Hello everyone. My name is Stephanie, I graduated from college in December and I'm 21 and just recently purchased my first home. I am in need of some advice. The home I purchased is definitely a fixer upper. First of all, I have quite a bit more in a budget for renovations, my realtor managed to get the asking price down by quite a bit due to all of the work that needs done around the house. One of my bigger concerns is the backyard. This is definitely where I need some help. The previous homeowners were very nice, and did show me before I purchased the home all of the things they thought would need fixed. In the backyard, they started to strip the back deck. They said they started it several years ago and then just didn't finish it. It looks to me like its been pretty well stripped off by weather now, and most of the boards need replaced, I was considering replacing them with a composite decking like Trex, but was unsure the cost was worth it. A bigger problem is the hill behind the house. The wife said when they first moved in they hired a landscaper who built a rock retaining wall, that collapsed less than a year after the build. It is a very steep incline, and is continuing to fall down. The erosion has built up so much the dirt off the hill has covered up 2 stairs of the existing deck. I am not sure I can afford a block retaining wall or not, in fact my boyfriend and I were hoping to try and do something ourselves, I saw on DIY network a couple that built a treated lumber retaining wall, I'm just not sure if that will be heavy duty enough. But I'm still not sure about drainage. Which leads to the next problem, the side yard adjacent to the deck and hill has pooling water. The wife again said it had always been a problem, but they never had it fixed. Also in the side yard is the water meter for my home and the neighboors. I was wondering what could be done to assist the water from pooling. I hate to keep blabbering, but I have two more questions. The cabinets themselves in the kitchen are in great shape, but definitely need new doors and hardware. How difficult would it be to take the existing doors and make them glass doors instead? And one other thing is the chain link fence in the front yard. I have two dogs and the fence would be nice, but I'm not a big fan of chain link and its fallen into disrepair and needs replaced. How hard is it to remove chainlink? Thanks to anyone for any sort of advice or suggestions! ^_^