Our back garden was only useable for sledging by the kids in winter. We decided to place a larger/higher patio by the house, then a retaining wall with steps, a flat lawn, and banking up the sides and back to the fences.
After getting quotes of around £12k I decided to take on my first ever DIY project, so here is our progress so far:
Before:
Started with concrete foundations and the block retaining wall (Super easy like Lego once the first course is laid and level):
Built a low wall 200mm out from the house as we're raising the patio to door threshold height (it'll reduce the height difference to the back of the garden, and also provide somewhere to put some of the earth from the top). The 200mm gap means the DPC on the house isn't compromised, and I've place guttering in the gap to drain any rainwater to the downpipes;
Ran drainage pipes from field drains behind the retaining wall, and for drainage channels that will sit in front of it:
After a friend with a 5 ton digger had removed 60 tons and levelled/redistributed the rest:
Just received a dump of stone with which I hope to create a dry stone wall at the base of the bank at the back (some of the blocks are huge and I'm not sure how that part of the project is going to go!):
Next a new back fence, lay the patio, build the steps & drainage channel. Knackered, but the beer tastes better after a day's labour! Watch this space...
After getting quotes of around £12k I decided to take on my first ever DIY project, so here is our progress so far:
Before:
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