Outdoor projects – Page 4

For most homes, the most striking feature is the garage door. It faces the road, it’s by far the largest door, and it may even be attached to a freestanding structure. More than that, your garage door is functional in that it protects your car and other garage contents from the elements and intruders. Here, we’ll explore the common types of garage doors on the market, and whether you should consider them for your home. are the most common types op

Here’s a round up of the most common types of garage doors.

1. Sectional doors

Sectional garage doors are made up of around six to eight segments that retract upward and inward at the same time. When the door is fully open, they lie flat against the ceiling. These are a reliable and durable option – each of the panels has its own connection to the main door track to ensure it’s secure when opened or closed. Repairs can be conducted on just the affected panel, instead of the entire structure.

Another benefit of the sectional door? Because they don’t need to be flung open, the space in front of the door is free to use.

2. Tilt-up garage doors

With this style of door, wide doors open up and when open are parallel to the ground. When they retract, they are flush against the garage ceiling. They come in a wide variety of colours and styles, and are a popular choice as they can be more customisable (e.g. glass panels) than a roller or sectional door. However, because they swing out then up they do require a large amount of clearance space in front of the door.

3. Roller shutter doors

Garage door roller shutters are made from a coated steel panel that smoothly rolls open, providing access to your garage. They are safe, secure and made from top-quality materials like Colorbond steel in a wide range of colours.

Manual or automatic options are available. For the manual option – simply unlock the door and push it open, then pull it down and lock it when you’re done. If you need to retension a roller door or tension a roller garage door, there are resources available on how to retension a roller door or how to tension a roller door for proper operation. The automated option – which is considerably more expensive – operates in the same way, except using a remote control.

Automatic roller shutters also feature an electronic safety beam that detects movement across the width of the garage entranceway. If the beam senses that anything is crossing through this area, it will automatically re-open the door. This safety feature can keep pets and children from getting caught when the door comes rolling down, ensuring your roller door retention remains intact.

4. Side-hinged doors

The oldest type of garage door available is the side-hinge door. In fact, this style predates automobiles. These are fixed at the side, and swing-out like a regular door. While this style takes up more space than a sectional or roller door, they are easy to use and provide a more unusual, vintage aesthetic.

Every type will get the job done, but you might have to eliminate one or two choices depending on the layout of your garage or how much clearance you need in front of the garage to open it. Keep in mind that if you choose any kind of hinge door, you will need to keep a minimum amount of space in front of the door clear so you can open it.

Other considerations when selecting a garage door

Choice of material

It might be true that traditional garage doors were made with flat panel plywood, sheet metal or hollow core for those on a budget, and fibreglass or solid timber for those homeowners willing to splurge, but today you have many more options in a variety of prices. In addition to the choices already listed, they also include powder-coated aluminium and vinyl doors. These are becoming popular for the many choices of colours, their affordability and their durability. Wide tempered glass panels are also gaining popularity – because the panels are in aluminium frames they can also be used indoors to replace sliding glass doors.

Here’s a quick view of the pros and cons of the different types of materials available for your garage door.

Timber: Timber can be painted to any colour you want. While a painted garage door can look striking, it will need regular maintenance.
Steel: A popular choice, it doesn’t require as much upkeep and is more durable than timber.
Aluminium: While these are lightweight and inexpensive, they do have a tendency to dent easily.
Fibreglass: This type isn’t a good choice for cold climates since they don’t have good insulation properties, and they have a tendency to break easily.

When you finally turn to aesthetics, you will be pleasantly surprised by your options. Even standard doors these days are stylish options, as well as being the most economic choice. If you choose to have your garage door completely custom made, it will definitely make a statement on your home, but it might cost you a chunk of change as well. A good middle ground is to choose a semi-custom garage door. This uses standard materials and style options, and you also have your choice of sizes and panel inserts to make it your own.

Manual or automatic?

You will want to decide if a manual or automatic door is the best choice for you. You can find an automatic system for practically any door, but this will cost more money. These can be retrofitted for existing doors or installed on new doors, and are certainly more convenient. An automatic door remote can be connected to a home alarm system, so opening or closing the door turns the alarm on or off automatically. A more logical (and cheaper) solution is to buy the garage door and automatic system together as a package.

