This might just be one of the most interesting - and occasionally head-scratching - projects we've taken on in recent years: forty steps of concrete stairs paired with a property line wall that stretches like a marathon runner along a stunning waterfront home in South Surrey.

Our mission? Construct a perfectly smooth, 120-foot concrete wall to define the property line, add multiple retaining walls throughout the yard, and build a full run of concrete stairs spanning the entire slope of the lot. The home's modern architectural style called for clean lines and a sleek finish, so we made sure every inch of concrete looked just as polished as the view.

Now, here's where things got fun. The house sits on a seriously steep slope - picture "don't look down" steep - and there wasn't enough space for any heavy-duty equipment. So we unleashed our smallest but mightiest 1.5-ton excavator to handle all earth removal. And handle it did: over 50 tons of dirt scooped, hauled, and unloaded. That's a lot of bucketfuls... and a lot of very full dump trucks. Five of them, to be exact.

Once the concrete structures were in place, we tied the project together with fresh landscaping, including segmented wall blocks, river rock beds, and carefully finished upper planters. The result? A cohesive, polished look from front to back - because great concrete deserves great scenery.

The property may measure 7,200 sq. ft. (120 ft. x 60 ft.), but its dramatic slope made the concrete pours an adventure of their own. In total, we poured over 100 cubic meters of concrete across seven separate pours. For context, an average driveway uses about 10 cubic meters... so this project was basically ten driveways stacked vertically. That's a whole lot of concrete.

Access from the front yard to the backyard was originally nonexistent, so we removed sections of the old concrete walls and installed a brand-new stair system. The yard now works exactly as it should - and the homeowners couldn't be happier. Honestly, neither could we.

By the time we wrapped up the project this week, we'd climbed these new 40 steps of stairs so many times our legs thought we'd done The Grouse Grind - twice. At least we can say we mixed a little cardio into our concrete work!