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Backyard games room project

Jason
Community Manager
Community Manager

Backyard games room project

Our house was built in the 50s and we’ve renovated inside, but now it’s time to tackle the backyard...

 

We’ve decided that the double car garage, which has a leaky roof and some significant cracks in the concrete floor and daylight between some of the bricks in the walls, is beyond saving. We don’t use it to house the cars as the driveway is a little too narrow to get cars up and down every day.

 

It’s primarily been used by the kids for table tennis and pool, as well as a place to store bikes, tools and a whole lot of junk.

 

We’ve decided to install a pool and build a new games room/teenage retreat with a similar footprint to the old garage.

 

We wanted a flexible space that will primarily be used for entertaining but could be an additional bedroom or granny flat if we needed it to be. We need part of it to be storage and it also seemed wise to include a toilet and bathroom, particularly as we only have one inside.

 

The first step has been to sell what we can on eBay and throw out anything we haven’t used for a while.

 

The second step was realising that we’d get a much better result using a friend who is an architect, which has been an interesting process.

 

Here’s the first design we came up with, which we’ve now had to change to reduce costs… Sadly, we've had to delete the special bricks which had a circular hole - we were going to install glass behind them but the cost was too high. 

 

Games Room.jpg

 

I’ll give updates as we progress with the build.

 

Jason

 

 

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Jason
Community Manager
Community Manager

Re: Backyard games room project

Here's the plan....

 

Plan.png

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cupofchloe
Having an Impact

Re: Backyard games room project

We're doing a spring clean too - How have you been going getting stuff on ebay?

 

I've put two beds up on ebay this week, but they went for a pittance - someone suggested I should have put them on Gumtree instead.

 

Also - do you have a pool or are you adding one in?

 

 

Re: Backyard games room project

Hi @cupofchloe,

 

I'm always amazed at how well things do on eBay. I've never used Gumtree because I've always been happy with the results from eBay, eventhough the fees are obviously higher. I probably didn't throw enough stuff out as our storage under the house is now packed, so will have another round when we're setting up thew new storage room and work out what fits and what we can live without. 

 

We are adding a fibreglass pool. We are doing the dig in a couple of weeks. It's starting to get exciting! 

 

Jason

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Jason
Community Manager
Community Manager

Re: Backyard games room project

Here's a pic of the garage before the sledgehammer arrived...

 

Garage.JPG

 

And now we're off...

 

1.JPG

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Re: Backyard games room project

The layout of the games room is very well though out. The added bonus of the bathroom near the pool is a fantastic idea as well. Will make it super easy for guests to get ready to jump in the pool! 

 

The overall design of the games room looks pretty interesting as well. How well does it fit in with the overall aesthetic of your home?

 

Re: Backyard games room project

Thanks @maknilsin.

 

Our house was built in the mid-50s. It's a cream brick veneer that we've renovated. (I've previously shared our kitchen and bathroom updates.)

 

We decided to do something that's a significant contrast. It's meant to be a relaxing, fun space. We thought the bathroom would be a wise addition as we only have one in the house and it means the room can be used as a granny flat. 

 

Jason

 

 

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Jason
Community Manager
Community Manager

Re: Backyard games room project

Found out yesterday why these trees were so healthy. 

 

Camelia.jpg

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There was a tree root ball in the sewer. The plumber reckons we were only a few months away from a completely blocked sewer. Lucky we decided to move/replace it! 

 

2.JPG3.JPG

 

The backyard is now a major disaster zone. 

 

4.JPG

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Jason
Community Manager
Community Manager

Re: Backyard games room project

New slab poured yesterday.

 

6.JPG

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Jason
Community Manager
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Re: Backyard games room project

Have done the first (wet) grind of the concrete floor. Very happy with how the aggregate looks. Final (dry) polish will be done at the end. 

 

7.jpg

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