Practical Guides for Smarter Renovations

A renovation is the right time to replace an irrigation network that leaks, waters paths or no longer matches the

Electricity, gas and water meters often occupy exactly the wall an alfresco renovation wants to make attractive. Screening them with

Outdoor tiles and decking can both make a worn alfresco floor feel deliberate again, but they are not interchangeable skins.

Joining a timber or composite deck to an existing paved alfresco can create one generous outdoor room. The difficult work

A wet retaining wall does not automatically need replacing, but a drainage repair is not automatically a small plumbing job

A fence above a retaining wall can solve an obvious privacy problem while creating a less obvious structural one. The

Opening a driveway gate from the car sounds like a small upgrade until the installer looks at the entrance. The

A fence that looks straightforward from the street can become surprisingly complicated along a sloping side boundary. The old panels

Adding a roof above an existing alfresco area changes more than the amount of shade. It creates a structure that

A pergola reroof can look like a straightforward exchange of old plastic sheets for new ones. The difficult decisions usually

Replacing an alfresco roof is an opportunity to improve the space you already have, but an insulated panel and a

An existing pergola can be too exposed in summer and too dark in winter, sometimes on the same property. A