Backyard Reno - Stage 1 of 3
So, we now have moved in and really settled down...we always bought the place with making some major changes as we go along.
Plan is to get the outside pool and yard sorted, then move onto the house...
We decided that the backyard needed a major overhaul...
Lets take a look at what we started with and then in the next Post, I will show some construction pictures, followed by the final result :-)
Below were the stairs leading up to the pool, they were old paver's. with copper logs as the front support. Few problems there...over the years the logs degrade and the paver's sink. They also become quite lose and are prone to falling out. I also should have took a picture before David (my cuz) and I put up the pool fence. Either way, the stairs are pretty poor.
So, this is pretty much looking from our backdoor up the yard. Our block is quite steep, the difference in elevation from the front to the back would be about 20metres. For example, the green deck up the back there, when you stand on that, you can actually look over the top of our house and see the mountains, runs from the bottom of Balgownie all the way towards Sydney (can see the lights at night). You can then look out over the local suburbs and then down to the ocean...
As you can see, there is a nice walkway that runs up the side, to the granny flat (now my office and where Beck does her sewing). To the right is a very old retaining wall, thats falling down, it's got the pool drainage pipe running over the top. Then there is a old shed, we did have some of the kids things in there, like bikes, toys, etc.
Now, this is to the left of the backdoor, looking across the yard. You see, our place is broken into two section, the main house, and then the granny flat out the back, this has been constructed in a raised manner, so, I am actually standing under my office :-)
What you can see is the gradual slope up the yard, a retaining wall and part of the car port. This again, is constructed of retaining walls and is dug into the ground.
Our plan is to remove the wall closest to us, and the back one, we can then keep the one that is acting as the fence and leave the car port up.
Here is a quick picture up the driveway into the car port, as I said above, we wanted to keep the right wall and knock down the back and left ones.
Final picture here, this is from the top of the path, looking down the backyard.
Ok, now what are our plans for the yard:
Plan is to get the outside pool and yard sorted, then move onto the house...
We decided that the backyard needed a major overhaul...
Lets take a look at what we started with and then in the next Post, I will show some construction pictures, followed by the final result :-)
Below were the stairs leading up to the pool, they were old paver's. with copper logs as the front support. Few problems there...over the years the logs degrade and the paver's sink. They also become quite lose and are prone to falling out. I also should have took a picture before David (my cuz) and I put up the pool fence. Either way, the stairs are pretty poor.
So, this is pretty much looking from our backdoor up the yard. Our block is quite steep, the difference in elevation from the front to the back would be about 20metres. For example, the green deck up the back there, when you stand on that, you can actually look over the top of our house and see the mountains, runs from the bottom of Balgownie all the way towards Sydney (can see the lights at night). You can then look out over the local suburbs and then down to the ocean...As you can see, there is a nice walkway that runs up the side, to the granny flat (now my office and where Beck does her sewing). To the right is a very old retaining wall, thats falling down, it's got the pool drainage pipe running over the top. Then there is a old shed, we did have some of the kids things in there, like bikes, toys, etc.
Now, this is to the left of the backdoor, looking across the yard. You see, our place is broken into two section, the main house, and then the granny flat out the back, this has been constructed in a raised manner, so, I am actually standing under my office :-)What you can see is the gradual slope up the yard, a retaining wall and part of the car port. This again, is constructed of retaining walls and is dug into the ground.
Our plan is to remove the wall closest to us, and the back one, we can then keep the one that is acting as the fence and leave the car port up.
Here is a quick picture up the driveway into the car port, as I said above, we wanted to keep the right wall and knock down the back and left ones.
Final picture here, this is from the top of the path, looking down the backyard.
Ok, now what are our plans for the yard:
- We want to replace the existing retaining wall,
- Level out the section that runs between the car port and the undercover area, as this will give more "play area" for the kids,
- Keep the main wall of the car port that is on the property boundary, we want to use this as a feature wall much later,
- Add a second retaining wall, this level will be used as a feature garden, something simple here. Beck wants some Lavender plants, a number of stepping stones and a central feature,
- Level off the section just below the pool deck,
- Build a central staircase where the existing path to the back is,
- Replace the existing stairs to the Pool Area, and
- Get rid of that old shed.
posted by Unknown at
7:49 PM
