Improve my entrance

[Skyedriver]

Brilliant, some good ideas there to consider.
Had thought reduce the paved bit, hadn't thought about increasing steps. Rather stuck with the gravel colour I fear as it extends from the access past the house to the garage at the rear. Too much to replace.
Going to read each idea over and come up with a plan.
Thanks

[markiii]

i'd be tempted by a porch but not sure how you'd make it work with the current roof limes meeting in the corner

[TCruise]

Skyedriver said:

Brilliant, some good ideas there to consider.
Had thought reduce the paved bit, hadn't thought about increasing steps. Rather stuck with the gravel colour I fear as it extends from the access past the house to the garage at the rear. Too much to replace.
Going to read each idea over and come up with a plan.
Thanks

Just add the honey coloured gravel in with what you already have. Try to evenly-ish spread it. It'll look fine and better than now.

The colour of the "added gravel" will work with the stuff that's already there, as it's grey.

[Skyedriver]

Clifford Chambers said:

TBH now I've seen the photo, the more I think planting, colourful pots and the right stuff (not acers) makes sense.

Imagine lustrous, verdant, tiers of ferns. A couple of dowdy acers (acers rarely thrive in pots) just won't cut it.

ETA, get someone to photoshop it and you'll se what I mean.

This is ours, looks daggy now. Wait till we've finished.

Edited by Clifford Chambers on Thursday 25th February 20:14

My wife loves your front door. Your paving looks like ours.

[ChocolateFrog]

Replace the doors, and maybe the windows, or if on a budget give them a lick of paint.

Replace slabs with porcelain tiles for minimal maintenance. Or again if on a budget I'd be tempted to continue the gravel upto the front door and just have a stone step but larger as someone above suggested. 3 large steps or levels building upto the door height.

A couple of large decorative plant pots with a couple of fruit trees in and you're sorted.

Edited by ChocolateFrog on Friday 26th February 11:23

[Skyedriver]

DozyGit said:

I personally think you should get;
1. Resin bound driveway
2. Dig 1m deep holes and fill with topsoil/compost rich soil add watering tubes and have full standard trees of choice (google if you don’t know what a full standard tree is)
3. Build stone steps and have tops in resin bound
4. Have hanging pots from wall with evergreen dropping creepers- clematis can be found
5. Change awful brown timber to white ;-)

Thanks for the ideas but:
1) too much gravel at the moment to replace with RBG (cost). And it's rural Scotland
2) once broken through the paving and sub base (and I think concrete) the original ground is a thin (150mm) sandy layer on seawashed gravel (think the area used to be underwater or beach in prehistoric times). Don't think the trees would survive or have meaniful growth due to wind (70+mph at times) and rain and lack of light.
3) stone steps are a possibility but RBG on the top is a bit too far for up here.
4) hanging pots will end up on the ground/in the next field due to wind.
5) the whole house has brown frames (some upvc some timber) t least it's not fashionable grey).

[Skyedriver]

markiii said:

i'd be tempted by a porch but not sure how you'd make it work with the current roof limes meeting in the corner

Porch would be an option but the window on the wall to the right of the door is a bathroom. (window adjacent to the door is an inner lobby).

[Skyedriver]

ChocolateFrog said:

Replace the doors, and maybe the windows, or if on a budget give them a lick of paint.

Replace slabs with porcelain tiles for minimal maintenance. Or again if on a budget I'd be tempted to continue the gravel upto the front door and just have a stone step but larger as someone above suggested. 3 large steps or levels building upto the door height.

A couple of large decorative plant pots with a couple of fruit trees in and you're sorted.

Edited by ChocolateFrog on Friday 26th February 11:23

just replaced some windows with brown.

Porcelain tiles? Did a patio once with them did look good. Been wondering about Caithness Stone for the step tops and the reduced area paving. gravel up to the steps would work but only if I retain all the steps. (Depth of gravel and gradient). thinking again Caithness stone or anything black is just going to darken the area more.
We've cherry, plum and apple trees in the back garden that are struggling to survive (wind, ground conditions, rabbits)

Edited by Skyedriver on Friday 26th February 11:51

[Skyedriver]

Following the suggestions about increasing the size of the steps:
Increasing the depth of steps would be easy.
Increasing width a problem due to air bricks and an overflow from (I think) the central heating.

[Clifford Chambers]

Golden privet always brings a little sunshine in, seems to catch any available light.

Evergreen, cheap, likes containers, drought and shade tolerant.

[paralla]

Skyedriver said:

Following the suggestions about increasing the size of the steps:
Increasing the depth of steps would be easy.
Increasing width a problem due to air bricks and an overflow from (I think) the central heating.

There's been some great suggestions on here. You need to start thinking about what you can achieve rather than what you can't.

Your original picture shows two more air bricks not too far away from the ones that would be blocked by wider steps. I'd do some research to see if all those air bricks are required or can you live with just the remaining two. I'm no builder but if it was my house I'd have no problem filling them in and installing new ones nearby that were not covered by wider steps.

[eps]

paralla said:

Skyedriver said:

Following the suggestions about increasing the size of the steps:
Increasing the depth of steps would be easy.
Increasing width a problem due to air bricks and an overflow from (I think) the central heating.

