How do I renovate patio?

[samp]

Hello Community,

I am a first-home owner and wish to renovate the backyard of property I bought. The patio has concrete slab, attached to the house wall, and is split due to some reason, probably soil erosion. I am not sure whether I should get rid of the retaining wall (shown in picture) which adds to aesthetics but leaves very small area for any seating arrangement. If I get rid of it then height from the door to the ground level increases too much. The ventilation holes of the sub-floor area ( visible in the picture) is a few centimetres above the concrete slab. So, seeking thoughts on how can I go about renovating it ? thank you. 

[EricL]

Hello @samp 

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community. It's sensational to have you join us, and thanks for sharing your question about renovating your patio.

Have you seen an image of a patio set-up that has inspired you? I suggest gathering ideas and images from magazines and brochures. Ask yourself, what are some of the things you want to do in your patio? A place to sit down and relax? Perhaps a place to entertain or cook BBQ? 

Your patio flooring slab is actually a bit low from your doors, this is a great opportunity to build a deck that will span the area and go right over past the retaining wall. At this point in time, I don't recommend removing the retaining wall as it is holding the soil under your slab.   

You could also increase your floor space by making the slab bigger and tiling over it. You can relocate the plants that are on the higher level and thereby create more space. 

Here are some fantastic patio make overs our Workshop members have shared:

• Backyard patio makeover by @Chiren_J 
   
• Patio makeover by @darylhewston 
   
• Patio makeover with new paving by @Minu 

Let me call on our experienced members @daniknight4, @lifestylebymari and @prettyliving for their recommendations. 

If you have any other questions we can help with, please let us know.

Eric

[samp]

Thank you so much @EricL for the warm welcome to this community! I appreciate your words of guidance regarding the patio reno.

Your suggestion about building a deck and to extend it past the retaining wall sounds like a brilliant idea, and I was excited to ponder over it further. Actually, I am thinking to extend deck up to to the point where I still leave a small channel-like area for decorative plants along the deck. So, a flower channel is between the edge of the deck and the retaining wall, purely for aesthetics.

Anyway, It's inspiring to see what others have accomplished in the links you've sent, too.

Once again, thank you for your thoughtful response, Eric !  

[EricL]

Hello @samp 

I'm glad my suggestions helped. I definitely recommend starting a small notebook of ideas. Anything you see or hear that you might like to put into your patio goes into your notebook. At this point no idea is too outrageous as you are just at the planning stage. Your idea of a channel for plants along your deck can be done.

Take a walk around your neighbourhood and have a look at the different patios on show. You might find a wall hanging garden or a pergola you would like to emulate in your patio.

Let me call on our experienced members @Dave-1 and @homeinmelbourne for their recommendations.

If you have any other questions we can help with, please let us know.

Eric

[Dave-1]

Afternoon @samp 

I was looking at your patio area the other day and had a few thoughts even before @EricL tagged me

First up tho, could you give us a photo of the yard from the patio? 

Are the pavers that are on the lawn below the retianing wall pavers or stenciled concrete?

Does the concrete slab continue across the rear of the house to the other steps from the awning side? I was looking closely and cant tell if its concrete or pavers?

I take a sketch pad with me when I have a coffee at a cafe, then sit and sketch up how the yard, area is that I am thinking of.

Then sketch a second one almost the same with the difference. So you can flip between the two pages and actually see how it looks.

It works pretty well in solidifying ideas you may want.

There are two things that do worry me about extending the patio. Both sides of the steps in your photo have the bottom steps slightly sloped, probarly due to settling of the fill behind the retaining wall. 

So heres my first idea

I like the fruit tree and the concrete/paving you have. I prefer straight retaining walls tho as I find it maximises the area you can use functionaly.

So the second photo I am talking about now. How about you relay the retaining wall from the "bend" point to keep the wall straight. This will increse the flat area of your patio realativly easily.

I would remove the whole top course of retaining wall blacks and then when you are extending the wall "straight" to a corner (You could shift the steps to be at the corner to solve corner issues) and then straight down to the sode of your house. A rough look/count make sit seem possible to do without having to source more of the retaing wall blocks. You would just need soil to fill. Once you have backfilled then you could have your garden and also pave the area between the garden/tree/ and the existing slab.

If you decide to remove the retaining wall for another style, I would suggest to consider a gabion wall. Check out my bookmarks if you would like to see how they work. But for the least cost/effort option I do like the one I have suggested.

Dave

Dave