Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Wall Rebuild



You know the old saying 'You never have time to do the job right the first time, but always have time to do it right the second time.  Well here's a good example with this wall I scrambled to build last spring before summer guests arrived. It would have taken me 1 hour to pour a proper footing under it but I was in a big hurry.  Upon arriving this spring, I found that the wall had settled about 4 inches in one area.  I don't like crappy work, especially my own so I tore the wall down and started over yesterday.  I got really lucky that the topsoil behind the wall held in place while I dug a footing, tied in rebar and mixed and poured the footing.  I was worried that the dirt would slide into my yard so I worked in high gear getting the job complete in less than 2 hours.  That is the best 2 hours you'll ever get out of me pulling down 8,000 pounds of blocks and then of course had to restack them this morning which only took 1 hour.  The blocks are only 60 pounds each, so not too heavy but 125 of them kinda wears on a senior citizen like me.  That great top soil that I used came from a farm nearby.  It was a mixture of dirt and horse pucky with no sand in the mix.  You can see in the photo how well that horse poop held that dirt together.  Good Stuff!  I might have to find a day job if this retirement life doesn't start getting a little easier.

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