The cabin is in place and used with great pleasure so now we improve the landscaping around it.

The cabin has 2 sliding doors meaning one corner of the cabin can be completely opened. Unfortunately the garden slopes away from the cabin so the step up into the cabin from one door is quite high and the step out of the other door is more of a jump.

The plan was always to address this with a bit of landscaping and now we have springtime I am making a start.

The Plan

The Starting position

The first bit of digging before drizzle and bacon sandwich stopped play

More to follow over the coming weeks

Your hose reel is making a break for it.

Lol!

Don’t whatever you do put in some (slippery when wet) decking, you know what that does to ankles…..

Christ-alive – that padding at the far end looks a bit precarious.

Just bought a concrete/cement mixer to make the job easier.

http://www.screwfix.com/p/134-ltr-concrete-mixer-230v/10107

Hopefully I can get the job finished in the next few weekends.

If anyone wants to buy it from me when I have finished this then just let me know and we can sort a price

Where is the pampass grass going again?

Where is the pampas grass going again?

Bend over and I will show you

😉

If anyone wants to buy it from me when I have finished this then just let me know and we can sort a price

Where are you Mr LadderAccidentHotTubDeviant? I (seriously) have much need of such a thing soon.

Hurrah.
I would use sleepers to frame the step out of the love tub.
And then get a couple of tonne of muck delivered in a bag.
If it rains all will the muck slide off the tarp?
Looking forward to the updates.:-)

What is the point of the tarp?

So you can get all the soil back up of the turf and not just have a muddy patch

To keep the earth of the eart… aye what is the point?

Is that soil not staying there then?

Turf, where?

I’m loving the tiny terraced lawn. You’ll be able to transplant all the grass you currently have to there…..

Southampton for picking up the mixer

Tarpaulin to reassure the wife that the bit of grass we are about to bury won’t suffer before it dies.

Things look worse before they start getting better right?

A nice building site in the middle of my garden

A slight change in design resulted in the rubbish pile growing into a rubble pile

But at least the concrete footings are mostly down down and, despite appearances, at the levels they need to be.

The only wood I had for shuttering in front of the cabin wasn’t long enough so once it has gone firm I will have to extend it along to meet the other footing at the corner of the cabin

I still need to do the steps and the footings for the wall around the grass area but will let these go off first and hopefully lay the largest area of slabs tomorrow.

From 9:30 to 5:30!

So much time for so little progress

Yes, the level is level and a lot of the time was loading the blocks and stuff into the truck, driving it home and unloading. The only way to get the material around the back is by hand and with uneven ground and knackered ankle that is quite slow.

Anyway, just popped a couple Tramadol and about to relax in the tub

That’s Ace.

Clearly you have too much time on your hands but it’s well spent time.

So, so we’re all only interested in a STW global invite to the Tub Opening Day.

Where’s the invites 😆

You missed the opening party I am afraid

Is it my eyes or is there a sag in the brickwork?

You had better have just forgotten to put a smiley face at the end of that comment. The brick work is perfect!!!!

Well, as good as I can do 🙂

Just looking at the picture and planning the order of tasks for tomorrow. The trouble is that the tarmac path is the route all the materials need to be carried down. If I start laying slabs as the end of it I wont be able to get more stuff in and out of the site very easily.

😀

10am – 5pm and the only difference in the picture is 11 slabs!

Makes me wonder where the hours went and why I ache so much.

This build feels like a cross between slo-mo and spot the difference photos

The run of bricks leading to the drain pipe aren’t straight. Other than that, good job.

The run of bricks leading to the drain pipe aren’t straight

Nor is the wall against which the slabs will be laid. The wall I built is however 135cm* from the wall that the slabs will be laid against.

Thanks for the encouragement. It still looks like I have done nothing to deserve the aches and pains I feel

*Yeah, okay there is a bit of a wobble in it

Nice patio

Do we need to search Southampton lost & found for missing people or is it all kosha?

I’m just ribbing you. It’s far more than I would take on. Especially given my OCD for straight lines 😉

Just around the next corner (possibly several days) is that moment when it all comes together. Keep up the good diy work!

The run of bricks leading to the drain pipe aren’t straight

Matches the sag 😉

Someone else who has a yard full of different bricks, different levels, steps and paving slabs. Yay. 😐

Not sure why people feel the need to critique the design or the work, I think its a bloody good effort for a DIY solo project.

hooli – Member
Not sure why people feel the need to critique the design or the work, I think its a bloody good effort for a DIY solo project.

banter innit

Don’t worry – I am happy with the comments.

I use this as a useful way to get possible suggestions on how to do stuff and the remind myself of what I have done.

Sort of like a build-blog.

If you don’t want people to take the piss then don’t post your efforts on here. Plus a lot of the comments make me smile.

Thanks for the nice words and defense of my work though!

If you don’t want people to take the piss then don’t post your efforts on here. Plus a lot of the comments make me smile.

You do seem to manage to be both an inspiration (with the projects) and warning (with the accidents) to us all… I know I always click the threads for a look-see – keep up the good work and keep out of hopsital!

My mother said I should always strive to be an example to others…

… I just don’t think she meant and example of what could go wrong

You’re an inspiration to me chap. You tackle jobs head-on. However you also do injuries to the max.

It’s a difficult balance.

Did your hosepipe make it?

Did your hosepipe make it?

No, it stuck back and tripped me over when I was coming back from the hot tub last night.

Falling forward towards the new patio all I could think was “Don’t upset the level slabs” so I grabbed the door and swung back towards the cabin. Unfortunately the door is a sliding door so quickly decided to slide away from me dumping me on my arse in the mud. On the bright side, I didn’t disturb the bricks or slabs.

I’m loving the tiny terraced lawn.
That is a seating area. You can sit on the step with your feet on the grass while watching your little children run around the lower garden. It also has a power point mounted on the wall for music when we have the swingers round. The other reason we did it was so we can see the lower garden from the house rather than just seeing the concrete balustrade.

So many levels, so few ankles.