Project Information
My wife and I purchased our home last fall and while the interior of the house was completely remodeled, the yard was in dire need of some TLC. Its a smaller city lot that came with a cracked (but structurally sound) concrete patio, a chain-link fence and a poorly graded & uneven weed patch for a lawn. We had a limited budget so the only thing we hired out was the tear-out of the lawn and fence. Deck, fences/gates, garden and lawn was all DIY.
Fence
We could've saved a little time & money going with a prefab fence kit but we really loved the horizontal style after seeing it online. It took me awhile to figure out a good design but once I figured it out, it was a breeze to put up. Since I used 1×6" PT pine boards for the slats, I decided to space the posts 6' instead of 8' to help prevent warp. I unfortunately didn't let the wood dry completely and a few of the slats are warping but since I used a stringer on the post, I can simply unscrew 10 screws to replace it. The nice part about this system is that there's no "ugly" side.
Deck
We discussed having the concrete patio removed and putting up a proper deck but after checking on costs and building codes, I decided to just build a floating deck on top of the concrete. Joists are 2×6" ground contact rated PT pine and spaced 18". PT 5/4 deck boards on the top and with them still pretty wet, no gap. Since the patio was a bit uneven, I shimmed it with scrap and left a few spaces for me to jack it up to re-shim if it moves.
I'm also finishing up a Herman Miller style bench off the tall raised bed.
Raised Beds
I ordered about 15% extra lumber since I've never taken on a project like this and expected some bad cuts. But I underestimated my DIY skills and had a bunch of leftovers (and a lot of leftover dirt from the landscaping). The tall raised bed wasn't in the original plan and decided to use some of the 5/4 deck stock to build it 3' tall and spanning the side of the deck. I realize the 5/4 stock isn't ground contact rated but figured that if it lasts 5 years, it was worth it.
A shorter square foot gardening style bed runs along the fence and 2 raised beds in the back for our veggies.
In all, it took about a month for me to complete working nights and taking a week vacation. I estimate 90 or so hours to complete it.
Fence
We could've saved a little time & money going with a prefab fence kit but we really loved the horizontal style after seeing it online. It took me awhile to figure out a good design but once I figured it out, it was a breeze to put up. Since I used 1×6" PT pine boards for the slats, I decided to space the posts 6' instead of 8' to help prevent warp. I unfortunately didn't let the wood dry completely and a few of the slats are warping but since I used a stringer on the post, I can simply unscrew 10 screws to replace it. The nice part about this system is that there's no "ugly" side.
Deck
We discussed having the concrete patio removed and putting up a proper deck but after checking on costs and building codes, I decided to just build a floating deck on top of the concrete. Joists are 2×6" ground contact rated PT pine and spaced 18". PT 5/4 deck boards on the top and with them still pretty wet, no gap. Since the patio was a bit uneven, I shimmed it with scrap and left a few spaces for me to jack it up to re-shim if it moves.
I'm also finishing up a Herman Miller style bench off the tall raised bed.
Raised Beds
I ordered about 15% extra lumber since I've never taken on a project like this and expected some bad cuts. But I underestimated my DIY skills and had a bunch of leftovers (and a lot of leftover dirt from the landscaping). The tall raised bed wasn't in the original plan and decided to use some of the 5/4 deck stock to build it 3' tall and spanning the side of the deck. I realize the 5/4 stock isn't ground contact rated but figured that if it lasts 5 years, it was worth it.
A shorter square foot gardening style bed runs along the fence and 2 raised beds in the back for our veggies.
In all, it took about a month for me to complete working nights and taking a week vacation. I estimate 90 or so hours to complete it.
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