DIY Project Competition winner: John Bostjancic

Congratulations to John Bostjancic, our DIY Project Competition winner, for his impressive retaining wall, fire pit and water feature project.

Using 1.6mm corten steel, 5mm steel plate and his own hard work, John created an industrial-style outdoor oasis in his country NSW home.

The inspiration

“I was a carpenter for 25 years, and have been an underground miner for the last 15,” John explains. “And I work a 7/7 roster, so when I’m not at the mines I build myself houses.”

The current project transformed the outdoor space of a modern industrial style home, so the outdoor area needed to stick with the theme.

“When we had the original plan, it was supposed to be Besser blocks. But the blocks are around $5 each and to get someone to lay them was going to be another $5 a block, as it was too big a job for me.

So I thought a corten steel retaining wall was a better and cheaper option.

And because I have always had an interest in metal – I think most chippies do – I thought I’d give it a go.

So I splashed out and bought a welder and did what I had to do.

Teaching myself to weld properly was probably the biggest challenge. I mean, anybody can weld, but it takes a bit to weld properly.

We’ve got a local Edcon Steel in Orange and I get all my steel from there.

The guys at the local store are great and it’s really convenient.”

The project

The retaining wall was created using 1.6mm corten steel, as John explains:

“It was actually quite simple. I just used steel posts, formed up concrete and then sheeted it in steel. And now she’s a ripper.

“It ended up taking around three or four days to put the steel up, and then I had to patina it, which took a little while.”

The fire pit was far simpler, and was created using the 5mm steel plate.

“I’d just seen a picture of a similar one, and I thought ‘I reckon I could make that,’” John laughs.

“And that was just a weekend job when it was raining and we couldn’t do any of the landscaping jobs.”

The water feature was the finishing touch on the outdoor project, which John designed and built using the left over corten steel.

“The water feature was something that just came to me,” John explains.

“There’s a pond, so to speak, underneath the structure. ”

“The water runs into this water catchment and runs through the rocks and back into the pit, and a submersible pump pumps it back through to the top.”

“There was a bit of trial and tribulation, trying to get that water right!”

“So that took two or three weekends.”