Our Work: A Simple Decking Project For Our Clients in Merewether With A Special Surprise

This project started as a simple facelift to our client’s rear courtyard area. Their home is a lovely old house in Merewether, dating back to the early days of Newcastle's history. Originally built as the home of the harbourmaster, the house has a long and rich history and is recognised by the historical society as a significant building. 

RESTORING A HISTORIC COURTYARD IN MEREWETHER

Our client’s rear courtyard was paved with bricks reclaimed from other houses of similar vintage. The bricks created a lovely calm and beautifully shaded oasis from our clients’ busy lives. 

While Merewether’s proximity to the beach makes it a popular suburb, being so close to the beach does have its drawbacks. The sandy soil is prone to erosion, which caused many of the brick pavers to sag and become uneven and difficult to walk on.

This is where Squarepegs Handyman enters the story.

We assessed the paving and suggested that lifting the problem area and raising the ground level back up, using compacted metal dust to allow for excellent drainage, would solve the problem in the most economical and effective way. Our client agreed that this was the best solution to repair their courtyard paving and return the area back to full use. 

AN UNEXPECTED SURPRISE

We began lifting the pavers, cleaning and stacking them. Once the problem area was lifted we prepared to add the new metal dust substrate, but there was a problem. As we tested the stability of the sandy soil below we found it was much, much softer than anyone had expected. 

In Fact a crowbar could be pushed down into the soil its full length and meet almost no resistance. This did not bode well for our plans, so to get a better picture of why this was the case, we started digging. As we cleared the soil we made an interesting discovery. Roughly half a meter under the paving was an old brick structure, round in shape, filled with sand. The structure appeared to be some type of well, and we wondered if water flow had been carrying away sand from the bottom causing the paving to slump over time. 

The client  had no idea there was a structure in the area. They were as perplexed as we were.

COMMUNICATING WITH OUR CLIENT AND FORMING A NEW PLAN

After a quick discussion about what we could be dealing with, the client remembered that the historical society had a file on the house, and could potentially shed some light on the mysterious structure.

They were right.

In the papers they supplied we found an old plumbing diagram, barely legible on yellowed paper, that showed the layout of the original system of clay pipes. The structure was a cistern, used to hold water. This was quickly confirmed by digging out along the side of the bricks and finding the old broken off inlet pipes, right where the diagram showed.

With the mystery solved and the knowledge of what we were dealing with we came up with a plan to move forward. The cistern was filled with sand, and some probing discovered it was at least 3 metres deep.

The lid of the cistern appeared to have been intentionally removed, rather than having caved in over time, and the fact that the ground had been stable for at least 80 years led us to believe that rubbish, such as timbers and the like, had been dumped into the cavity prior to filling it. This would explain why the ground remained stable for so long before finally saging as the materials rotted away.

Due to the unknown nature of what we may find in the hole, and the low pergola and lack of access making it impossible to get any excavation equipment in, we came up with a plan to solve the issue. 

A UNIQUE AND ATTRACTIVE DECK FOR OUR CLIENTS IN MEREWETHER

Because the soil around the outside of the cistern was very stable, we proposed spanning the cistern with beams and building a deck at the level of the pavers. This would mean we did not have to disturb anything underground, and the continued settling of the sandy soil inside would not be an issue. The client loved this idea as any other approach would have been incredibly costly and disruptive to their lives. 

We began work immediately.

MODWOOD DECKING

Due to the nature of the area we used modwood engineered decking. This product is made from a combination of recycled materials and is completely impervious to rot. It also never needs painting or staining making it completely maintenance free. 

The client was thrilled with the results. What had started as a simple paving fix, then turned into a major engineering problem, had ended up as a unique statement piece that makes their courtyard special, and has a great story behind it as well.

SQUAREPEGS HANDYMAN does Decking And More

Squarepegs Handyman works hard for our clients to ensure that, now matter what a project throws at us, we create an end result that astounds.

Contact us here to organise a free, in person estimate with Handyman Sean. No matter what the project, we are here to help.

WHERE WE WORK

You’ll find Squarepegs Handyman in and around Newcastle, Lake Macquarie, Maitland, the Hunter and beyond. Contact us to find out if we service your area. 

We cannot wait to work with you!

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