Here’s our first blog post since we started the landscaping construction.
We had to re-locate the water meter as it was in the middle of where the new driveway would go. The process of moving the water meter was a pain due to some stuff ups by Select Solutions who are the contractors employed by the water authority, Yarra Valley Water, to officially re-locate water meters. If the water meter was to move < 600mm your own plumber could do the move, be as we were relocating it a good few meters away so it had to go through proper authorities. The cost to move the meter was around $1,900 (booked through Reece) and involved moving the meter to the new location and then connecting the meter and tap to a new mains located under the road.
The best information I could find about relocating water meters is in the document Water Metering & Servicing Guidelines (Section 6.3, page 11).
We completed our landscaping design with Ben from Daviscapes back in early July and landscaping construction started on 9 September. Its been 103 days since we started and we are pleased we are making some progress after some rain delays during October. We can now start to see the landscaping take shape and its starting to look great.
Below are some pics taken over the course of the construction.
Landscape Design v3. Copyright @ Daviscapes.
Picture of the front before any landscaping works
The backyard before any earthworks. You can see the pink lines outlining the landscaping.
Digger in action. I think Ben calles it Daviscrapes!
Some of the dirt excavated from the back – there was a lot!
Back retaining wall foundations and brick going up
We like the curved wall – it softens the hard structure a bit. The curve was put in so we can put a trampoline in.
Render now applied. There was also some waterproofing underneath.
One of the guys from Daviscapes hard at work.
Rear decking going in. Makes the alfresco area feel bigger.
View from inside through the bi-folds towards the alfresco area and steps.
The boys unloading the digger from the truck
Front decking frame going in.
Front feature retaining wall
View of the front of the house.
We selectected Spotted Gum for the decking timber. The finish of the wood is very smooth and the colour texture of the wood is great. Another great selection.
Front decking almost complete
View of the front with concrete path base. No more walking over dirt into the house!!
You can see Santa on the balcony.
View from the balcony
The retaining wall area – nice space.
The walk up to the front door. We are very happy with the white plantation shutters for the sidelight windows.
Nice going Daviscapes! 🙂
C&K
Plantation Facade
Love the decking! Softens the whole facade. It’s looking great. Landscaping does so much for a house. Yours is a big job.
Yeah its a big job considering we are doing the whole lot combined with the land fall across the length of the block. Once its complete it will be so much nicer. Kids are looking forward to running around the back.
Sensational job and cleverly designed, can’t wait to see more pics.
Great job. Looks amazing. I really like the curved walls. You have really used the site cut to make a feature of it. The landscape master plan is very clever as well. i can see why you love it. Thoughtful, beautiful and yet very practical. Great work.