There's been some great suggestions on here. You need to start thinking about what you can achieve rather than what you can't.

Your original picture shows two more air bricks not too far away from the ones that would be blocked by wider steps. I'd do some research to see if all those air bricks are required or can you live with just the remaining two. I'm no builder but if it was my house I'd have no problem filling them in and installing new ones nearby that were not covered by wider steps.

Agreed, or don't go full width at the top, so replace the steps and have them wider at the bottom and then reducing to the current width, or possibly slightly wider than current, means you can keep the air bricks and then improve the look.

[Skyedriver]

Clifford Chambers said:

Golden privet always brings a little sunshine in, seems to catch any available light.

Evergreen, cheap, likes containers, drought and shade tolerant.

Golden privet, that takes me back to my childhood in the 1950s.

[ChocolateFrog]

eps said:

paralla said:

Skyedriver said:

Following the suggestions about increasing the size of the steps:
Increasing the depth of steps would be easy.
Increasing width a problem due to air bricks and an overflow from (I think) the central heating.

There's been some great suggestions on here. You need to start thinking about what you can achieve rather than what you can't.

Your original picture shows two more air bricks not too far away from the ones that would be blocked by wider steps. I'd do some research to see if all those air bricks are required or can you live with just the remaining two. I'm no builder but if it was my house I'd have no problem filling them in and installing new ones nearby that were not covered by wider steps.

Agreed, or don't go full width at the top, so replace the steps and have them wider at the bottom and then reducing to the current width, or possibly slightly wider than current, means you can keep the air bricks and then improve the look.

That's what I'd do.

One step into the house, pretty much as it is then make the new level one step down, that should sit just below the bricks.

[Skyedriver]

Yes, got it. Bit of time to think it out and decide on step and if required reduced size paved area. Something light, going to investigate porcelain paving and smooth finish rather than "riven" as that tends to collect dirt and moss.
Thanks everyone some good ideas and "food for thought"

[23.7]

Skyedriver said:

Clifford Chambers said:

TBH now I've seen the photo, the more I think planting, colourful pots and the right stuff (not acers) makes sense.

Imagine lustrous, verdant, tiers of ferns. A couple of dowdy acers (acers rarely thrive in pots) just won't cut it.

ETA, get someone to photoshop it and you'll se what I mean.

This is ours, looks daggy now. Wait till we've finished.

Edited by Clifford Chambers on Thursday 25th February 20:14

My wife loves your front door. Your paving looks like ours.

How I did ou get on OP?

I tried pots and growing things, it now looks just as daggy but with some over hanging plants.

Thinking I may rip up the council/utility slabs. Then porch width quarry tile path with gravel beds either side. Any one have any idea as to likely cost?

Edited by 23.7 on Friday 8th October 12:35

[sherman]

23.7 said:

How I did ou get on OP?

I tried pots and growing things, it now looks just as daggy but with some over hanging plants.

Thinking I may rip up the council/utility slabs. Then porch width quarry tile path with gravel beds either side. Any one have any idea as to likely cost?

Edited by 23.7 on Friday 8th October 12:35

Woild look better if you pressure wash the muck off your slabs and let a nice cliber grow up the wall. If its a warm wall(sun) even some fruit could be grown there.

[23.7]

sherman said:

23.7 said:

How I did ou get on OP?

I tried pots and growing things, it now looks just as daggy but with some over hanging plants.

Thinking I may rip up the council/utility slabs. Then porch width quarry tile path with gravel beds either side. Any one have any idea as to likely cost?

Edited by 23.7 on Friday 8th October 12:35

Woild look better if you pressure wash the muck off your slabs and let a nice cliber grow up the wall. If its a warm wall(sun) even some fruit could be grown there.

It gets pressure washed once a year, whether it needs it or not.

North facing so tricky, hellebores, ferns and hostas do well.

I'm trying to avoid climbers to make my like easier re painting and maintenance. But agreed a climber on that wall would look great. I've a pyracantha growing up it which it intend to espalier but it'll take a while before it's established.

[Skyedriver]

OP here,
It's exactly the same as a year ago...
We got a guy from a local landscaping company around, came up with some good ideas but initial estimate was too expensive. We cut it back but it took months for him to get a revised price and by that time we'd had a few changes envisaged so went to discuss but he's megga busy as he's a couple of other lines of work too. Outcome is lead in times for some of the materials mean a December/January start so I've just emailed him an hour ago to delay until next year due to weather.
We'd decided upon Florence white porcelain with green slate upstands but worried it may look too "urban/posh" for a Scottish country setting.
We knew exactly what we wanted for the back of the house/patio, I bought the materials and built it all in a matter of weeks, the front however is going to be going for longer than Coronation St it seems!
Would do it myself but porcelain isn't easy to cut apparently, there's also a "coursing" problem, trying to get the joints to all line up with the proposed steps going around a corner. Nowt straight forward.

[23.7]

Hmmm white porcelain. A bit too progressive for us.

Mrs 23 thinks my idea of quarry tiles would look twee, in retrospect I'd agree.
Currently thinking of slate colour, not usually keen but it's only a small area so may be okay. Porcelain would be ideal in terms of maintenance and cleaning but I'd have to sure they weren't to slippery in the winter.