Safety & security

One of the most important things a residential garage door must do is offer protection. When you consider purchasing a particular door, make sure that the materials used and the way the door is built for your home security and that there aren’t any weak points that may attract burglars. Also, don’t forget that safety is the most important thing and you should teach your family how to stay safe around the garage door and how to operate it safely.

Check with local council

When building a new garage, you’ll need to double-check local restrictions and what the specifications of an allowable garage might be. Check with your local council or permitting office to determine restrictions and permits before committing any time or money into the project. Permits most often apply for a large garage, one that encroaches on a current easement, one that is attached to a home or one that fails to meet the minimum setback requirements.

Adding a rock retaining wall to your yard is becoming increasingly common in Australia. They can be great for enhancing the aesthetic of your land, to improve the topography of the ground, or to fulfil a need to maximize the land use.

What is a retaining wall?

Retaining walls hold, or retain, soil. They’re commonly used to prevent erosion and can also be used to support a slope, create terraces, and support garden beds. Retaining walls can be purely functional or a combination of functional and decorative.

There are a few different options available to you, depending on the end purpose of your wall (decorative or structural), your budget, and the aesthetic you’re after:

Wood
Stone
Gabions
Brick
Concrete

Do I need to hire a professional?

Retaining walls can be tricky to get right, especially when adding a structure onto a slope. Before you start building a retaining wall on your site you need to clearly answer the question – what is it for? To strengthen the slope and keep the soil on it from leaching and slipping? Or for decorating the garden, zoning, and vertical gardening?

There might be legal restrictions with your retaining wall since they’re designed to hold back a great deal of weight. Check and see what the local laws allow, in most cases, you’ll need approval from your local council. If council approval is required, you’ll also need to employ a licensed structural engineer.

Technical calculations are not necessary in the case of purely decorative walls, a landscaper is skilled enough. However, as soon as an exterior wall has a real support function, a study must be conducted beforehand.

For the construction of a strong and reliable retaining wall that can protect a house or a plot from a landslide from a slope, professionals should be invited. They’ll complete a study of the soil and ensure reinforcement of the slope with a strong mesh or geotextile. A solid concrete foundation is also required on which the retaining wall can be built. In addition to this, work is required to divert rainwater from the slope. A protective wall is a complex engineering structure that requires durability for safety and is not for amateurs.

Wooden retaining wall

Timber retaining walls are a popular choice because they’re easy to set up and install for the DIY gardener, and they’re also very affordable. A durable option, you can expect a timber retaining wall to last up to 25 years before needing to be replaced. Aesthetically, there’s a warmth and flexibility that comes from timber as a material due to the many different types of wood available.

First of all, you’ll need to treat the timber, or purchase pre-treated material, so that it’s protected from rotting caused by the moisture present in soil. In order to maintain the strength and durability of your timber retaining wall, you’ll probably need to re-treat it every so often as well.

To create and install a wall of horizontal logs you need smooth, high-quality dried timber. Logs are usually used, but solid timber is also an option. Glued laminated timber should be avoided as it can delaminate in the rain if your area is open to the elements.

Logs can be installed horizontally or vertically. For horizontal installation, they must be the same size and thickness. Choosing vertical installation allows you to use waste lumber, different in length, and diameter of the log.

An even more economical option is to use trunks and branches of old trees that have been cut in the area if they are strong enough. The trunks of trees, especially fruit, are never perfectly flat but for a low retaining wall, segments of 40-90 cm in length are needed, you can always select and cut off suitable fragments.The advantages of vertical installation of logs are that this method allows you to make any smooth turns and rounding of the retaining wall.

Stone retaining wall

Natural stone retaining walls are the most reliable style you can select and fit perfectly into any style of garden – though they can be more expensive.

