What home improvement work did you do today?

My grandson and I decided to build a fire pit.

 

the tall part of the wall will be about 30-36”. The low part between 12-18”.

 

Do you have drainage planned? Backfill planned? How about a footer? I would consider getting some big boulders for the tall end, even if you hide then behind the face of the wall, you're holding up a lot of land behind that wall.

 

So far this was the plan. After locates are done dig down 8”x18”. Fill roughly 6” with 3/4-. Stack the bigger pieces of rock which should be 12-18” pieces as the bottom course. Use a 3” perforated hose with sock and back fill with more gravel then soil.

Roughly 16ft of this wall will be taller then 30”. The rest will be 2ft or shorter. Maybe I’ll add a pic of the front of the house to help show what I’m thinking.

To be honest I never thought of using the bigger rocks behind the face of the wall. That’s not a bad plan. It’s an expensive plan. I removed a bunch of boulders during the prep. I bet I could use those as the bottom of the backfill.

 

Looks great. This is my plan to tackle in the next week or two. What's the stone you used called?

 

I have areas around my property that I’d love to do this. Wife is always on me thinking it’s some easy task. The reason I haven’t attempted, is because of how much more complex it is than just stacking rocks LOL.
I personally like the mixed size rock look, which works well because the big rocks also act as the anchors not just cosmetic like the smaller rocks. The smaller rocks also look more “man-made” IMO.
Something to consider! I checked out that Lewis River website you linked a few posts back. They do some nice work.
I’d guess about $30K for a wall built by them LOL.
I’ll be following your progress
Good luck!

 

Yeah my wife just sent me a text about the wall in the backyard and a tear out of the yard and deck. I said can I finish this front wall first LOL. We had a company from Vancouver quote us like two years ago for block walls. Granted it was 2 tier’d for my front and side yard. It had stairs built into them, pavers along my driveway and front porch area. Way overboard for my house. They wanted $60k. $45 with a military discount. Had another company come quote us just landscaping for front and side yard. Told them no more then $20k. They had the nerve to send me a quote for $35k.

The wall rock or boulders are $135/ton. Just called the other local company and they sell at $25.75/ton but only have boulder size. Then you have to have their trucking company pick and haul. That’s another $750-850 per trip depending on weight and time picking. However, they have a building crew and then your on a per sqft charge. Waiting for a call from them on that. If it’s way higher then I want to spend looks like I’m playing with a bobcat or telescoping OffRoad forklift again.

Moral of the story don’t ever buy a house on a hill and a corner.

 

I need to start up a landscape company! That's some coin!
LOL!!! Yeah, you have quite the elevation change! Thankfully I don't have that much. I do have a Kubota tractor, max lift is about 1,100 lbs. I've done some rock work with it (rocks in beds) and it's definitely not ideal due to the size of the tractor.
Moving 15-20 big 800 lb boulders might be okay, but moving 200 of the 200-400 lb boulders, I just don't know how to do that without it becoming a seriously long drawn out, pain in the ass. Trying to turn them and place them just perfect..... I really can't even imagine the time it would take - weeks I'd think! LOL.

 

Yeah this elevation change is driving me crazy. The string line isn’t level by any means but it should work out ok. I can’t go higher then 4ft without engineering and permit. Not to mention that would cause the lower section of my yard to probably slope back into the house which I clearly don’t want. Then because I live on a corner there are 20ft setbacks each way with a “line of sight” being where my wall needs to end. Never mind my 100+ft tree that is on the wrong side of that line.
Anyway that second company just called and I was mistaken the load charge includes the rock. So $750-850 per load. They are coming by today or tomorrow to tell me what it would cost for them to build. Then I’ll make my decision and get this thing done.
Obviously excavator would be the preferred method but my skills there suck. I am much better with forklift or bobcat. My buddy that was a Seabee in the Navy just went back to work. So if we do it with an excavator I would have to do it on a weekend which means more “vacation days” gone. But would be worth it.

 

I installed a bidet to help with relieve the TP shortage. The difficult part was the electrical outlet.

 

It will probably be a lot easier to lean the wall back towards the house. Not sure if you're trying to keep it perfectly vertical. I know PacRock is Vancouver, but you might want to double check prices. They were always a lot cheaper than everyone else I called (for Camas rock). I need one of these LOL

 

where did you happen to buy that from ?

 

Yeah I’m going to tilt into the wall a bit. Well the locate guy just came by for the second time. First time he “located” the wrong house. He just sprayed my neighbors brand new bark. They just spread it two days ago.
Anyway was a nice guy and I had him locate my side yard for the next wall to be built.
Wouldn’t you know it I have power running the entire length of where the wall was going to go. Literally directly under my string line. Then under my sidewalk/little planter area between the sidewalk and curb is my Gas line.
Now I definitely think I’m just going to go boulders and not dig the 6-8” down I was going to go for the smaller rock. I’m sure these 200-600# rocks will be heavy enough to hold back that dirt.

