Small courtyard makeover

 

The original courtyard had terracotta tiles and faded nature reed screening over lattice for the walls that had become weathered and needed sprucing up.

 

Nigel Ruck, director of landscape company Greenology, suggested a design makeover solution that would inject colour without blowing the budget.

 

Nigel says, ‘We didn’t want to do anything that would affect the existing tiles and concrete beneath.

 

‘The grout was cracked so the options were to regrout, rip up the tiles then re-lay them or go with a different material. The area lent itself to soft, warm colours so we decided on floating timber decking for a modern look.’

 

Part of the brief was to limit the sound of the traffic from the street, so the plan was to attach Blue Board fibre cement sheeting over the existing lattice to cut the noise.

 

To avoid drilling into tiles and concrete when building the 18 square metres of decking, merbau boards were mounted on a frame of joists that were levelled for stability.

 

The existing step up into the apartment was about 160mm high so there was plenty of room. Nigel says, ‘The weight of the frame and the boards keep the entire deck in place. Joists were packed up using plastic shims then the boards attached with galvanised screws.