I have seen like an arctic white stacked stone on a house near me - old house updated near my place and the porch now looks amazing. you can go to your local bunnings to take a look at it and apparently it just uses like a tile glue to attach to the brick wall - would need to check on approval with council if this was also allowed. If you can't find builder and want that option, get a tiler as they would also be able to cut these panels and make them look good. - also be sure to get references as they have to do a good job on this as it would be an important feature and be careful not to ruin the facade. Best of luck -.

We are not allowed to have garages in our precinct ..if you have back access (and some people do) you can have a garage around the back..no walled fronts either ..ours was walled before the ruling so can stay..I really like having my wall. Gates have to open material..not solid

The difference is amazing. Stone and water just WORK together, and the combination of brown, rust, cream and gold with the blue that picks up the colour of the pool is a match made in heaven. Great result.

Hi all, Sorry for the slow replies and thanks for the input so far. From what I've read online a re-inforced besser block wall should be about $600 p/sqm including footings in Sydney (Hornsby shire council area). Given the wall is 1m x 10m it should be let's say $7k including design and DA or am I way off? I'd also need to dispose of the current wall + footings but I could probably give the blocks away. The paved area is about 40sqm. Would it be safe to assume $200 p/sqm for concrete base, paver supply (travertine) and install (coping and surrounds)? So the wall and and paving would cost let's say $16k + fencing + cladding. This isn't too bad considering how much better it would look and the value it would add to the house. I like the flexibility the besser would give - render, cladding etc are all options. I'm not sure how bad it is structurally it just has a couple of spots where I can see the blocks have pulled apart over time. Below are some pictures of the bad spots. Also looking at the Amber website it says the maximum courses is maximum non reinforced wall height of 972mm (6 courses). It looks like my wall is actually 7 courses un-reinforced. The wall and pool was built back in 2003. I definitely think planting in front of the wall would help, as would removing the lights but I'm in two minds about whether to bite the bullet and do it properly or just hide it.