- [Host] Do you have a space you have big plans for? You know what you want it to look like,
but you just don't know where to start? Well, my friend, you are not alone. And in this series, our team of DIY experts meet people
from right around the country to help shape their plans and to prove just how easy it is to transform an area
without spending too much time or money. ♪ [music] ♪ - [Jenny] I can't believe it. My kids are going to love this. - [Man] Whoa, what the...it looks so good. - [Woman] Is this my house? ♪ [music] ♪ - This weekend we're working with Jenny,
who has dreamed of transforming her outdoor space into an entertainer's paradise for
her family and friends. Let's go meet her. Well, hi, Jenny.
- Hi, how are you? - Thank you for having me. So this is it. This is our space. So tell me about it.
- I'd like to have more people around for entertaining. - You want to have a party in this space.
- Yes, we want to have a party. - So maybe it's not really an
entertainer's pad at the moment. - Not with all the grass and whatever and even
getting up and down the stairs and inside. - What's going on over there at the moment? We've got a little mini ramp as well as...
- That's the dog ramp. - Okay. What's your dog's name? - Piper.
- Piper. I guess, when it comes to entertaining,
do you have a barbecue? - No, I don't have a barbecue.
- Okay. Well, we need to figure that out. - Yeah. - It can't be an Aussie house without a barbie. There's a lot of room that we can work with here. What about this lawn area, though? Because you do have a dog, so do you want to keep... - I'd like to keep a little...I like grass,
so I'd like a little bit of grass, but I don't need a lot, just something that
takes me maybe two or three seconds to mow. - Two or three seconds. Right. Two or three seconds and maybe
a little bit less grass then. It does slope down a little
bit in the corner over here. And what actually is that...what is this? - I don't know. It was here when I got here. I think it was a sandpit. - Right. I think it's now sand and grass pit.
- It's sand and grass pit. So yeah, I'd like to get rid of that.
- Okay. Let's make a plan. I want to take some photos. We'll sketch it up and in a couple of days, voila,
you'll have an amazing outdoor space. ♪ [music] ♪ Jenny has the right idea for her outdoor area by saying
goodbye to the plants and garden beds that don't suit her needs. By building a new deck with sweeping steps,
it will give Jenny easy access to the house for herself and her furry friend, and will make the outdoor
entertainment space feel more connected to the home. A fresh coat of paint on the back facade and fences
will freshen up this space and raised garden beds with hardy plants will give
Jenny some low maintenance greenery. As for that problem area,
we're going to cut into the soil to level it off to create a dedicated barbecue area. Are you happy with all that, Jenny?
- Yeah, it's awesome. - I brought in a crew from Bunnings to help us
out so let's get started by clearing the space. - Okay. ♪ [music] ♪ - What do you reckon, Peter? I'd give that maroon the flick? - [Peter] Yeah, we'll have to. Last time I saw that, it was about 1978. - Come on in, Jenny. This is Peter, our paint expert.
- Hello, Jenny. - So I'm going to get you to help Peter prep this back
wall, because we've got some clearing to do. We need to give it a sand before we apply the color. I'll give you a hand as well. - Okay. Great. - Okay, so what we need to do
is just give this a light sand. Let the sander do the job for you. Don't press too hard. And away we go. ♪ [music] ♪ - I love this apricot tree. I just don't love where it is. So ideally, it's not great to move a fruit tree. However, this one's actually in a pot. So what we're going to do is replant it. We're going to bring it over here with
the existing fruit trees and aesthetically, it's going to look a lot better. All right, Sandy, let's get this guy going. You got it? - [Sandy] Yeah. - Good work, Sandy. So why is this a good spot for the apricot tree? - It's going to get much more sun. It's going to be out of its pot and it's
in amongst the other fruit trees. And it's just going to screen this wall beautifully. So when you're transplanting,
we always like to give it its best chance. So a seaweed solution, watering it in well,
giving it a good deep water every few days, and just give it a massive prune. - Okay, so how often do you actually
need to prune your fruit trees? - Once a year, I like to shape them
so they don't get out of control. You're better off to do it late winter,
so then you've got fresh growth coming in spring. - Is he going to be happy? - He's going to be happy. - Oh, good. I like it. ♪ [music] ♪ Clearing up the garden means you find lots of hidden
treasures and I love this existing brick wall. I really love the way that you can really see it more
now because we've cleared all of the trees. They've been pruned right back and that red brick helps
to bring a lot of charm and character to this space. ♪ [music] ♪ When it comes to removing your lawn,
you don't need to go too deep. You just want to cut strips,
get in under that root system, and it should come up easily. I say should. I have a bit of work to do there. ♪ [music] ♪ While Jenny continues to help Peter apply
the basecoat of paint to the outside walls, Tom is starting to prepare the stumps for our deck. ♪ [music] ♪ Reaction stations. Where are we at, Tom? - [Tom] At the moment, we've dug up
all the holes for preparation for concrete and then we put in the concrete. This is going to set overnight. - Yeah. Okay, so we need to leave it overnight, but we do
need to work quick to actually get the stumps... - That's right.
