and wall. (There should not be any "2-by" wood material in contact with the ground. It will not hold up for the long term.) It does not look like the steps will hold. Their first course should be below grade. Each course should be a "U" shaped layout with returns at each side. The falling wood wall should be rebuilt before the steps get near that area. You'll need to excavate for it as per the Interlock specs. Because of the slope, you'll need to excavate deeper for the starting course of the wall. It's likely that once you remove the failing wood wall you can excavate without the slope crumbling, but rebuild the wall without delay because rain or too long an exposure can do damage. Keep weight off of the top of the slope during the construction process. You need to plan for drainage per the Interlock specs. The linked Interlock installation guide will help for general ideas about how the wall is constructed. If you have more questions, please add a picture that shows: deck at top, entire path of steps and the wood walk where you were standing all in ONE picture. Back up with camera and show the entire construction scene. You can only add one picture per post unless all pictures are first uploaded to a photo-hosting website. Here is a link that might be useful: Pisa2 Installation Guide

Hi Weedy, Thanks for the reply-- We currently don't even walk on the deck, the beams meeting at the outside-left corner have completely rotted away and not supported by the posts... I swear it's inertia and friction holding the thing up this point... I like your idea of having just two retaining walls and leveling out the area, the trouble is that the lowest spot in my yard is not quite as low as I'd like the area under the deck to be, meaning in order to water away from the house I'd have to either build a retaining wall there or build up a small mound to provide grade. This is why I was thinking of building retaining walls on 3 sides to box in the whole area under the deck while incorporating a set of steps into one of the walls (probably right side) to keep access. For the footings, I figured I needed to 4' lower then the lowest point around me, just wanted to hear another opinion... this a lot of digging!! Regarding posts and retaining walls... my idea was that the footprint of the deck is exactly the same as the retaining wall--so are you suggesting making the deck larger then the footprint of the retaining wall, meaning the posts are set "outside" of the retaining wall? or smaller? I wasn't really expecting to gain much by incorporating posts into the retaining wall, just trying to maximize my space under the deck for storage. Currently the deck is about even w/ the window on the right side, and off by only a couple of feet on the other, so expanding the deck parallel w/ the house could only grow by 2-3' before it starts to overhang the windows (I think it's 8' now, so it could grow to maybe 10')... I could certainly grow the deck perpendicular to the house, that might be the best option, that would also allow me have more of the deck in the sun which would be nice. I'm doing a a "hybrid DIY" on the build, I'll be hiring a family friend who is a professional carpenter, so I do have hourly costs associated with the build, but all the same I'd still rather spend more now to get a better build :) Ideally I'll be getting "serious" around July 1st, applying for the permits, taking down the old deck, etc...

The small tree is a tree FORM. Make it out of a large shrub so it's roots will not be too extensive. What is the brick cut-out? It looks like an unfinished construction. I figured it was temporary and would be "healed." Next step for you is to create a base plan where all the features (house/wall/deck/tree trunks/shed/fence, etc) are located accurately. Then draw bed lines. Begin placing plants. Use appropriately sized circles for larger plants and outlines for plant groupings. If you make multiple copies of the base plan and scratch out your ideas until they are refined. You've got to convert ideas in picture, refining as you go, to a PLAN in order to know that things fit, are properly located and so you can calculate quantities. Once the plan is finished, you can create a plant list based on it. And then go shopping. If you're doing irrigation, it should be installed after large trees (if any) are put in place, and before all the other plants. If no irrigation, Fall is the better time to plant IMO as roots get more time to develop before hot weather arrives.

"...builder screwed up and didn't plan an appropriate exit..." Well I guess. Is the builder willing to rectify the situation? It looks to me that it may be possible to build a deck outside the back door which projects beyond the face of the house, with minimal steps and/or ramp in the direction of the left side of the photo, parallel to the face of the house. In other words, a deck projecting out beyond the house for whatever dimension you want with access/egress toward the left margin of the photo, where the grade appears highest. It appears that the ground slopes off so much to the right side of the house that it's impractical to build anything in that direction. What do you prefer to do?