Going back to this post, I received my cheque from the insurance company, so we took a trip to Bunnings and spent $1,200 on materials to build a timber privacy screen in place of the old greenhouse windows that were previously dividing off the back courtyard area from the main garden. 

We bought 8 steel posts, 46 lengths of thin pine, 2 lengths of thick pine and 2 steel hinges, then we pressure washed the brickwork, we dyna-bolted the steel posts to the brickwork, we painted the posts, we painted the brickwork, we cut the pine to size, we painted the pine and then we screwed the pine to the steel posts. Then we made a timber door frame, then we cut more bits of pine to size, then we painted the pine and then we screwed the pine to the door frame. Ya ya, anyway …

The privacy provided by the screen is enough to shut out the neighbours’ view of us and our view of the neighbours’ when our trees lose their leaves in winter, but there is also enough space between the wooden slats that the screen allows us to see out into our garden. Having that gap between the wooden slats allows the sun to shine through into the garden bed on the other side and also allows for air flow so hopefully when the wind is blowing a gale there is not much chance of it blowing over.

At the start of this project, we had to do a little remedial work because, well, when we pulled down the last remaining greenhouse window (after the first window was knocked over by a huge gust of wind one afternoon), half the brick wall that the window was built into came down with it. Tim was quickly forced into learning a new skill (bricklaying) that afternoon. Look at the concentration …

Then when the new cement had set on the bricks, the steel posts were dyna-bolted into the brick wall. Then one-by-one the timber slats were screwed into the steel posts. As you can see, we had three steel posts behind each section of screen, just to make sure that the timber was adequately supported. The timber slats only had the first coat of paint before they were screwed onto the steel posts. We did a second (final) coat when it was all complete and in place.

If you look carefully in the photo directly below, whose head can you see popping up from behind the brick wall?

Oh yeah, it’s me behind there. Look at me, all trigger happy:

Starting to take shape:

Almost there:

Now we just have to cut off the tops of the posts and put nice little caps on the ends:

See the dirty possum prints?

Pretty much done, just building the door:

And putting the second coat of paint on:

And done, complete with painted timber benches laid across the brickwork (and in less than 12 hours one of those nice shiny painted benches had been pooped on by a very large bird, it didn’t stand a chance, poor bench):

Finally, looking from the garden towards the courtyard area: