The Answer to Ugly Block Walls in Your Backyard

Here in AZ a lot of houses are separated from their neighbors by a block retaining wall. The walls can be kind of ugly to look at, so many people paint them or put up plants to mask the walls. The company Block Wall Beautification of Arizona (BWB) has another answer – put up a landscape mural to make the wall look a little prettier.

The company was founded by Alan Gellman and Paul Guthart. They had lived in the Eastern part of the United States, where people are able to easily have vegetable and plant gardens. Paul was entertaining one day in his yard in Scottsdale and thought about what he could do to mask that ugly wall. He and his partner Alan spent 2 ½ years doing research and came up with giant mesh weatherproof and fade resistant murals to put up on the block walls to create a backyard retreat.

Started in March 2008, the company offers 50 different panoramic digital images and charges customers around $3-4.50 a foot, installed. You can have a mural 10 feet high and 4000 feet wide. If you choose to have the murals installed, there is a 5 year warranty and charge of $100. However, there is also an option to install the murals yourself. This is a cheaper alternative to having your block wall handpainted, which could cost thousands of dollars more than what BWB charges.

What do you guys think? Is anyone interested in putting a golf course mural on their block wall near a putting green, an ocean mural next to their pool, or a desert scene next to their cactus?