At the beginning of summer I started upgrading my backyard a little at a time and now here it is the end of summer and I'm really happy with what has been accomplished so far.

My backyard is pretty plain. Acre lot abutting wooded common land. Out dated landscaping. Old rotted railroad tie retaining wall.





A 12x12 concrete pad for the seating area.


It wasn't perfect but it was comfortable for a table and chairs for the family.


No privacy between my yard and the neighbors yard. Wasn't an issue until this summer when the previous owner moved out and rented the house out. the new rental neighbors dumped junk in their backyard.


Fences make good neighbors so first order of business was a new 6 ft fence.


Here's a side lot view.


Maybe I'll post a thread on the english courtyard garden we created between the house and the new fence.


For now back to the backyard.

With the new privacy I started enjoying being in the backyard more than I had in the past 5 years we've lived here. I decided to build a deck.


I didn't build it actually, I contracted it out. It was a LOT of work - no way could I have done it myself, it would've taken forever to build. I decided on a cedar deck because I like the look of cedar (and the cedar smell as well). Maintaining it isn't a big deal.






I'm really happy with how it turned out.


I wanted a platform deck with no railings and a continuous step all the way around. The village I live in wouldn't permit it because of the variance of the step height caused by the grade of the yard. The builder and I designed these planters. I can either put plants in them or I could use them as seating.


Now i had this great deck and my privacy I always wanted but I had to look at the ugly retaining wall and all the rock and soil left over from when the holes were dug for the deck post holes.






So I decided to replace the retaining wall.


Here's my excavator setting up his laser in preparation to redo the wall.


Yea! Here comes the big equipment!




Mr. Gorbachev tear down this wall! (had to do it)








I suck at taking before pictures - usually it's too late when I remeber to take pictures. I have lots of pictures of the wall coming down though.
















Not a lot of space between the new big deck and the hill in the backyard - hmmm....what to do? Push the hill back and terrace it!
















Here's the new wall going in. My landscaper and I chose granite boulders instead of engineered block. The granite boulders match the character of the rural setting of the backyard.


Notice I took the tree down as well to really open up the space.


That's it so far. Next steps are new sod to finish it all up. I'm happy so far. Questions or comments?

 

LOVE IT! And I see what you did there with that one pic of the Misses (black dress)...

 

Wow! Love it!!

 

Looks awesome, good call on the fence.

Love the black dress slip in

 

Nice curves.

 

Very nice!

 

Very nice indeed!

 

Everything looks great! I love the planter boxes on your deck. Great investment, all around. And yes, I'd love to see pics and posts about your courtyard garden.

 

Looks very nICE! Deck looks sweet, love the planters boxes!

Don't sod the level of dirt between the retaining walls. Plant small bushes and use mulch. Useless you have been advised differently for water run off.

 

Agreed. Not sure what to put up there yet except that it won't be sod. Maybe some decorative grasses to soften the look of the rocks. :theghey:

 

Looks really good! Can't wait to see the updates.

 

Very nice, I am jealous as I would love to do something similar with my backyard and hill, just don't have the funds

Keep the updates coming, and I'd also like to see info about your garden

 

Very Nice!!







The backyard is nice too!

 

Beautiful yard and family! ^.-

 

Looks awesome!

What neighborhood do you live in? We're looking at a house in Thiensville, and I'd like to build a 6ft fence, did you have to get a permit/approval from the city?

 

Thiensville is a nice area. I'm in the Germantown area. Do you live in Milwaukee now?

For the fence, most areas require you to pull a permit. It was an easy process. $25 fee and fill out the permit form which I downloaded off of the village website. They also require a surveyed plot map of the lot and house and the proposed fence indicated on it. I downloaded a copy of the survey map for my lot on the GIS section of the village website (most communities have this on their websites) then printed it and drew the fence on it and turned it in with the permit application.

In my community the fence can sit right on the lot line. The survey drawing of my lot showed the house set back 20 ft from my lot line so I measured 19 1/2 ft. from the house and installed the fence there. I had the lot surveyed when I moved in 5 years ago but the survey stakes are long gone.

If you are looking for someone to install your fence let me know. My guy installed my cedar fence for $900 materials included, I'm sure he'd go to Thiensville. He built it from scratch vs. buying the pre-made panels. The panels wouldn't work because of the hill.

 

Wow, that's not a bad price at all. I'm in a condo in Cedarburg right now, working on a deal currently for the place in Thiensville. It has a fence now, but a small one, I'd like a little more privacy.

I might PM you for the info for your guy, if the house thing works out.

 

Good luck on the house in Thiensville!

 

Thanks!

They just accepted our offer

Hope my condo sells.

 

Congrats!

Do you have a selling contingency?

 

Awesome!! That deck came out great!

 

Wife and kids that like to help out...that's foreign these days


I really do like that deck design and color. Have you decided on what to do with the planters? Wouldn't be hard to build some removable, padded seats for maybe the two sides and then keep the middle as a planter? My boat has a similar bench seat with storage underneath. Could even add a back to them and use them for big gatherings, and then remove and replace with flowers when not needed. Just a thought.

And can't believe you had to get a permit to build a fence

 

Here's a crappy phone pic from what was finished on Friday.


I had insta-grass put down. With 2 kids and a dog there was no other option.

For the planters I installed a shelf in each one. My wife can put potted plants in and change them out if she wants to. She put in decorative grass and mums for the fall.

This weekend I buried 4 sprinkler heads with garden hose connecting them for a homemade sprinkler system. Works pretty good. Everything is hidden and no more dragging a hose around the lawn to water the new sod.

 

No doubt - it's just a way to collect permit fee's. They don't even inspect it.

 

Wow Your backyard deck, sod, and retaining wall turned out really sweet!! Congrats - and now you get to enjoy it!

 

Just that it passes inspection, which will hopefully be done on Thursday. We will close beginning of November and probably won't move in until end of December. I want to get a lot of remodeling done prior to moving in. Sand floors, paint everything, new kitchen, bathrooms, etc.


Yard looks great!

 

That looks great!

 

Simply awesome! I love the deck!

 

Looks awesome!

Every time I see a back yard thread I'm reminded that I need to get a move on my own back yard...

 

Very nice work. Great looking house and a very nice family.

I really like those planter boxes. If you opt to do the decorative grass I recommend you try to see what they look like year round. Some of them gets really dry in the summer and they look like crap.

 

Very nice!

 

Looks good, what kind of stain did you use on the deck? Is it water or oil based? I am thinking water based on the wood grain visibility. I like the look of it, but am tired of having to reapply so often.