You can use natural stones of any shape: rounded boulders, acute angles of rock or stone blocks of regular shape. Rectangular blocks of sandstone or limestone laid in even rows are most suitable for a regular garden. Boulders of various sizes and shapes are used to create retaining walls that resemble natural heaps of stones. Such structures are characteristic of the natural style.

Construction of a retaining wall of stone begins with laying in a specially dug trench drainage and foundation. The foundation is made of concrete and reinforced with wire and metal construction debris. If the wall is low, then the reason for it can be large stones, half dug into the soil.

Gabion retaining wall

Gabion walls are durable and strong, able to hold large masses of soil. They are built out of a gabion — or steel-reinforced wire basket — which is shaped to conform to the site, and then filled with multi-sized stones. To construct a gabion wall, you just need to place reinforced, level footings made of concrete on the site, then install the gabion wall on top and fill it with stones. Smaller stones work better because you can just dump them in by the bucket, whereas larger stones need to be put in by hand to fit within the wall frame properly.

Because of its unique construction, a gabion wall has no mortar, it drains well and isn’t vulnerable to water buildup. In addition, it doesn’t wear and crumble as mortar is prone to do. Because of their weight, gabion walls are also good at controlling erosion and will last for years.

In addition to being relatively low cost and quick to install, gabion walls can also provide an attractive feature for your lawn or garden. For added flair, train ground lights over your gabion wall to create a show-stopping, dramatic nighttime effect.

The walls of the gabions are often low; the blocks are installed without a foundation. An inexpensive cobble, pebble or gravel is used as a filler. Gabion walls can be tricky to install, even for an experienced DIYer – so it would be worth chatting to a professional if you go down this route.

Brick retaining wall

Brick is often chosen as a material for the construction of a retaining wall as it’s a relatively inexpensive material, yet very durable able to withstand extremes of temperature, moisture, and weather. Bricks do not warp, rot, or suffer from insect attacks. For a decorative wall, waste, broken, or old bricks can be used. You should also choose this option if your wall will be complex in configuration — with roundings, corners, or projections.

The technology of laying is the same as in ordinary construction, with low walls it’s enough to just lay half a brick. If the wall is a metre or taller – a full brick should be used otherwise it will need to be reinforced.

The foundation of a brick retaining wall requires gravel drainage and ligation – especially for high walls. Behind your wall you’ll also need a solid drainage system, as the bricks don’t not like moisture. Brick retaining walls are also easy to reinforce and create very strong structures. Add a solid foundation or reinforce with steel rods or pre-stressed cables. For extra strength, a brick retaining wall can be built with double thickness.

Source: Broadbent’s Landscaping and Garden Care

Aside from the relatively low cost, the other main advantage of choosing a brick wall is their ability to be decorated with ties. This means endless possibilities when it comes to injecting colour and texture into your design.

Concrete retaining wall

Concrete is a popular option since it’s an incredibly durable and strong building material. Concrete retaining walls are long-lasting, won’t rot or warp like timber does, and can support a great deal of weight if reinforced properly. They can be made in three different ways: using concrete sleepers, pouring concrete into a mould, or placing several blocks to create the wall. It’s worth noting that a solid concrete wall is almost always heavier than bricks or wood, making a solid and wide foundation a requirement.

Concrete walls can be harsh on the eyes, so you’ll likely need to finish it with some kind of paint, dye or tile.

Concrete retaining walls tend to be a little expensive when compared to timber, but will also last you much longer. Additionally, concrete retaining walls take up more space than timber ones do, making them less well-suited to smaller yards.

Moreover, one of the most critical elements is the footing when building a concrete retaining wall. Footings for retaining walls play a crucial role in providing stability and support to the wall structure. Whether you’re using Besser block retaining wall footings or a concrete footing, proper reinforcement is essential. Steel reinforcement ensures that the footing can withstand the weight of the wall and any load it bears.

For added strength, contractors may also opt to embed rebar into the wall. When done correctly, footings for concrete retaining walls can ensure the durability and longevity of your structure.

Don’t forget about the quality protection of the finished product from soil moisture, and therefore be sure to install a drainage system to preserve the integrity and rigidity of our design.