Yard reno

[pete_brig]

Was checking out @Jason's blog post of top 10 garden makeovers & was motivated to add our story. BTW, I think some of Jason's picks (e.g. @maknilsin) were renos (major rework) rather than makeovers (cosmetic/low rework) but that's just my opinion; regardless, they were inspiring & a great read. Hope this inspires others like @mydreams--of course the scale can be varied to suit the space. We (my wife & I) have talked about making some planter boxes (I made some for my 80+ Mum last year to make her garden easier to manage) so I know if she sees the ones with the deck cladding, I'll be getting some directions promptly altho she is becoming adept at using various power tools (drop saw, table saw), hammer, cordless drill etc & successfully built a book case using laminated boards & threaded rod but that's another post...

Like a lot of ppl, we have a basic/bland yard. 600m2 block with road frontage on 3 sides (front & LHS facing house are entry/part of cul-de-sac; RHS road is access to estate). As you will see in the photos, we had done some tinkering--painted inside of treated pine fence, small deck & garden beds--while I was procrastinating. We started the reno in April when my wife pushed me to just jump in. Here's where we started...with our plan & the existing yard: right side is approx 14m, back fence is approx 25m

The plan

 

Then came the earthworks to get the levels for the boardwalk & decks--approx $800 for 1 day of a guy with mini-excavator & bobcat. And, yes, that's red clay you can see. Dry most of the time we were working (April-Aug in BrisVegas) but added 2cm to the boots when walked on when wet

Side of houseAlong back of house between back fence

Looking from back fence along LHS to clotheslineFrom clothesline to back fence

Concrete pad for garden shed was outsourced--approx $1100. Conscripted (adult) children to spread mulch, erect garden shed, help build boardwalk...don't have a complete figure but $350 for 5m3 cypress mulch, $700+ for boardwalk timber (150x25mm plank tops, 800mm wide), $1100+ for semi-advanced plants

2 x Waterhousea floribunda (10m hybrid), Backhousia citriodora, birds of paradise,native & exotic gingers , small palms, Philodendron "Xanadu"Palms, agave, variegated cordylinesboardwalk to clothesline & garden shed

Back deck construction... 4.5mx2.1m (WxD) approx $700 for materials

Garden in corner between 2 decks: palms, waterhouseas, red cordylines, elephant ears, giant bird of paradise, frangapani

Firepit with pizza & drinks to enjoy our work:

Firepit on the back deck for pizza & drinks

Then about a month later came the side deck--I was finding the construction techniques a bit overwhelming (400mm fall between house & fence) so more procrastination but we got there & here's the story in pics

Starting out on the side deckDone!The al fresco area that's abutted to the back and side deckslooking from al fresco to the side deck with gazeboLooking alng the RHS of the house from the front fence to the side deck

Approx $1500 for timber, hardware, & nail gun hire.

A little  more planting still to do around the water tank... but we've more than doubled the al fresco space so it's gone from being a holding space for BBQ & table to relaxationville! Side deck yet to be tested but we'll be having the in-laws over for dinner in a couple of weeks. Cheers

[pepsp]

Hi @pete_brig I love the boardwalk you made! Awesome work. Any advice for me on the size of the H4 timber joists underneath? How did you secure it?

[pete_brig]

Hi @pepsp 

I used 100x75 H4 pine fence posts on their sides for bearers then innovated ("cheated"?) by using 100x50 H3(?) fence rails for the joists to keep the cost down. I don't know if structural pine would've been more expensive bcos I ended up using 3 lengths for each section to reduce bounce, rather than 2 that I had planned on. Also needed to keep the overall height in mind (75 bearer+50 joist+25 planking=150mm) & can't recall availablity of 100mm structural pine. I just lay the bearers onto the ground (clay), made each section no more than 1800mm, & overlapped the joists on a common bearer so they were all interconnected so less chance of movement. If you wanted to be particular I've seen reo bar driven thru the bearers into the ground to stabilise them. Fixed the joists to the bearers with something like 40x40x40 angle brackets. Again, could go for something stronger but I figured it would only have 1or 2  people at a time on each section so it didn't need to be built like a dance floor Planking on top was 150x25mm pine cut to 800mm to get an integral number of them from a 4.8m lenth. Planking fixed with 3 x 3 rows of decking screws to reduce cupping. 

HTH but please ask any other questions. Cheers, Peter

[pete_brig]

Edit on my previous post: joists were 100x50 on their edge, so th overall height was NOT 150mm but 200mm (75+100+25)