Let’s see what Verizon has lined up for me. Their vault is right on the corner.
I would check that Vancouver Rock place but so far these guys charge per mile. Not like a little bit extra but a lot.

 

He mentioned Costco.

Here's the link: https://www.costco.com/faux-concrete-gas-fire-pit.product.100538816.html

 

Co

costco $339 in the store

 

Ya it’s $339 in the store

 

Landscape block $2.18 a block.

 

Good luck with your project..

That being said.. I'm going to play devils advocate here.

As someone who builds homes for a living.. & having seen the results of failed structures because someone didn't have the knowledge or use the proper building technics...

all I can offer, about you're 2 statements above is..
your rockery is going to collapse...
it's not a matter of...
IF but, WHEN.

you are breaking the 1st .. 2 rules of building a rockery... & yes it is a structure

but, before you dive in head 1st...

do some more research.. most people think.. it's easy, it's just a rockery right?
Please.. fully learn how to & understand the science of building a rockery.
there are rules for the science for a reason.

also, know exactly where your property ends.
it sounds to me your planning to build in the utility easement which most jurisdictions do not allow.

some jurisdictions..
will allow you to build in 'Their Utility Easement' for an annual fee.. others will not.
if you build anyway & a utility company needs to access their utilities... they will not re-build your rockery & simply pile the mess on your front yard.

p.s.
a rockery under 4' needs a base course of a 3 man rock.... Minimum. topping out with a 2 man rock.
a 2' rockery needs a base course of a 2 man rock... minimum. topped out with 1 man rock.
2/3'rds of you're base course needs to be buried in a keyway cut.

drainage, drainage, drainage. a simple socked perf pipe is nowhere near adequate & will eventually plug up & cause the soil behind to saturate, heave then collapse you're wall.
note.. I did'nt 'call out' all of the installation methods here.. just the basics

better yet..
spend your money wisely.. work some overtime to pay once & cry once..
leave it to the professionals who have the proper knowledge & equipment.

let's just say I cringe whenever I hear someone say...
"I got a friend......." or "my brother-in law......."

lastly,
Truly think about what your doing here.
I think you're over you're head I not considering everything.
"what happens when little Joey from down the street is riding his skate board by when your rockery gives way & is injured or killed?"

..Slayer

 

Took two trailer loads to the dump...man I need a dump trailer. Shoveling sucks. Then I had to shovel out some rock and got one bed done....

 

Lol! Damn, that’s bad luck!

 

Shoveling rock is 6X worse than shoveling bark lol. I don’t think there’s any trick to doing it quickly.
For bark I use a snow shovel, cut the job in half.
For rock, if I can’t use the tractor and dump a bucket and spread, the stupid flat shovel and gravel rake - sure sucks ass.

 

Yep, I tried a metal rake, spade (pointed) shovel and then ended up putting the wheel barrow into the trailer. Shoveled into it and then dumped a decent sized load and spread it. Will have to wear ear muffs next load cause rock is loud lol. Also my back has left the building.

 

Finally some good luck. The owner of the second company just stopped by. Talked about what we wanted to do and gave us two estimates. One for the boulders, one for him doing it. He will have to do minimal digging/prep so the quote is really reasonable. Going to set the wall in another foot to leave room for power.
After that wall is done only going to need roughly a half load of topsoil to finish the grade/backfill.

 

Just saved myself serious $$ avoiding a bathroom remodel. We have had a sulfur smell coming out of the faucets in our master bath since shortly after we bought the house. I've spent hours researching the issue and found several possible causes. First off we are on a well so we replaced the entire house water filter and softener unit. That didnt help. I purged the system with chlorine and that only helped temporarily. The weird thing was that it was only in the master bath. I read that water lines can become contaminated with a bacteria that emits a sulfur smell and it can be isolated to one area of the house. I have put off fixing the issue for a while. We finally got to the point that we were considering tearing out the plumbing and replacing it completely and doing a complete bath remodel in the process. I just happened to find a post on a home improvement forum that mentioned the same problem. They claimed it was from the plastic in their Moen faucets. Once the faucets were replaced the problem went away. Well I checked and we have high end Moen faucets. I figured replacement was way cheaper than a bathroom remodel so I ordered a pair of faucets. I installed the first one today and the smell was immediately gone. No flushing lines no nothing. The other old faucet (dual sink) still has the smell. That confirms to me that it was the faucets that are the issue. My wife is super happy and I'm tens of thousands of dollars richer.

 

Thanks!

 

I have half of the joists up for the 2nd floor deck. Going to town today for more lumber.

 

That’s a good day!! Congrats!

 

NOW, THAT is awesome! Lucky kid(s)!! Great job!!

-T

 

Finally got all 4 exterior light fixtures installed to match. When I bought the house they were mismatched, 2 and 2, now all 4 are the same.

 

Replaced my old plastic mailbox