English Garden Renovation Makeover

hello and welcome back to my channel and to today's video where I'm sharing our garden renovation so this is how it looked at the start of this year our main patio area in front of the bfold doors was pretty old and this led into some decking which had started to rot from the decking there were then some wooden steps which led down to the pool building so this is the entrance to where our gym is and then through into the indoor pool at the other end we had another small patio section outside the smaller bfold doors in the office and some slabs which sort of acted as stepping stones which led to some steps and another raised patio section now we did have decking on these steps and in the gravel section at the bottom but it had rotted so badly that we took that up last year to avoid any accidents we hired a professional landscaper who was recommended To Us by a neighbor who had also used him and the first thing he did was start by removing all the old patio slabs from the raised patio which I'll be calling the fire pit area because this is where we have our fire pit he also removed all of the sand which we had temporarily put down just outside the entrance to the indoor pool and because there was a decent base under both of these areas he was able to whacker this with a small amount of type 1ot this was all in preparation for having our new patio slabs laid the following day the same task was done on the smaller patio outside the office when the slabs were removed our landscaper discovered that there was no hardcore underneath the existing patio the old slabs were just put down with Dot and dab so this created extra work because a significant amount of dirt had to be dug out in order to fill with enough type 1ot in order to create create a stable and firm base for the new slabs that were also going to be laid here we formally had a step outside the office but again due to the insufficient base this also had to be removed and dug out to be redone properly on day three we had already filled one skip because of the amount of dirt that had to be dug up and so that was collected and another one delivered before any more work could be done the rest of the dirt was then removed from this area and Simon and I had to make a final decision on shape and size of the patio we were expanding this area to make this section of patio slightly larger so again that involved even more dirt that was dug out and by the end of day three we'd filled another skip our first lot of Hardcore and sand was delivered on this day as well as was our second delivery of our new patio slabs we wanted to be able to enjoy the New Garden in Spring and Summer so we decided to start the work in February whilst this avoids having work done during the time where you actually want to be in the garden the weather unfortunately can hinder the process day four brought rain so on this day the membrane was laid in both the fire pit area and outside the office and the type 1ot was Will barrowed in to start forming that stable base for the new patio slabs day five and fortunately there was no rain so the type 1ot base could be whacker by the office and down in the fire pit area before moving onto the main patio all the rotting decking in this area was taken up and some of the old patio slabs to reveal underneath a myriad of surprises our landscaper Unearthed another patio yes another whole patio a holly bush and an electric feed to the gym SL poolhouse which wasn't deep enough now I think many of you watching this will have been following along with our renovation projects thus far so I don't need to tell you that hidden surprises always cost more money so it's worth factoring in the unexpected as a bit of a buffer in your budget on to day seven and we had filled yet another skip so that was taken away and replaced by what we hoped would be our final skip this one slightly smaller just for the last few slabs and remaining dirt to go in we also had to make another big order of type 1ot which we had delivered on this day because of that additional patio that was Unearthed the patio had to be taken up and then dug even deeper because surprise surprise that also hadn't been laid on a stable base the holly bush Roots also had to be removed and this was a task that took way longer than anticipated the tree stump went so deep and all of the roots had to be removed to ensure that it wouldn't start to grow up through our new patio over time on day eight the membrane was laid in this main patio area and again copious amounts of that type 1ot wheelbarrow in to fill the trench that had been left from removing two patios and all of that dirt the step that we had laid in bricks back when the bolds were replaced had to be removed for the same reason as the office step it just had to be done properly on a stable base and the new brick work for this was due to be done today but unfortunately none of our lines run Square so we needed a bit of thinking time to decide how we would have the step and then in turn how the slabs would run so basically our house doesn't run in the same line as the pool house they're both at two different angles so we had to think about where we would want the inevitable angular slabs day nine was the day we'd both been excited about this was the first slab laying day Simon and I had made our decisions on the lines and how we wanted the new slabs to run so we were just looking forward to seeing those start to go down because we were running behind schedule Simon lent a hand and unboxed the slabs all of which were individ packaged in a cardboard box and just to add insult to injury they'd been delivered wet so the cardboard had stuck and glued itself to the slabs so one by one those all had to be scrubbed by hand as you can imagine this was quite a lengthy task just to get the slabs clean and ready to lay so it was definitely a good decision for Simon to lend a hand so that our landscaper could just crack on and start laying so these are our new slabs they're porcelain and I'll leave the details Down Below in the description box for anyone who is interested but I would urge you to watch until the end before getting excited about them because whilst they are beautiful there is one major drawback days 10 and 11 were sadly a write off due to the rain but looking back I still don't regret having the work done at this time of year because we wouldn't be sat