Browse Forums Landscape & Garden Design 1 Nov 23, 2010 10:16 am We live in a semi with courtyard out the back and lawn down the side of the house, we are putting in a new kitchen and opening up the back with bi fold doors, 6 panels across. The issue we have is currently when you step out the door there is six steps down to the ground (back courtyard). We would like to have a more of a seemless flow from inside to out and want to break up the amount of stairs. A deck level with the kitchen is not really an option as we are in a Sydney suburb close to neighbours on both sides and the height would be a potential privacy issue. So our thoughts are having about 3 steps leading down to a timber deck where we would have our seating, outside dining set etc and then a couple more steps leading down to the side of the house. OR, the three steps leading down to a paved or tiled area. My question is is it easy to fill in the area and bring it up the level we want for tiling and does this work with ground settling, drainage etc or are we inviting a huge range of issues down the track? Is this an expensive job? The area we would look to fill in is about 5.5 X 4.5 metres square and we would be bringing the height up approx 50cm. We have gotten a garden designer out to do a design but he has said it is not possible to get away from having 6 stairs down in a row. We will be getting professionals to do the work but I want to know what I am dealing with before I approach them. Thanks in advance for any advice anyone has. Re: Advice Please - Semi, Courtyard, Uneven Block 2Nov 26, 2010 5:16 am Decking would be the cheaper option as no fill would be required, if filling the area retaining walls are needed which are the most expensive part of the project when done properly. If you prefer tiles you can still have a raised sub floor and lay compressed cement sheets or similar and tile over, careful designing is needed for this option and tile sizes must be know before construction. Why don't you post a pic? Landscape Design & Construction http://cherub.squarespace.com/ Re: Advice Please - Semi, Courtyard, Uneven Block 3Dec 13, 2010 12:50 am dig up my Perth Garden Week threads and have a sqizz at the pics from them. Lots of ideas for similar spaces I hope this help you newhome_24, AS3958.1 is the Ceramic Tile Installation Standard. It specifies the tolerances for the installation of tiles. The tile supplier is… 1 7347 I don't think you're getting a response because you are not quite clear on what the issue is. yep, the site is not level, no site is! but are you just building a garage?… 1 2261 Hi I live in a 100yr old semi and my neighbour added an additional floor last yr and our architect has advised that we can knock down our semi and build a free-standing… 0 37693 |