DIYers . . . what to do with the backyard?

[Slateman]

Hey guys, bought a new house. Well condo. But it has a townhouse sized back yard. And it's pure ****. Spent the last couple days simply cleaning up debris and weeds. Really need to rip out the deck, but before I can do that, I have to submit a description and plan to the HOA.

Here's what it looks like now:


From the kitchen door


From the edge of the deck, looking back at the house


Deck is rotting and needs to go


Diagram



So, here's what I want:
A small area for the dog to piss/**** in the grass/mulch in the morning/late evening.
An area to store a small grill (probably by the bedroom window).
An area to pull out the grill and grill some food.
A space for a small table and 3-4 chairs
Maybe a small fire pit/bowl.

I really don't want a deck. I think it looks crappy and not sure it's worth the work. I was thinking about some paver sand and some paver stones taking about half the space the current deck is taking. I don't want a lot of grass as I am uninterested in cutting it. Not sure how I feel about pouring concrete as a patio.

Thoughts?

[MattFancy]

I recently put in patio pavers in my backyard. Went with a 13'x24' patio. Really wasn't too difficult to do. Had never done it before and it probably took me 7 hours or so to do it. The nice thing about a patio is that there isn't all the maintainence like a deck. Then what whatever space you left in your yard, just put down some sod.

[Skinz4Life12]

Put a concrete slab back there instead and some sod or turf (in CA a lot of people use turf due to the drought). Put some trees up for privacy in the corners

[steve09ru]

living in a townhouse community currently, I would probably not go fire pit route due to the close proximity of neighbors and the likelihood of them having windows/doors open for smoke to roll in.  I've have a portable one that I've used once and had to continuously move a fan around cause the smoke kept pushing towards the neighbors.  It was more of a pain than anything.

 

Not sure how big your dog is but if you lay sod down, it will be gone quickly so mulch in a small area would be the best option, if you wanted to leave the deck (I have 2 and the sodding lasted a couple months).  It also depends on how much your dog is out there though.  Mine are usually outside and the traffic and urine kills it

 

I'm not sure the slope and all of the deck/yard but if you are to remove any of it, I would remove a section on the short side to where it's almost a 'T' shape out of the kitchen door and down the long fence.  This way you have an elevate deck that wraps around the yard and the distance should be good if you are a corn hole fan to where you can play.

 

From there, if you have the elevate T deck and did want a fire pit then you could have that in the corner of deck edge straight out from the kitchen door.

 

And lastly, if you do cut the deck back some, it would be good to put a few pave blocks to the gate or even fill it in with some river rocks for a path.  When it rains and no grass, it can get really muddy which may or may not last long depending on sun angle.  I had to do it with mine due to sloping and lack of sun to where it would just stay muddy.  Looks nicer than dirt too.

[Predicto]

Keep it simple and easy to maintain.  I'm a big fan of center brick patios surrounded by bushes and small trees on the edges.  Brick drains well, ages nicely, and doesn't get hot in the summer under your feet.   

[mcsluggo]

Keep it simple and easy to maintain.  I'm a big fan of center brick patios surrounded by bushes and small trees on the edges.  Brick drains well, ages nicely, and doesn't get hot in the summer under your feet.   

what do you have in your backyard nowadays?

[steve09ru]

try google imaging 'townhouse backyards' - a lot of good/creative ideas in there depending on budget

[Chew]

OP:  your initial ideas are pretty sexy.  a place for the dogs to do their thing is so necessary, who wants to walk the dogs every 4-5 hours?!

 

Any open concept for entertaining between chairs/booths/sectionals and the grill is always a winner.  We have SFH but a pretty small backard (600 sq feet).  we have a patio with furniture and the grill, a tiny "dog run" for them to poo/pee, and a small area of grass for them to play. 

[Elessar78]

Hot tub?

[Predicto]

what do you have in your backyard nowadays?

 

My "backyard?"    It's still a nothing but an enclosed wooden deck covered with potted plants and a couple of lounge chairs.   If I HAD a deeper yard, I would install brick, but I don't.     

[Chew]

Hot tub?

 

probably the best, and most important, post in this thread.

[Predicto]

try google imaging 'townhouse backyards' - a lot of good/creative ideas in there depending on budget

 

 

My house and deck was featured in a photo spread in "House Beautiful" magazine.  

 

 

 

 

 

Back in the 1970s. lol.  

[Lombardi's_kid_brother]

My "backyard?"    It's still a nothing but an enclosed wooden deck covered with potted plants and a couple of lounge chairs.   If I HAD a deeper yard, I would install brick, but I don't.     

 

Seriously, do you two not have each other's number?

[Forehead]

My brother in law and I put down a patio in my townhouse backyard.  Sand base, Paver stones with an interesting design, more sand in between.  Maintenance is pretty easy, you occasionally weed between the stones, otherwise you sweep it and throw a layer of sand down every once in awhile to fill in gaps.  The only issue I've run into is that it's a little uneven now, but I haven't bothered fixing that.

 

The rest of our backyard is a kids trampoline which takes up about half the space, a flower garden, and an area for the dogs to use. I've unsuccessfully tried to get grass to take to that area, but I think there's just too much urine concentrate in the dirt for anything to stick.

[mcsluggo]

Seriously, do you two not have each other's number?

 

i have the phone number now, that he grew up with.... but he has long since forgotten it

[Chew]

man, i blame my wife...but I am so into this kinda stuff.  I am very young in the home owner world compared to many of you, but I get so excited about DIY stuff.  I blame the wife for making me fall asleep to HGTV every night.  Swear to god, no matter how sleepy I am, I absolutely must know which of the three homes the buyers select LOL 

[Kilmer17]

Putting green

[PCS]

It's a chore and a half,but your best bet before spending too much time designing things,is to find out from the CCR's and/or the HOA itself what isn't allowed first. Could save some time that way. Nothing worse than spending a lot of time designing things and really getting to like what you see only to have the taste police crap on the ideas. 

[Slateman]

man, i blame my wife...but I am so into this kinda stuff.  I am very young in the home owner world compared to many of you, but I get so excited about DIY stuff.  I blame the wife for making me fall asleep to HGTV every night.  Swear to god, no matter how sleepy I am, I absolutely must know which of the three homes the buyers select LOL 

First home. No kids. If we're going to DIY, now is the time.

 

It's a chore and a half,but your best bet before spending too much time designing things,is to find out from the CCR's and/or the HOA itself what isn't allowed first. Could save some time that way. Nothing worse than spending a lot of time designing things and really getting to like what you see only to have the taste police crap on the ideas. 

Already ahead of you. I have to give them a plan for approval. So some things that have been suggested have been discounted.

[Predicto]

Seriously, do you two not have each other's number?

 

You are just jealous because your own brother hates your guts.  He told me.

[daveakl]

Trampoline

[Springfield]

There's never a back yard too small for a stripper pole.

[Chew]

There's never a back yard too small for a stripper pole.

JESUS

listen to this man

[Elessar78]

There's never a back yard too small for a stripper pole.

Paint it orange, station it outside an upper window and tell the HOA it's an emergency fireman pole. 

[China]