out out in the garden on day 12 we had a dry spell thankfully so the new brick work was done for the new step outside the bolds and then more slabs were unboxed by Simon and laid by our landscaper some areas were deliberately left because they would involve cuts and we chose to prioritize laying any full-size slabs without cuts to maximize the dry day and get as much coverage as possible we also had some decisions to make down by the gym because we wanted the slabs to carry on and make up some steps leading down to this area the slabs that had been laid on the top patio essentially determined where the steps would start because with porcelain tiles when they're cut they're very sharp so Cuts shouldn't be used on an exposed Edge over days 13 to 15 the focus was very much on the fire pit area whilst we had some dry weather because of the curve the steps and some of the other little fiddly places involved a lot more Cuts so it was quite a time consuming and a very dusty few days but by the end most of this area had been done days 16 to 17 involved some more digging because we made a last minute decision to repeat the curve that we would be having outside our main bolds down here in front of the office by folds as well so that area was dug out lined and filled the concrete was laid for the new step outside the office and then moving over to the main patio area that step was filled with type 1ot and the block work done for the new steps down to the gym day 18 was another full day of slab laying Cuts were done for the main patio area to create the curve the drain cover and also for the top of the step by the bolds days 19 and 20 were much of the same all the slabs going down to the gym entrance were laid with the exception of the step facing slabs these are the ones which would be laid vertically on the face of the steps they were all left until last over by the office that curve was repeated and the second drain cover was cut in along with any remaining slabs and cuts that needed to be done day 21 felt like we were almost there any of the remaining smaller fiddly cuts down by the fire pit area were done and the steps were done again minus the facing slabs and finally day 22 after two weeks of cutting and laying the very last few slabs were laid including all of the steps being finished off and faced okay so we did encounter a slight issue due to the amount of cuts that had to be made we were four slabs short so we had to order more but given that they come in packs we then had an excess so to use these excess slabs we decided to have our side entrance dug up and slabbed and also our side entrance on the other side of the house that goes to the door in our utility room so this is what had taken up the last week and we wanted that done so that the sealer and grout could be applied to all slabs together once the sealer had dried the patio was then brush cleaned to get rid of any debris and leaves that had settled overnight before the grouting could commence on day 28 the grout had been allowed to dry overnight for 12 hours we'd said goodbye to our landscaper and then it was time for us to start with our tasks Simon will barrowed in a lot of top soil and sand so we could raise the lawn level slightly to meet the new patio areas and then recede the lawn which had essentially just become a mud pit after the last few weeks of work we also had decorative Stones which had been delivered a few days prior so we could now start to Wi Barrow those in and fill in all of the sections where we'd planned to have them we moved the patio furniture back into position hosing off the slabs as we went along repeatedly because we then had a lawn covered in sand and soil combined with four dogs that thought this was just great fun we had lots of decorative Stones left over so I used them to fill in any plant beds a great deterrent for neighboring cats as if the dogs weren't enough and and I used them to fill up any plant pots several much warmer weeks later and after many many many boxes of grass seed the lawn was starting to look like a lawn again we took part in no mo may which was beneficial for the grass but I must admit it got so long that we could barely see the dogs when they went out so this first Mo which had to be done three times due to the length was very welcome now you may remember that earlier in this video I mentioned there being a downside of having these slabs and that downside is maintenance we have noticed that it doesn't even take a day for there to be marks on the slabs either from muddy PS Bird poo Fallen petals and leaves and we have a naughty little black bird who I've named Stanley and he likes to go along the entire edge of the lawn and Scatter dirt over the patio in search of juicy worms now it has to be said that I love Stanley very much but he is the bane of my life so a jet washer is an absolute must we've actually borrowed this one from a friend but we are definitely going to need to invest in one for ourselves I probably wouldn't advise these slabs if you want them to look pristin all the time they'd probably be best suited to an outdoor pool surround or perhaps a garden with astro turf and not many plants or trees that drop their leaves and petals all that being said I love these new slabs they're much brighter and more modern they feel lovely underfoot but they're not slippy at all when it rains and they also don't darken when it rains like some slabs they remain nice and bright the total cost of this project was around £12,000 including labor materials skips all that kind of stuff stuff and we are still deciding what to do with the fence panels so that will be another project this summer along with the exterior of the poolhouse and the gym and at some point maybe not this year we'll be changing the exterior of the main part of the house as well I'm also going to be creating new covers for our outdoor sofa so that the color ties in more with the new slabs so although this was the last really big and costly project of our renovation there are plenty of smaller projects still to come now all that's left for me to say is thank you as always for watching if you haven't caught them already be sure to check out our other renovation videos and I will see you next time like [Music]

Channel: Emma Hill

Views: 51,189

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Id: DrTKbTdZisI

Length: 15min 46sec (946 seconds)

Published: Sun Jun 16 2024