- ...in the right spot. This is a DIY job, right? You can get it done in a weekend. - If you've got five good mates, no problem. - Five good mates. Do you need to spoil them at the end of it, though? - You have to. If you don't, they won't come back. - I love it. We're just going to keep cracking, I guess. - Yes. - Let's do it. ♪ [music] ♪ - Now we've put the posts in. We just get the level. We make sure they are plumb so they're straight. And then, tomorrow when we come in,
we take measurements, we put the bearers and the joists will be added. ♪ [music] ♪ - Now that our stumps have set, we're going to get to
work on laying out the joists and bearers for the deck, as well as building the framework that will become
our feature steps, leading up to the back door. While this is happening, Peter is going to
get cracking on finishing the second coat on the back wall and painting the back fence. As soon as we're done here,
we can head straight over to fix the sleepers that will complete the raised garden bed. ♪ [music] ♪ There's nothing like a fresh coat of paint
and these fences look beautiful. I love using dark tones, charcoals, grays,
because your greenery will pop when it sits in front of it. And I cannot wait to see what these garden beds are
going to be looking like when they're all finished. ♪ [music] ♪ Okay, so while the guys are laying the deck,
we need to get started on our pavers, so, James, you're the expert. Talk to me. Where are we at?
- [James] Yes, I am. So basically, what we need to do
is put in our crushed rock first. We then compact that down with a compactor,
which you can actually hire from Bunnings as well. You need to mark out the
positioning of each of the pavers. Use a string line just to make sure
they're all linear and evenly spaced out. We're sticking them down with a mortar compound. But the only thing is, you need
to let them cure for at least 24 hours prior to walking on them.
- Okay. So there's a couple of steps,
but that's definitely DIY, right? - It's achievable for the DIYers out there.
- Okay. We've got this. Well, you've got this, anyway. - I do. ♪ [music] ♪ - Once our mortar is dry, we just need
to put our toppings around the pavers. Now, for this design,
we actually went with contrasting colors. But if you don't like that look, you can actually
match your stepping stones to your toppings. ♪ [music] ♪ Tell you what, Tom, it's coming together. - It has, hasn't it?
- It looks great. What else have we got? - Just the [inaudible] decking
to lay in and that's it. - All right. Well, you've got it covered, haven't you? - Yes, I do. - I'm just going to leave you to it. - See you later. ♪ [music] ♪ - So I promised Jenny a low maintenance garden,
so we've actually brought in the olive trees, because these are very hardy and they're going to grow
up beautifully and I really love the silvery green of the foliage. Don't you, Sandy? - It looks beautiful. - It's so nice with that charcoal fence. And what have you got down here? - I have rosemary here. It's so drought-hardy, hard to kill. Just keep it pruned so it doesn't get woody and then
use the rosemary on your roasted potatoes. - Yeah, a bit of lamb, too.
