Side Turf

WARN: Pic overload.. :)

This is the plan.. Put turf down to stop that putrid dust and mud getting into the house!

You will notice in the images, that there are retaining walls required. We wont be doing these until late 2017. This is due to the girls being invited to Dance in the USA, so we need to save for that.

Anyway, I decided even though we are not doing the retaining walls just yet, I would put some turf down just to stop the mud and dust. So I got Chris - our landscape guy - to come back and excavate a little. I told him what I wanted to do, and that I would just use cheap turf as he will chop it all up when he comes back to do the footings for the retaining walls. He said that I may as well use good turf and he can put some ply down as he is doing the footings(late 2017!). So I decided to put down buffalo like the rest of the turfed areas.

Issue.. all the farms had run out of Sapphire! So I decided to use Sir Walter in this area.

After rains all last week the delivery was delayed from Friday until Monday(today).

I was only planning on doing up to the landing for the laundry but there was a fair bit left over. So I went over the slope and down towards the water tank, but I didn't have any more good soil, so the last half a metre or so is just sitting on Clay. It would of gone to waste anyway so Ill see how it goes. I can always dig it up ;)

I had actually prepped the area last weekend, just before it started pissing down, So here are the pics of the prep work.

And now the laying of the turf.

Backyard touchups

Just added a little colourful mulch and re-potted the dragon fruit. I have had the dragon fruit for ages - prior to build but they have just been sitting in their little pots and left unattended.. They were not in good shape. Not even staked! So finally got them into a bigger pot and gave them some TLC. :)

Yep, a few caps missing.. I need another 100 so will organise them in the next few weeks.

Dragontfruit

I was going to use 'decorative pebbles' on the side.. but at over $300 per cube..
not right now. Ill see how well the mulch lasts

A blast from the past..

Just thought I would look for an image of the backyard prior to the work. The best I have that matches one of my current images(for comparison) is during the rear excavation. So, I have put them side by side..

It has been a long race but we got there in the end. There is still a lot of small bit  of work to do that will keep me occupied, but I am happy with where we are at!

Backyard cleanup

Just did a bit of tidying up today. Added some timber under the fences, put some pot plants up the back, mulched the tomatoes and mowed the lawn!

Rear fence completed

Finally! We are fully fenced!. I have been to bunnings and got a bunch of treated pine to put under the fence so I can finish it off nicely with turf and decorative pebbles. The pine will be covered once finished, so it is only there to hold thins in place. That is a project Ill start on tomorrow.

For now, the pics.

Frames completed

Side fence completed

Only a small update today. The side fence was completed! The fencer said he couldn't dot he back one till mid October but he called me back today asking if he can start on Friday! So hopefully by Friday/Saturday we will be fully fenced mate!

There is a big gap at the bottom, but that's due to where the finished levels will be for both us and the neighbour. So for now, I might put a bit of pine in there so I can backfill and lay turf. Down the side of the house.. stones.. nothing special. We wont ever be there! :)

Did someone say turf?

So, before we start talking about the turf, lets talk fencing..

After 2 site visits, one for a quote and another to verify site conditions/levels etc, we  waited about 5-6 weeks for our scheduled start date which was Monday. Unfortunately they called the week before saying they had been delayed and they couldn't start until Wednesday. OK, fair enough..

Tuesday evening another call.. delayed. Cant start till Thursday.

Thursday they turn up - and leave. Need longer posts. Job doesn't start. Mind you, they didnt tell me this, the neighbour told me.

Friday, get a call. Cant start with longer posts until mid/end Sept.

OK, I have no patience.. so sacked 'em. Got my deposit back.. so we are now looking for a fencer again! Joy.

Ahhh Turf. Finally turf out the back. Not much to say here but post some pics! It is looking a bit brown at the moment due to the mud left on the leaves after being rolled in. I'll post some pics in another month or so.. am hoping it cleans up and is nice and green at the end of September, which being Spring should help it get a move on! ;)

Start of laying the sod

Begin rolling

Rolled

And now we water water water

Backyard prepped for turf

Backyard finally prepared and ready for new turf!

The soil ended up between 100mm(at rear wall) and almost 200mm deep near the bigger front wall. This levelled it out as bit as there was around a 100mm slope from back to front.

Also put the capping on.. makes it look a little more complete. Like the front however, I have not yet glued them down as I need to mitre a few of them to make the corners look better. I have a small angle grinder, but I'm not sure Ill get the perfect cut by hand that I want.. Might give a test run on a couple a bit later.

Occupancy Certificate!

Well, after 14 months on an interim and weekends filled with loads of retaining walls we finally got our OC today.

I just have some turf out the back to lay and then...

We go fishing.. :)

Clothesline in all it's glory

It has taken us 1 year, 1 month, and 24 days. Or simply, 419 days to finally get the clothes line in! Well, there was reason for not doing it sooner. We still cannot use it, as there are no fences and the dust from around the place would just defeat the purpose of clean clothes anyway.

With the side fence coming in a weeks time, Ill start organising the rear fence shortly and then we can stop using the dryer!

backyard 090815

More work continuing today. I started working the soil to the correct levels. I ran out of soil and Kel had the car, so I then started on finally installing the clothes line! I tell you what the first 8 inches was like trying to dig through rock it was that hard!

Hopefully next weekend I can have the entire yard levelled correctly and then the week after lay the turf!

String line to get the levels. Those dodgy looking blocks.. they will be removed. They are just holding back the soil!

This was all I got to. An additional 1.7 cubic metres of soil went in to levels this section

Finally got the clothes line in!