Pavers, turf and decking used to give a front yard a complete overhaul.
The project
We have achieved what we set out for - a front yard makeover. It has the imperfections of beginner D.I.Y. but there is a charm to it, as well as bragging rights. I think the total cost for raw materials was around $3000.
The ground was clay with mulch on top, variable height and sloping to the front a bit. Our plan was:
- Lay pavers on the left-hand side where the bins were kept to cover the rectangle space to the front edge of the building
- Lay the modular Good Times deck where the front flower bed was in front of the windows
- Lay turf to the space in the front.
I have done a bit of reading and searched the forum for hows tos. We are complete newbies D.I.Y.ing but loved the idea of doing it ourselves.
The low-lying deck used Modular frames for Good Times. The entire deck is made up of two rectangular sections, measuring 5.6 x 1.1m and 3.3 x 1.1m.
I did some reading about the drainage. I tried finding the stormwater drain but felt it was too deep for me to dig. We have put some formwork in and then planned to fill with road base and sand and compact it. We would then lay pavers 400 x 400mm on top.
We then moved to adding a screen to hide the bins, making a wooden ramp for the elevated paver area and decking to the side.
It's been a learning journey. We got there in the end with best of our limited labour and budget. It's not the most perfect job and levelling the ground was the most key part that we didn't get fully right. But we are happy with the outcome for the limited resources.
Before and after
