“We don’t only just go in and throw turf and pavers down; we make sure all the grades are set properly so you have negative drainage away from homes, and we’re protecting the homes from further water damage,” says Chris Eimer, who owns Yard Exotics and Contractors in Albuquerque.
The idea is simple. Water should run away from the house instead of collecting against it. Once the pavers are set and the turf is rolled out, nobody sees the slope underneath. Eimer wants customers to know it is there anyway. “I like to inform my customers about processes and how things are supposed to be done,” he says, “so that way they feel comfortable with the work that we do.”
Customers notice when it works. One homeowner described the crew laying new pavers on a back porch and through the backyard, then rerouting the runoff so the house no longer floods.
Eimer started the company in 2017, out of what he calls “a random passion of mine.” He took classes, started training and kept going. He says he is now certified through some of the major paver and turf manufacturers, which means he has to do right by their products as well as by the homeowner. Belgard pavers are among the materials the company buys.
On the residential side, he says, the specialty is outdoor living: hardscape, water features, artificial grass, plantings, “the construction side of it.” The company takes commercial jobs too, and it works across Albuquerque, Rio Rancho, Santa Fe, Edgewood and Los Lunas.
The crew is small. “I’m the only owner,” Eimer says, “but I do have a few employees, so it’s me and four guys that do all of our work.” He leads by example, he says, and explains to the crew what the company is trying to do.
Eimer has one yard in mind when he talks about grading. It is a job he was brought in to fix. After heavy rains, he says, the backyard “turned into a lake.” The land had never been prepped and no drainage had been built in, so the water had nowhere to go. It sat. As it soaked in, the ground settled, the yard began to sink and much of the landscaping was ruined.
“It just drains down into the ground,” he says, “which actually brings the ground with it.”