DIY: How To Make A Wheelie Bin Screen

Our local council supplies us with 3 big wheelie bins for general rubbish, recycling and garden waste and we keep them at the front of the house in the driveway.

The bins don't make the best first impression to our visitors who walk past them on their way to our front door plus they take up space in the driveway where we want to park our cars.

So when we designed our front courtyard we included in the design putting the bins in the corner of the courtyard so they are out of the way. Having 3 bins all lined up was still pretty unsightly so we decided to make this wheelie bin screen in front of them to hide them from sight.

The finished timber look wheelie bin screen 

Initially I wanted a screen made from decorative privacy screens but because of the patterns you would still be able to see the bins through them and the screens and a frame would cost over $400.

So then we had the bright idea of making a screen from the Alitimber metal fence slats which we used on the courtyard fence. This would mean the screen will blend in with the fence behind as it's made from the same product, plus we could make little to no gap between the slats so the bins were hidden properly and we had a few lengths leftover so the cost would be less.

The pack of metal fence slats, support posts, inside channels, caps and cement cost us about $300. The other items needed for this DIY is a circular saw, tape measure, level, drill and screws.

DIY: How to make a wheelie bin screen

First things first we worked out how long we wanted the screen to be to fit the 3 bins. Then Mr P cemented a support post into the ground on one side and attached the other support post to the exterior brick wall of the house.

Next we fitted an inside channel to the middle of the support poles with a few screws and used a level to make sure it was straight. The inside channel is what you screw the metal fence slats to. 

Once the two support posts were in place we waited until after the courtyard had been paved before making the screen otherwise it would be in the way of the guys laying the limestone pavers.

This may have taken us almost a year to get around to finishing but as the saying goes Rome was not built in a day! Renovating takes time as well but we get there in the end!!

So over the weekend Mr P got out the circular saw, measured the distance between the support poles and cut the metal fence slats to size.

Using the level again to make sure it was straight Mr P attached the fence slat with screws into the channel in the support pole. Working from the top to the bottom once the first slat is in and straight then the rest are easy to install. We didn't want a big space between the slats or you'd be able to see through the screen so we used a 2mm spacer so there was only a very small gap.

A cap is placed on the top of each support pole to stop any water getting in and then it was done.

Now all 3 wheelie bins sit behind the screen out of sight. The screen also hides the reticulation controls and power supply.

We now have our entire driveway to make use of for parking the cars and it just looks so much nicer at the front of the house without the big green wheelie bins in the way!

This was a great DIY weekend project to tick off the to do list and in fact is the last project to tackle in our front courtyard garden - it is now officially done and we can sit outside in our outdoor oasis and enjoy what we've created.

Where do you store your outdoor rubbish bins?

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Backyard Progress: Our New Timber Deck

Our backyard renovations are really coming along nicely with our patio and deck project underway.

As soon as the stonemason had finished building the limestone retaining walls the carpenter could start building the deck and patio.

Firstly, the carpenter built a treated pine wood frame all around the inside of the retaining wall structure and then support beams were attached to the frame.

Then he added both pine stumps and metal supports which were concreted in underneath the deck to add further support to the deck above.

Once all the frame work was in the timber deck was laid on top of the frame - we went for a natural timber in Merbau hardwood which is a dark brown wood similar to Jarrah and will compliment our Jarrah floorboards well.

There are two sizes to pick from - thin or wide boards and as it's a big space we went for the wide board in 140mm - a smaller space would look better with a thin board.

We thought about using a composite plastic deck material but it would be more expensive and because our deck is undercover of the patio and protected it won't be exposed to the elements so the natural timber will keep in great condition. If the deck was not covered and exposed to the elements we would've paid the extra money and gone with a composite plastic deck material.

The natural timber will still need to be oiled and sealed to protect it and I'll be doing a DIY How to oil a deck blog post using some awesome outdoor products from Cabots.

You can see how the deck is all on the same level as the dining room french doors and the laundry door so when we step out of the house the deck will be like an outdoor room and extension of the house.

The sandy patch below that steps down to our garage door (which is at a lower level) we are going to lay pavers and lawn here so the backyard is dog friendly for our rescue dog Lexi.

Once the carpenter started laying the timber boards the deck was built pretty quickly.

A trap door was also made with a staircase going down underneath to access under the house which we can use for storage and to access the house for any plumbing or other maintenance needs. A lid was made for the trap door with a flush handle fitted to lift it up. The trap door was my clever idea and I think it's a great addition and the workmanship is seamless you can hardly notice it's there!

So that's it - the deck is done!

Next we need to oil and seal the timber deck to protect it and as mentioned I'll be writing a DIY How to oil a timber deck blog post using some awesome outdoor products from Cabot's just as soon as we've done this (our next DIY weekend project)!

The next project underway is the carpenter building a patio over the top of the deck which I'll share in a separate blog post very soon.

Do you have a deck? 
What deck material did you use - natural timber or a composite material? 

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Backyard Subdivision Progress - Retaining Walls

As you may have seen me sharing on the Jarrah Jungle social media pages over the last few weeks work has started on our backyard deck and patio project.

The retaining wall had to be built first - this took about 4 days which was spaced out over 2 weeks due to the need to let the concrete and blocks set and dry and the stonemasons other work commitments.

Check out these before and afters of the amazing limestone work involved
in building retaining walls for our newly subdivided backyard block

First a trench was dug and a concrete footing was poured for the limestone brick wall to be built on top of. This had to be left to dry and set for a couple of days.

Next the metre long limestone blocks arrived on a great big truck and the driver used a bobcat to unload all the blocks and drop them off around the back of the house.

Then the guys got to work clearing the site which included the concrete steps from the laundry door out to the backyard being taken out - which gave me a fright when I opened the door to step outside and they were gone!

For a few weeks we had to do a commando leap sideways onto the new limestone wall to get outside and our furbaby Lexi has impressed us with her ability to jump up and over the wall with no trouble at all!

  

The limestone brick wall was built by P & P Stone who also built our front courtyard garden and the side limestone retaining wall for our new dividing fence.

Once we find good tradesmen we use them again and again for each renovation project that we do - we stick with the same plumber, electrician, cabinet maker, etc as you develop a good relationship with them, they look after you by doing a good job and you look after them by giving them continued work.

The backyard will be half deck and patio and the other half will be a courtyard with paving and grass - we included the grass so it's pet friendly for our rescue dog Lexi.

Mr P waterproofed the inside of the courtyard as it will be filled with sand and get watered once the grass is laid so we need to protect the limestone so it doesn't stain.

To waterproof - first Mr P mixed up some mud and plastered it onto the inside of the limestone blocks to fill the gaps and left it to dry. Next he painted on two coats of waterproofing all the way around the inside of the courtyard walls, he used the same waterproof product that we used in our courtyard garden beds - it's like a thick black tar, is heavy duty and perfect for wet areas like garden beds.

This new retaining wall defines our newly subdivided block so this is going to be the size of our new backyard.

It's a lot smaller than it was as we have essentially cut our block in half because we plan to sell the back block of land in the future and keep and live in our renovated home at the front. Being able to 'retain and build' is a great way to climb up the property ladder and is quite a popular thing to do in Perth for those of us on big suburban blocks of land.

I'm so happy our limestone retaining wall is built .... next up is the deck and patio build!

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