Last month we had the last 4 trees cut down outta our back yard. I cut the stumps low and went to work building a flower bed that would cover them up.
First off, this was during short summer fishing season, so there was no time to waste. Digging the ditch reminded me I'm not a spring chicken no more. My work was constantly being inspected. So far so good !
Once the ditch was done it was time for crushed rock and laying the base blocks for the lowest part of the wall. This is on a hill, so I had to start at lowest point and work my way to the highest.
My install tools are fairly simple. The 3 most important are the 12" level and kneeling pads....and the "thor" hammer.
No string line here because of curvature. Plus it just gets in the way
As I worked my way to the uphill end, My base tier would also step up. This made it so I had to stack 5 tiers on lower end just to continue to lay base stones on upper end. Once the base stones are all in it's just stacking blocks and a few simple cuts on each end
From the uphill side the top tier is barely exposed. The lower side of the hill shows full 7 tiers of blocks. This gives an idea of the hill I'm dealing with
From start to finish, it took about 35 hours total over 6 days. All 230 blocks came in 9 at a time on my hand truck. 25 bags of crushed rock hand trucked in 3 at a time.
All the dirt was sifted for old roots and debris, then shoveled into the new bed. The top 16" will get nice garden soil. Thankfully this is the last wall I plan on building. I have now done the whole 120' fenceline hillside and 25 different terraces with over 3,000 blocks. Now back to fishing !
I wish that I had half of your energy Ted, and a quarter of your skills. You are a true Renaissance Man!
Wow, looking good Ted! Your "eyeball" looks to be calibrated well!
NICE!
That's beautiful. So what are you planning to put in that bed?
woa, nice , my back is hurting just looking at the pictures.
Nice work Ted, that should buy you some fishing time. Hope there's some tuna still swimming around up there
dang, pld boy, that's what they make pine straw for! nice work
I liked those trees ......................cedars if I remember correctly .................... while drinking beer on your deck.
Nice work:
Todd
Nice work. Looks very clean. It would be the perfect place to plant a couple of trees! :)
Nice looking job, Ted !
You Did Good Ted.
Looks like a job to be proud of. ;D
Quote from: Hardy Boy on September 24, 2020, 09:40:34 PM
I liked those trees ......................cedars if I remember correctly .................... while drinking beer on your deck.
Nice work:
Todd
Yep Todd, 4 cedar trees, and your sharp memory is mind boggling. The pollen had become unbearable, and these trees also dumped lotta crap on my flat garage roof. My neighbors across the back alley are ecstatic, because those trees blocked a huge portion of thier view of cascade mountains. Also I could not grow anything except weeds in the shade of those trees. It's late in season now to get plants established, so I'll wait till spring to add shrubs.
To be honest, I didn't expect too many replies. Thanks for all the kind words. Sorry Dominick, I'm too old to adopt a high maintenance kid :D
I am going to do another small joined wall and will take a few pics of how I lay the base stones and show how all this can be easily done with only a 12" level
Thor, I will put your hammer back on your rock after I'm finished. You really shouldn't leave it just sitting on a big boulder ;D ;D
You aint supposed to be able to pick it up. Must be my brother from another mother. Poppa Odin got around :)
Great work Ted - love it!
Hope your little site inspector approved ;)
Looking forward to seeing it 'in bloom'!
Beautiful job, Ted --
It takes a lot of experience and imagination to picture what you want, design it, and execute the result so flawlessly.
You make it look easy -- and I know that it is not.
Impressive skills!
Best,
Fred
Ted, you're an inspiration to us all.
-steve
That's a job even Sal, our resident mason, would like. Dominick
You took the words out of my mouth, Dominick. Sal would be proud!
Beautiful Job, Ted!
You don't do anything half-assed 8)
Enjoy it,
Dom
That would make a nice bed to grow Garlic!
Good job brother...Bill
Soooo, I had one more spot to put another block wall. It would only need about 50 blocks and still had about 30 leftover, so here I go again.
This is my 1st and only attempt at butting up to two existing walls. Don't try this at home !!
Once I started, there was no stopping. I only had one more day before departing for tuna charter.
The challenging part was where this wall butted to the existing walls. A little patience and few precise cuts and notches and turns out it wasn't all that tough to do.
I know you well enough to think that wall is not level. Optical illusion.
Do you just put base rock below the first level? I've seen some with concrete pours.
Hey Randy the wall is straight, it's the ground that is crooked. The earth is round, despite what you think. :D ;D Dominick
I used the same type of bricks on a raised retaining wall in front of our house.
Just poured a 8" X 12" deep level concrete base. The bricks we used were from Home Depot, and weigh 50.5 pounds apiece. 9 years — and it hasn't moved even 1/16".
Yours looks great, Ted. Very well designed and level.
Best,
Fred
That's a beautiful wall Fred. It compliments your house very well. The cement footing is the way to go and gives it a clean look.
14 years on my first walls and so far all is good. I use 5/8 minus crushed rock for my base. I compact it as much as I can