Browse Forums General Discussion 1 Sep 25, 2010 1:12 am HI folks We are moving into our new house over the next couple of weeks (woohoo!). The back yard is a bit of a blank canvas - mainly lawn, narrow unestablished garden beds around the edges. The back yard faces north (as in, the back of the house faces north). We need to install a clothes line and a shed - is there an 'ideal' side to place these items so as not to effect the sun/shadowing? Would it matter? Obviously I would like maximum sun for the clothes line, shed doesn't matter but I don;t want to create unnecessary shading by the shed. Should they go on north boundary of fence - or east or west? Does it matter much? (Maybe different sides for the shed and clothes line but am trying to keep 'utility' area together if possible. Ceebs Re: Ideal placement of outdoor items (clothes line etc) 2Sep 25, 2010 10:11 am I guess importance of this depends a bit on where you live - back of our house faces south and we have clothesline mounted on back wall - shed is about 10 feet away so does shade it further too. But this made sense with our house as alfresco area is on other side and flows into garden area, would not of made sense to have alfresco looking at a shed. Anyway we live in hot dry area of SA so hasnt been an issue for us Re: Ideal placement of outdoor items (clothes line etc) 3Sep 25, 2010 10:50 am You want as much sun on your clothesline as possible, but personally, I don't want to see it from any of my windows - not living rooms anyway. So sometimes you have to compromise. If you have a large yard, you may be able to get away with ideal placement of the utilities, and then screen them from view (with plantings, or a timber slat screen or some other disguise) so you don't have to look at them. We don't have a lot of room, so I chose a spot for the clothesline that's only visible from my youngest son's room (bad luck for him ), and which is on the north-west side of the house. The rainwater tank is around the corner from the clothesline, on the blind side of the house and not visible at all from any windows. Our shed is on the opposite side of the house, by the side gate, and hidden from view by a timber slat screen - the hot water service is also in this area. We added another screen in the front yard, at the side of the house, to hide the bins. Having everything together would be ideal, but when space is tight, you have to make use of every little nook and cranny. We also made the clothesline area as attractive as possible, as it's at the end of a garden area... The small screen to the right hides the shed, hose and HWS: http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i18/kerrynw/IMG_6199_7_1.jpg Clothesline (practically invisible when folded down): http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i18/kerrynw/IMG_6237_4_1.jpg Rubbish bin camouflage: Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Re: Ideal placement of outdoor items (clothes line etc) 4Oct 06, 2010 2:02 pm Thanks Helyn and Kek.... Although the placement of both shed and clothes line is going to be visible from our back living room through the french doors (because the entire yard is visible), we have picked a place with minimal 'visual contact' on the eastern side fence. And yes, hopefully we can screen off with plants and/or fence screening and it won't be too bad overall (I hope ). We have an area to the side of the house which we may use for the clothes line - but shed has to be in the back space. Anyway, thanks for your input folks. And Kek, thanks for the images of your place - saw them before in some other thread, very nice work - looks great. Ceebs Re: Ideal placement of outdoor items (clothes line etc) 5Dec 22, 2010 10:04 am I am the opposite... I want my clothes line in the shade, as I don't want faded clothes. What are my options? Re: Ideal placement of outdoor items (clothes line etc) 6Dec 22, 2010 10:14 am I too love the shade for my clothes, as I have a lot of dark colours. I also chose a spot where it is somewhat hidden. Kek - Your backyard is beautiful!! Confused Renovator Re: Ideal placement of outdoor items (clothes line etc) 7Dec 22, 2010 12:37 pm The front of our house faces north-northwest, so to the back of the house is basically south. The back wall of the house (one of the kids' bedroom) is where our clothesline will be fixed to the wall. This means it will still get morning sun to about 11am (before the UV is high) and shade for the rest of the day - so hopefully it will stop the clothes fading, plus it will get the southerly breeze. Our outdoor area will be/is to the side of the house facing west-southwest. This way it gets maximum sun in the winter and we get the most out of the light on the long summer days too. We will look at some sort of removable shade structure (i.e. sail or retractable awning) to shade from the harsh summer sun during the middle of the day (which will help with cooling the house too - having triple glass doors there too). We don't have and don't require a garden shed (we have a double garage and only one car,) but if we needed one it would have to be a small cupboard type one behind the garage, which would only be visible from the other back bedroom. A lot will depend on the orientation of your block and the space available to you. Second Time 'Round Re: Ideal placement of outdoor items (clothes line etc) 8Dec 22, 2010 2:37 pm If you prefer shade for your clothes lone then you should try placing it so it gets only morning sun (East) that way there won't be max heat. You will need to ensure it gets some good air flow though, try putting your line where it will get the most breeze. Ray beat me to it....................... The best advice is for you to get a competent building consultant to guide you through your build 7 3786 Hi all, My first post, we are building a house and can’t decide the layout of the lounge room. We have a large N/W facing window and are wanting to have a wood slow… 0 11133 Move your linen into laundry and access laundry from your present linen space 1 5743 |