With masonry--bricks, blocks, concrete, stone, gravel, and sand--you can put together dozens of features and accessories that will complement your home's design, cater to your outdoor needs, and reflect your lifestyle. Add pools and ponds; planters; furniture and barbecues; steps, pillars and arches; patios; paths and drives; and walls. * Get off on the right foot with basic rules of construction, from planning to blueprints to materials. Estimate costs, measure accurately, and mix cement and concrete properly. Figure out sizing and the best siting. * Lay foundations; reinforce pillars, give your paths a safe, non-skid surface; and build walls to aid drainage, create a boundary, or just add that decorative touch. * Want dramatic effects? Try a lighted pool or fountain or build steps over an arch. * Extend your living space with a paved patio, brick seat and table, and barbecue. Over twenty easy-to-make projects that even beginners can build and design successfully! 96 pages (all in color), 8 1/2 x 11.
This book presents more than 20 projects to transform any garden into an easily-maintained, stylish and inviting outdoor living area. Many of these projects have been specially designed to be completed in a single weekend. Other more ambitious schemes can be planned and executed over a series of weekends. The introduction to the book, setting out the variety and nature of the projects and the techniques and materials included, is illustrated by a wide range of colour photographs as a source of inspirational design ideas. Step-by-step colour photographs, accompanying instructions and diagrams take the novice at an easy pace through each stage of preparation and construction of the following features: a pond (including "accessories"); small swimming pool; a free-standing planter and a combination wall/planter; garden furniture; barbecue; garden steps and stairways; pillars and piers; arches; a pre-cast concrete paved patio; curved, cobbled and crazy-paved paths; driveways; screen brick and block walls including adaptation to construct a car port; retaining walls and wall finishes; a garage; and garden tidies including a compost bin and garbage bin surround.