Courtyard garden makeover

homeforeverhome

My husband and I transformed our once unused and unsightly brick courtyard into a modern Japanese inspired garden. This is one of my favourite renovated areas we have completed on our house so far and was a lot of fun to complete.

Materials

Treated pine

Wall insulation

James Hardie Cladding

Aluminium flashing

Pavers

Japanese boxwood

Maple tree

Pot

Reticulation

Black pebbles

Tools

Ryobi drop saw

Ryobi hammer drill

Paslode nail gun

Steps

Step 1

Plan, design and purchase materials (Bunnings delivered the James Hardie cladding)
Remove rotted wood and sand siding of pergola.

Step 2

Measure and cut timber
Batten out walls
Tape up windows to spray paint frames

Step 3

Affix weather shield (not completely necessary but playing it safe)

Step 4

Affix James Hardie cladding.
Just a side note that each sheet weighs 39.7kg and I really struggled standing on a ladder to hold that weight so my husband had to hold each sheet whilst I got the first nails in to hold it in place. Even at ground level lifting and holding into place was a real effort so this is one stage I would look to get a couple mates around to help with next time!
Affix aluminium flashing

Step 5

Paint
Install DIY light
Check garden plan layout

Step 6

Remove bricks, prep soil and install edging
Keep children entertained

Step 7

Dig in plants, place pavers, stones and install retic.
Sit back and enjoy our Japanese inspired courtyard.

MitchellMc

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community @homeforeverhome. It's brilliant to have you join us, and many thanks for sharing your wonderful project.

What a truly spectacular and stunning courtyard you've created there! You must be really happy with how it turned out. I can imagine that it must be such a pleasure to look out to that simple but very effective and glorious use of space.

Was much heartache involved with removing the generously sized sand pit?

Thanks once again, and terrific work!

Mitchell

homeforeverhome

Thanks Mitchell for your kind words regarding our courtyard! Haha yes there were quite a few wheelbarrows of sand removed in order to prep the garden bed! Luckily we could redistribute to another space where we plan to build a deck one day.
Thank you, we are motivated to move onto the next space to reno now!

Dave-1

Good Afternoon @homeforeverhome

Wow! You guys went all out with effort plus! Congratulations for a well earned title! My first thought was nice and then I saw your paneling effort and it went from nice to WOW! What a change and a much more modern look

Is that a light hanging in the middle that you have fitted out yourself? Spectacular look at night I would say!

Congratulations on winning

Dave

homeforeverhome

Oh thank you very much @Dave-1 that’s very kind of you! The paneling was an effort to cut and secure but so worth it in the end.
There was an old light fitting there but we replaced it with a DIY light and are very happy with the result and soft glow it casts at night.
Thanks again, I’m heading your way for some home inspiration now!!!

Emily111

Looks great @homeforeverhome! how did you manage the drainage? we have a similar internal courtyard but unsure how to let it drain properly

MitchellMc

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community @Emily111. It's great to have you join us, and it's pleasing to see you've been inspired by this project.

Hopefully, @Emily111 can fill us in on whether any drainage was required and installed. Also, feel free to start your own discussion, including images, and our helpful members would be more than happy to assist and provide advice for your project.

Mitchell

homeforeverhome

Hey @Emily111, thanks very much! You are right to think about the drainage for such an area! We put a layer of blue metal under our soil layer to assist with drainage, we work organic matter into our soil each year to assist with drainage and we have placed a clear flat Perspex sheet on the beams above the courtyard to stop excess water from rain.
If your courtyard gets particularly wet you may like to look into installing a drain tile under the soil to carry water away from the area but you may not need to go to that extent. Can’t wait to see your end result!