Best Mulch for Chicago Beds: Hardwood, Cedar, Dyed, Rubber and Leaf Mulch Compared
For most Chicago-area beds the strongest default is shredded hardwood or arborist wood chips. University of Illinois Extension states plainly that “research shows that arborist’s wood chips provide more benefits with fewer drawbacks than other mulch choices,” and Fixr describes shredded hardwood as dense enough to hold a slope without migrating. Cedar and cypress cost…
Mulch Installation Cost in Chicago: Per Yard, Per Bag and Delivered vs Installed
Professionally installed mulch runs about $78 to $95 per cubic yard in Chicago, a figure that already includes the material, the delivery and the labor to spread it, per LawnStarter’s city-by-city table. Priced as a whole job instead of by the yard, Angi puts a standard yard at $75 to $325 with an average of…
Fence Height and Permit Rules in Chicago, Skokie, Evanston and the North Shore
Six feet is the usual ceiling for a rear or interior side yard fence across Chicago and the North Shore, and front and corner-side yards are held lower — four to five feet in most towns, and 54 inches in a Chicago front setback for anything more than 20 percent solid. Chicago requires no building…
Cedar vs Vinyl vs Aluminum Fencing for Chicago Yards
For a Chicago-area yard, cedar is the value privacy choice at $35 to $40 per linear foot installed, with a service life of 15 to 20 years for plain cedar and 25 years or more for Western red cedar. Vinyl costs more up front at $30 to $60 per linear foot and asks almost nothing…
Cedar Fence Cost in Chicago: Per Foot, by Height and Style
A cedar fence in the Chicago area runs about $18.50 to $46.50 per linear foot installed, which works out to $3,700 to $9,300 for a typical 200-foot residential run and an average near $6,500, per Angi’s 2026 cedar fence cost data. HomeGuide puts a cedar privacy fence at $35 to $40 per linear foot installed…
Driveway Repair, Resurfacing or Replacement? Cracks, Heaving and Sinking in Chicago
Repair a driveway when the damage sits on the surface and the base under it is sound, resurface when the wear runs across the driveway but the slab is still level, and replace when it is heaving, sinking in large sections, or past its service age. HomeGuide puts driveway repair at $100 to $400 for…
Paver vs Concrete vs Asphalt Driveway for Chicago: Cost, Lifespan and Winter Performance
For a Chicago-area driveway, concrete is the middle-cost, long-life default, pavers cost the most and last the longest, and asphalt is the lowest-cost to install but needs resealing every few years. HomeGuide’s 2026 figures put asphalt at $5 to $12 or more per square foot, concrete at $6 to $15, and pavers at $10 to…
Paver Patio Repair: Sunken Pavers, Re-Sanding and Re-Leveling in Chicago
Sunken pavers are almost always a base problem, not a paver problem. The aggregate under that spot washed out, was never compacted properly, or moved through a freeze-thaw cycle, and the pavers followed it down. The repair is to lift the sunken area plus a border of sound pavers around it, rebuild and compact the…
Paver Patio Installation Step by Step: Base Depth, Drainage and Timeline for Chicago Freeze-Thaw
A paver patio is built in nine stages, and every number that decides whether it survives a Chicago winter sits below the pavers. ICPI/CMHA Tech Spec 2 sets a minimum compacted aggregate base of 4 inches for patios over well-drained soils and says colder climates and continually wet or weak soils need thicker bases; Unilock’s…
How to Choose a Patio Contractor in Chicago: 10 Questions to Ask Before You Sign
Choosing between patio quotes in Chicago comes down to what you cannot see once the job is finished: base depth, compaction, drainage, edge restraint and joint sand. Guidance from the Interlocking Concrete Pavement Institute, now part of the Concrete Masonry & Hardscapes Association, sets a minimum compacted aggregate base of 4 inches for patios over…
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