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Hey I need some advice on how to level my back yard. How to lay a wood deck and what to do with the front yard due to the large slope.
Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community @eburton94. It's tremendous to have you join us, and many thanks for your question about levelling a yard.
For the front yard slope, you have a couple of options. You could leave the slope as it is, which keeps costs lower and maintains natural drainage, but it can be tricky because water will naturally flow towards the front of the house. That’s a concern, as you don’t want runoff pooling near your foundations. The other option is to install a retaining wall. This allows you to create a level area at the top that can be planted, while paving or growing grass in the area below. Retaining walls also give a cleaner, more finished look and make the front yard easier to use, though they are more work and cost upfront. Either way, you’ll need to plan substantial water collection and drainage so rainwater doesn’t cause issues at the front of the house. Here's a helpful guide: How to build a retaining wall. Remember, retaining walls over a certain height will need engineering, so it's best to check with your local council on requirements in your area.
For levelling the backyard, start by assessing the current highs and lows. It’s often easiest to use your house slab as a reference point and run level string lines out to the fences to see how much soil will be needed to create a consistent level. Keep in mind that if your slab is higher than the base of the fences, you can’t just pile soil up against the fence. You may need retaining walls around the perimeter if the house slab is above the bottom of the fences. The goal is to find a suitable level that requires the least amount of work while maintaining good drainage.
When it comes to building a wood deck, height is key. To use 90mm joists with 19mm decking, you need at least 109mm from the door sill to the ground. Depending on your current yard level, you might need to excavate soil to allow for drainage and airflow under the deck. Once the height is determined, standard deck-building steps include fixing posts or bearers, installing joists level across the area, then laying and securing the decking boards. You'll find this guide on How to build a low-level deck really helpful.
Let me tag @Dave-1 to see if he has any thoughts. A gabion wall along the front could be a good option.
Please let me know if you have any questions.
Mitchell
Good Morning @eburton94
Congratulations on your new place 
And woooohoooo to a blank slate!
I actually think mowing what you have a few times will really help out in how you go about with retaining walls/drainage and even decking. There is something about mowing and not wanting to mow certain areas that helps solidify in our minds that its doable or not.
I love Gabion walls and one across the front as @MitchellMc has suggested would look pretty good. They are not hard to build and solve drainage through them by the very nature oif the construction. You still need drainage dont get me wrong, but as its a perforated wall its not holding back water.
Large gabion retaining wall is one that I constructed across my front yard. It hasnt shifted, hasnt stopped water behind it and still looks the same
Have a look through the other bookmarks under my profile and you will see a range of different sizes and uses of the gabion cages. Maybe a mixture along the front where you have a solid wall in part and steps or bench seats along it near the front door? You will need drainage for any flat level you have tho. (as in a flat grassed area, paved area or even a decking area)
The existing slope you have on the front I kind of like as just a slope to start with, I would then think of how you want the path to go, do you want it to connect to the driveway for exit or do you want a stepped path or maybe even a long diagonal one? That would look good and be easy for moving stuff in and out of the house. Doable with two stepped retaining gabion baskets (or retaining walls)
The decking question, @MitchellMc has given pretty much the same thinking I had over the minimun height plus drainage. The not building up soil next to fences is definitely something to keep in mind, plus where the low point that is within your yard. Id use that to your advantage, plant trees, garden beds or even a dry rock pond to cope with intense rain instances and give time for the water to soak into the yard.
Something else to keepin mind is your existing stormwatar pipes and where they travel. You wamy wantto connect them up somewhere along the way (You will need a plumber to do so) but trench wise and installing you can do.
As a side note, for your driveway the retaining wall needs to be solid and capable of carry the load of a vechicle plus the soil. A large Gabion cage can also do this Gabion retaing wall and gabion steps Gabions dont need concrete footings, they do need compacted soil tho.
Dave
Hi again @eburton94.
I thought I'd also tag @diy_hausdesigns, @pete_brig, and @EleventhCoastal.
You might also like to read through these helpful guides: How to plan a garden makeover, How to give your garden a makeover, How to improve your homes street appeal and check out our Top 10 most popular landscaping projects and Top 10 most popular front yard projects for inspiration.
Mitchell