- Yeah. - Absolutely beautiful. Don't mind me. In between the trees, we're installing some
privacy screening to create a feature wall, as well as beginning the installation
of a water feature for Jenny, because there's nothing better than the sound
of running water in a garden setting. ♪ [music] ♪ So when we're bringing our pieces of lawn together,
think of it like you're knitting them together. You want to pull them up and place them down that way. There's a nice seamless line. And when we come to laying the turf,
you want to think of it like a game of Tetris. So you don't want all of the lines to be the same. You want to mix it up. And if you've got any which are a bit longer than you
actually need, you need to give them a bit of a cut. So now this shorter bit, I'm going to take to the
other side and keep going with the pattern. ♪ [music] ♪ Once your turf is down,
you want to give it a good soak. Try and do this at least twice a day,
because you really want the grass to take hold. You know it has taken hold when you can't
actually pull those individual pieces apart. It just becomes one luscious lawn. ♪ [music] ♪ And here we are, our final day at Jenny's house
and the transformation is nearly complete. The garden beds are looking fantastic. The deck stands, pride of place,
towering over our new lawn. And our stepping stones lead the
way to our dedicated barbecue area. Okay, Jenny, it's time for the fun bit. Let's go choose some outdoor furniture. All right, Jenny. What do you think of this? - Oh, I like this. - You like this?
- Yeah. - It's very low maintenance, because it's
aluminum so it's going to wear very well. It's very durable. And I like how fresh it is. On the deck, I think it's going to be great. We'll go really minimal, slim lines,
keep it very classic and modern. - Yeah. That sounds great.
- Sounds good? ♪ [music] ♪ All right, Jenny. We've got our outdoor furniture. We've got our table. We've got our chairs. We've got our cushions. What else have we got? We got a barbecue.
- Barbecue. Now, how are we going to get it all in the car? That's your job. It's now time for the finishing touches before we style
the space up and hand it over to Jenny to enjoy. ♪ [music] ♪ Meanwhile, we're installing the hooks for our hanging
baskets and putting the finishing touches to our barbecue area. James, I've got some lovely green plant babies. - Oh my goodness. All right. Awesome. - Make that happen for me, please.
- Okay. I will do. So first of all, what I'm going to do is mark the
positions of where I want to put these hooks. We need to buy ones with a sufficient enough
weight rating to hold these heavy plants. And they also will get a little bit
heavier once you are watering them. ♪ [music] ♪ - Oh, my God. - What do you think? - It's good. - You're not crying on me, are you? - I can't believe how different it looks. - Oh, Jenny. - I can't believe it. - Oh my goodness. - Yeah, it looks awesome. - Oh, Jenny. Oh, I love it.
- Yeah, thanks so much. - So what do you think of this new space? I mean...
- I like this. Yeah, it's so good. - This has got your name all over it, I reckon.
- Yeah. - Have a seat in here. You can see what it feels like. - It's a good view from everywhere. - Isn't it, just? Most importantly, let's see if Piper likes her view.
- I forgot about Piper, after looking at all the view. - Let's go and see if she likes her new home. Piper, hi. - My kids are going to love this. They're going to be around all the time. I just love how big the deck is.
- It's so big, isn't it? So you've got this area now. So Piper's got her little zone.
- Yeah. I'll be having this on day and night.
- Oh my goodness. So you're going to be a good gardener now, aren't you?
- Yes. - Do you remember what I told you? - Water them? - Yeah. I'm sorry we made you cry, but in a good way. - I know, I know.
- In a good way. - I don't know where to look. Like, because everything looks so good, you know. It's the best back garden I've ever seen. ♪ [music] ♪ - When I first met Jenny,
she had this space that she just didn't love. She was quite overwhelmed by it
so she just sort of ignored it, whereas now, we've actually created
this entire entertainer's pad, for roughly $15,000. And most importantly,
it's now a space that Jenny can love. So there we have it,
a new entertainer's pad for Jenny and her family to enjoy. And all it takes to make it happen is a solid
well-thought-out plan, a few days, some elbow grease, and just like Jenny,
you too can have a new outdoor space to enjoy. ♪ [music] ♪
