Last meeting of the day was cancelled so managed to get a couple of hours work done and finally seem to have made progress.

I would have got the patio slab bit completed if one of the slabs hadn’t broken its corner.

Never mind, something for the weekend I guess

looks good, just need the grass to grow now and get the raised beds in!

Once we have the walls in place for the raised grass area we will be re-seeding the lot.

looking good Nic, don’t forget to build in the bike wash area to the back of the love tub for Thursday nights eh 😉

Bike washing will be on the slope against the wall (yet to be built) so that the water and mud run down to the magnolia tree

Thos slabs still look a bit wobbly and uneven but I do like the way that you have them terraced. Is the plan to have the same style all the way up the side of the house?

Okay, the slabs aren’t perfect but I am in IT and work with software, not hardware 🙂

The view from the house shows the upper garden in half lawn, half patio. It is also a mess as everything is just piled everywhere. It was all patio when we moved in but looked awful, a big square of grey concrete

The view down the long steps to the cabin. The slabs on the steps were the same colour as the new ones when laid but they soon get a certain patina

The view up towards the house showing the drop in elevation. The slope is at an angle to the back of the house and this photo is at the lowest point facing up the slope. We have the dropped terraces to maximise the usable space for people with knackered ankles who can’t cope well with slopes. Try to keep grass areas where grass will grow and slabs where grass dies

Impressive diy work! Those steps look like fun to ride down… If it goes wrong just aim for head first into the hot tub 🙂

I’d chuck some turf down. I reseeded the rear garden and it was a pain in the arse. Between weeds taking hold and cats shitting in it I’m surprised it ever grew.

Front lawn I got some turf, instant green!

Lots of tripping hazards after a few pints of Scruttocks Old Dirigible I reckon

I haven’t posted for a couple of days but the longer evenings have let me make some progress on the terrace for grass a=on the long side of the cabin.

Multiple changes in design along the way. Most deliberately done to make my life harder

Double the length originally agreed – Tick
Heavy dense block work – Tick
Curved wall instead of straight – Tick
Single large drop terrace instead of smaller ones – Tick
Volume of dirt requires side laid blocks to double the amount of work – Tick

Still, quite pleased with the results of 3 evenings work (it rained on other days).

Feel free to mock the uneven gaps and the amount of cement that has squidged out but for my first (deliberate) attempt at a curved wall I am pleased.

Just for the record – the wall DOES NOT lean outwards. It IS VERTICAL. It is just the camera angle that makes it look that way

I see the tarp really saved the grass there!

Good work fella*

*assuming you are incident & injury free!

The tarpaulin is filed y lessons learned

just wondering, do you have any guttering or will the rain run off onto that bit with the wall? Would it be worth putting a drain through the base of the wall, particularly at the far end where it is deeper and putting some gravel in behind the drain to stop it blocking with soil?

will the rain run off onto that bit with the wall?

Thanks for reminding me about that.

Yes, the rain drops off the roof onto the top of the wall.

At the moment the wall has no topper on it but the plan is to find some kind of gutter tile that doesn’t look too ugly and can be trodden on.

It doesn’t really show but the wall slopes very slightly down from the corner nearest the camera to the far end. The hope/plan is that the water will fall from the drip plank on by the roof down into this ‘gutter’ and run away off the end of the wall.

I am really glad you reminded me of this as I couldn’t remember why I hadn’t ordered enough of the coping stones used on the patio side.

See, it is worth sharing the progress.

At least I’ve done something useful today! 😀

Another thing, watch out for that cut edge of the cladding sucking up water, especially as the treatment starts to lose it’s effectiveness. Might need to stipple a bit of extra treatment in before the rest of the cladding needs it.

There is an air gap between the cabin wood work and the patio / wall to allow venting and prevent water soak up. Thanks for the thought though.

Well that was a busy Saturday. Wall finished. Coping stones on. Scratch coat of render* fixed.

Today I shall top coat the render before disappearing down my mates allotment to dig a hole for the IBCs to be half buried. Hopefully next weekend it will just be a case of wheel barrowing three tons of top soil to fill the bed and then seeding to lawn. Job Done!

*I hate rendering walls with a passion. It never feels right, it never looks right and I hate every aspect of it

Good job

Some times 3 tonnes is just not enough…

I reckon another couple of bags should allow me to get a decent layer of dirt over the old lawn about as far up as the shadow of the cabin. Something for tomorrow though

PSA : 6mm ply is rubbish as a wheel barrow ramp 🙂

Any weep holes in that wall BTW?

Yep you def need drain holes in the bottom of the wall to allow excess water out other wise you it may end up cracking. Ideally you build a bit of pipe in and then gravel on the inside to stop it getting clogged – but obviously you’re a bit far down the line for that!!
Good for you for getting stuck in though.

There is a hole up the far end with a 2 inch piece of PVC pipe (perforated) shoved in it. Hopefully that will do something as I was too far in before I realised.

The bottom 3 courses are laid on their side so quite solid. Drain is above these as I didn’t have a long enough bit to drill through them

PSA : 6mm ply is rubbish as a wheel barrow ramp

PSA : ‘previously enjoyed’ scaffold boards from a reclamation yard make ace wheelbarrow ramps

Previously enjoyed scaffold planks were ‘diverted’ to another thread

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/well-it-seemed-a-good-idea-after-a-few-beers

It took 5 tonnes in the end.

The top terraced bit is seeded and watered. The bottom needs a bit more raking

Looking good .nice one.

having seen it first hand in the light this evening, bloody good effort sir.
when mine is finished, if it looks half as good, i’ll be well happy.

A little bit of woodwork to stabilise the down slope gave me an excuse to play with the chainsaw which is always exciting

Not too intrusive when viewed from the main garden

Not too bad viewed from the bottom of the garden

You???

WCA with a CHAINSAW??!!! 😯

Can you get someone to check you’ve still got the correct number of limbs?

And here it is when the grass has started to grow. Project complete.

Bang tidy, good work.

Indeed. Enjoyed that. Nice work sir.

Good one. 8)

Nice!

Trust you’ve made sure the pampas grass is visible from the road?

Great effort that man.

Looks great. Is the Jizz-Filter™ holding up after all of the sexy parties?

There seems to be some sort of missile half buried on the bottom right of the picture. Is your next project to start your own secret army?

Hose reel properly chained down to prevent further escapes.

Good effort – very impressed.

Outstanding!