Removing decking and garden slopes down ?

[Deano3]

Hi all i have lived in my house for a year and the garden is not private at all it is totally open to next door as i think they were good friends but i love my privacy and the decking is to much and looks terrible and i want a lovely lawn, i started removing the decking today and the garden slopes down towards next door as the decking is raised but the land still slopes and i want a level garden for a lovely lawn how would i go about this ? would i have to build a small wall and fill it in with soil ? and would this mean that i couldnt have a 6ft fence as the level would have changed, was wanting pannel fencing in

any help would be great
Thanks Dean

firstly my garden no privacy at all and too much decking for a smallish garden


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the decking continues into next doors garden but is on my property
also they have put decking going down the side into there garden but still on my side so could this cause an issue as dont think they want fence put up or decking removed at all you can see on the picture down from this one



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underneath decking it slopes into next door


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thanks Dean

 

[b3taman]

Hello Dean
It's rather difficult to get the whole idea, but from your pics it appears that the decking covers your entire garden? It would seem that the decking project was done by the previous owner in conjunction with the neighbours, and it also appears that it's going to be a rather difficult job removing yours without disturbing next doors also.
Maybe a good starting point would be to discuss your plans with your neighbours in detail before proceeding any further. Otherwise you may end up creating a major headache for yourself, and you'll wish you'd never started. Whatever you do, you'll have to reassure them that you'll repair and replace any damaged parts. You may be best to use a contractor, then if it causes a few issues you can blame them a bit...........
Then put up a nice 6ft fence and regain a bit of privacy!

 

[Deano3]

thanks for advice the thing is dont really think next door will agree with changing anything at all and i dont really get on with him anyway but i will let him know its happening as its horrible the way it is, if you look at the second pic i hung over and took pic from there side but the edging is still on my side of the wall so really its on my property so if he disagrees or anything i can still do the work would u agree ? what would u advise saying to next door ? just tell him what i am planning etc ?

also what is the legal height for my back garden fence ? 6ft

also cannot afford contractor at the minute , non of it is cemented in so once up i will just cut the frame and, any help with other question would be great if you look at bottom pic if u look at the soil it slopes down to his land and i want a level lawn so what would be best thing to do here ? build the fence then use sleepers or a small wall then fill with soil on my side to raise the sloped land till level ? cannot dig rest out as would make huge step to back door dont wanna raise it to much as the fence would be on a lower level but cannot do anything about that

any help would be great thanks again
Dean

 

[wrathkeg]

as you are doing a fence anyway, maybe you could retain the soil using concrete posts and concrete gravel boards? not done that myself though, so there may be some problem with that I'm overlooking.

have a look here if you are thinking of a wall:

http://www.pavingexpert.com/featur03.htm

 

[Deano3]

thanks for that about building a small wall mate thats brilliant, not sure neighbour will agree with gravel boards although i think they look quite good, if he doesnt want that wat would you suggest ? obviously put a pannel fence up then would u build a small wall or use sleepes to retain soil ? only thing is if build wall how would i maintain the posts if ever needed ? could go through next door, and there would be a small gap beetween fence and wall and this may look odd

thanks Dean also what id legal height allowed in the uk ? hope next door doesnt complain about lack of light or anything but i should be entitled to privacy

 

[wrathkeg]

not sure if i understand you about gravel boards. you sink the posts into the ground, put one (or maybe more) gravel boards between, and then panels of whatever type you like on top of that. see some pictures on here:

http://www.londonfencingandsheds.co.uk/feather_edge_fencing_panels.php

that way there is no wall to build, or maintain (or to look at)

more different types and styles here:

http://www.londonfencingandsheds.co.uk/fencing_solutions.php

what i am not sure about is how much weight the posts+gravel boards would put up with. i would imagine they would cope with the sort of slope you are talking about (it doesn't look huge, and would be lessened when you move your soil from one side of the garden to the other. someone else is bound to know more about this than me, or maybe your local fencing supplies place (who might be needed to bring you your stuff anyway) could advise?

they should also know about legalities of fence heights, i suppose. i certianly don't.

 

[StephenW]

I know it's quite small but have you considered a two-tier garden? You can put your panel fence across the bottom. I believe the height limit is 2 metres (but it might be 6 foot so best google it). You could then build a retaining wall parallel to the fence at whatever distance you want from it - maybe 3 feet from the fence and create a small lower area for a small shed perhaps or the wall could divide your garden in two roughly equal halves or the wall could be nearer the house giving you a small patio then down to the lawn. It doesn't look like there's much height difference.

 

[Deano3]

thanks for that yeah i think they look quite good so will consider them, i wanted to fit myself with a friend who has done fencing etc, are they hard to fit etc ? i think the slope is around 2-3 bricks high not huge

anyone know legal height for fence in garden ?

thanks Dean (going to work so will reply tonight)

 

[wrathkeg]

haven't fitted them myself, but my neighbour did without much trouble. i suppose given the gravel boards are concrete you need to be pretty accurate with your distances between posts (wouldn't fancy cutting the concrete g.b.), make sure they are vertical, and get them in nice and deep. at least, that's what I'd be doing. if you have a mate with experience of fencing it shouldn't be a problem.

whatever you choose, be prepared for bother with the neighbour at some stage.

 

[zuki79]

my garden was on a slope too, i need over 20 tonne of soil to get it some sort of level

i used concrete base panels (2) with wooden feather edge panels on top of them

one of the base panels is totally covered by soil

they posts an panals were easy to fit, i fitted them using a dry mix of cement, that why i was able to move them around at until i was happy with them unlike you can do with postcrete (goes off too fast for me)

posts weigh an absolute tonne!

notice the dip

Posts


Soil

All done

 

[wrathkeg]

the sun even came out when you finished.

there you are deano: get zuki round to give you a hand.

 

[zuki79]

the sun even came out when you finished.

there you are deano: get zuki round to give you a hand.

pass thanks....been there done that an got the sore back (from lifting 9ft posts!!)

 

[wrathkeg]

dunno if you think it was worth the sore back, but you did a great job.

 

[Deano3]

does look great that i must say,cannot make mind up weather to do 2 level as my garden does go behind were i took the first pic so its a L shape could do one stretch then a small step down to next level,

is the concrete posts etc expensive ? only need 5-7 metersbut i i done 2 level i could build wall when i get money and time but cannot make up mind, anyone got pics of 2 level garden

thanks for all help so far been very helpful
Dean

 

[zuki79]

does look great that i must say,cannot make mind up weather to do 2 level as my garden does go behind were i took the first pic so its a L shape could do one stretch then a small step down to next level,

is the concrete posts etc expensive ? only need 5-7 metersbut i i done 2 level i could build wall when i get money and time but cannot make up mind, anyone got pics of 2 level garden

thanks for all help so far been very helpful
Dean

I paid just over £9 each for posts but these are 9fts

base panels were just over £5