CRBA designs and builds backyards across Hayward, Castro Valley, San Leandro, Fremont, San Jose, and the greater Bay Area — decks that handle two decades of weather, patios and pergolas that make the yard usable in July and January, outdoor kitchens built for real cooking, and the retaining walls and drainage work that hold a hillside lot together. Built by a licensed general contractor, engineered where code requires it, permitted where cities require it. Lic #1095283.
CSLB Lic #1095283· Fully Insured · 10-Year Workmanship Warranty · Free Written Estimates
Talk to the contractor, not a call center.
Bay Area weather means a backyard can be a second living room nine months a year — if it’s actually built for it. Here’s when homeowners call us:
Not sure what your yard needs — or what it can support? Call (510) 990-9243, describe the space and how you want to use it, and we’ll give you a realistic scope and range.
Six ways we build out a backyard.
New decks in redwood, cedar, and low-maintenance composite — built on proper footings with code-compliant framing, flashing, and connections. Multi-level decks, wraparounds, and elevated decks with engineered posts and stairs. Permitted where required, built to last decades rather than seasons.
Trex, TimberTech, and similar composite systems for homeowners done with sanding and sealing every other summer. Higher material cost, dramatically lower upkeep, and a 25+ year lifespan in Bay Area conditions. We’ll walk you through the honest trade-offs versus wood at your estimate.
Rotted boards, failed ledger connections, loose railings, and unsafe stairs — assessed structurally, not cosmetically. Sometimes it’s a resurface over sound framing; sometimes the framing is the problem. You’ll get the real diagnosis and both prices.
Concrete, paver, and stamped patios installed with proper base prep, slope, and drainage — the three things that decide whether a patio lasts or cracks. Includes walkways, pool decks, and driveway extensions.
Pergolas, gazebos, and shade structures engineered for wind and sun exposure, plus outdoor kitchens and BBQ islands with counters, storage, gas, water, and electrical run properly. Fire pits and outdoor fireplaces built to code, not to Pinterest.
Engineered retaining walls that hold Bay Area slopes, French drains and grading that move water away from your house and your new patio, and fences and gates set straight and built to last. The structural work that protects everything else in the yard.
Don’t see your project? Call (510) 990-9243— we handle it all.
Call (510) 990-9243. We ask about the space, the grade, how you want to use it, and your budget comfort — and give you a working range plus an early read on whether permits or engineering are involved.
Free on-site visit: we check grade, drainage, soil, existing structures, and where utilities run. Then design and, where required, structural details. You get a written itemized quote — footings, framing, materials, permits, drainage, finishes, timeline — before anything is scheduled.
We pull permits where the project requires them and manage inspections. Then footings, framing or base prep, decking or paving, railings, structures, and finish work — with the site cleaned daily and hauled out at the end. Final walkthrough before we call it done.
Realistic timeline: most decks and patios are 2–6 weeks of construction; larger outdoor living projects with kitchens, walls, and drainage run 6–12 weeks. Permits add [ typically 2–8 weeks in Bay Area cities depending on scope].
Realistic Bay Area ranges: ground-level decks and patios typically run $45–$85 per square foot; elevated and composite decks $80–$150 per square foot; full outdoor living projects with kitchen, pergola, walls, and lighting commonly land $60,000–$180,000.
What you won’t pay for:
Call (510) 990-9243 with your yard’s rough size and what you want in it.
Deck and patio quotes vary wildly because half the cost is under the surface — footings, framing, base prep, and drainage. Here’s the honest structure:
Phone range first. Approximate square footage, ground-level or elevated, wood or composite, and whether the yard slopes — that’s enough for a working range.
Free on-site visit and written quote. No estimate fee. And we look at grade and drainage before quoting, because those are the two things that turn a cheap bid into a change order.
Five things drive the price on a Bay Area deck or backyard project:
Based in Hayward, building backyards across the East Bay and South Bay:
Core service area: Hayward · Castro Valley · San Leandro · Fremont · Union City · San Jose
Also serving: Palo Alto · Mountain View · Sunnyvale · Cupertino · Santa Clara · Los Gatos · Oakland · San Francisco
In 2026, ground-level decks in the Bay Area typically run $45–$85 per square foot, while elevated decks and composite builds run $80–$150 per square foot. A 400-square-foot composite deck commonly totals $35,000–$60,000. The largest cost drivers are elevation, material choice, and site conditions like slope and access.
Choose wood (redwood or cedar) for lower upfront cost and natural appearance, accepting annual cleaning and sealing every 2–3 years. Choose composite for 25+ years of near-zero maintenance in Bay Area fog and rain, at a meaningfully higher upfront cost. Over a 20-year horizon composite usually costs less in total; over five years wood does. We price both at your estimate.
Usually yes. Most Bay Area cities require permits for decks above a certain height off the ground, any deck attached to the house, and any structure with electrical or gas. Low ground-level platforms are sometimes exempt. Unpermitted decks routinely surface during home sales, and an unpermitted attached deck is a safety issue as well as a paperwork one. We confirm requirements for your city before quoting.
Most decks take 2–6 weeks of construction depending on size, elevation, and material. Larger outdoor living projects with kitchens, retaining walls, and drainage run 6–12 weeks. Permitting, where required, adds time before work starts — which is why summer-ready backyards get started in winter.
With proper framing, flashing, and connections: pressure-treated and redwood decks typically last 15–25 years with regular maintenance; composite decking commonly lasts 25–30+ years. The framing underneath usually decides a deck's real lifespan, not the surface — which is why we don't resurface over questionable framing.
Sometimes — and we'll tell you honestly which you're facing. If the framing, ledger, and footings are sound, replacing surface boards and railings is a fraction of a rebuild. If the ledger connection or joists have rot, resurfacing hides a structural problem rather than fixing it. We assess the structure, not just the boards.
A deck is a framed structure, usually elevated, ideal for sloped yards and for extending off a raised floor level. A patio is a ground-level surface — concrete, pavers, or stone — that costs less per square foot, requires no framing, and lasts longer with less maintenance. On a flat yard a patio is usually the better value; on a slope or off a raised door, a deck is the practical answer.
If your yard has a meaningful slope, holds back soil above a usable area, or shows signs of soil movement, yes. Bay Area clay soils expand and contract seasonally, which is hard on undersized walls. Walls above a certain height require engineering and permits — done properly with drainage behind them, they last decades; stacked without drainage, they lean within a few years.
Yes — outdoor kitchens with gas lines, water, drainage, and electrical are built as a permitted project by our own crew and licensed trade partners. Gas and electrical to an outdoor structure require permits and inspection in every Bay Area city; done correctly it's safe and adds real usable living space.
Outdoor living space is consistently one of the better-returning exterior projects in the Bay Area, where the climate makes a yard usable most of the year. Permitted work counts; unpermitted structures can reduce value because buyers and lenders discount them. If resale is your goal, tell us and we'll steer scope accordingly.
Late winter and early spring are ideal — permitting and construction happen during the wet season, so the yard is ready when the weather turns. Summer is our busiest window with the longest lead times. Bay Area winters are mild enough that construction continues year-round, with weather delays mostly affecting concrete pours and footings.
Both, and they belong in the same project. Water is the single biggest threat to any backyard structure and to your foundation. We handle grading, French drains, and downspout routing as part of the build rather than leaving you to solve it after the patio is poured.
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Deck construction, composite decking, patios, pergolas, outdoor kitchens, retaining walls, and drainage across Hayward, Fremont, San Jose, and the Bay Area. Licensed general contractor, permits handled, written itemized quotes. Free on-site visit.
